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- For each season of the show, a group of self-professed know-it-alls are recruited to be competitors to determine who is Canada's Greatest Know-It-All. The tasks the competitors are asked to do tests not only their knowledge in a wide range of topic areas, but often how to apply that knowledge in achieving a desired end goal better or faster than their fellow competitors. In each elimination, the competitors are either placed into teams or work as individuals in two specific challenges. For each of the two challenges, one person from the losing team or the losing competitor if they are working as individuals is sent to the danger zone for potential elimination. In the danger zone, the two competitors generally face off head-to-head in another individual challenge, the loser who is eliminated from the competition. The last competitor standing is crowned Canada's Greatest Know-It-All for that season.
- Host Daniel Fathers introduces the ten people chosen out of the thousands of entries to compete to become Canada's Greatest Know-It-All Season 1: Thomas Porter who lives off the grid; self-proclaimed Renaissance man Cary Lucier who moves from career to career whenever he gets bored with the last one; former CFO Sabina Dawson who gave up her boardroom life to sail around the world; former US naval engineer Jennifer Salisbury who loves to hunt; retired schoolteacher Stephen Drooker who does whatever he wants in his vast free time; oil rig boss Ted Coffey who is used to being the boss in his own private world; Nick Nelson, who professes to be better than perfect; carpenter Wayne Skuhala who like to build things from start to finish; engineer Dan Dicaire who, at age 26, still believes that anything is possible, especially with his brain; and millwright Dave Spencer, who, unlike the others, shows signs of humility. The ten organize themselves into two teams of five for the first two challenges. The first challenge is to build a shelter made out of cardboard and rope within two hours to a minimum specification that can withstand a tropical wind storm, with one member of the losing team volunteering to go to the danger zone. The second challenge is to determine how far someone needs to be to survive a trailer blown up with nine pounds of dynamite, also with one member of the losing team volunteering to go to the danger zone. Because of the outcome of the two challenges, the choice of the two going into the danger zone is not quite as planned. The challenge those two must face in the danger zone is earning scouting merit badges, the loser who will be the first eliminated competitor. The danger zone competition begs the question if academics, strategic thinking or life experience is the most important factor for being a great know-it-all.
- With schoolteacher Stephen Drooker being the first eliminated competitor, nine remain in the running for Canada's Greatest Know It All. Additional information is provided about some of the competitors including: Sabina, who admits that her ocean sailing experience was not as smooth sailing as she would have liked, but who also admits that she learned from her mistakes; and Wayne chucking in a life of academia for one of manual labor. For the two challenges in this episode, Daniel randomly separates the nine into two teams. For their first challenge, each team is provided an identical set of fifty packing boxes, each box marked on opposing sides with the name of two specific pieces of merchandise, generally two related types of items. Their task is to pack the boxes in such a way so that the names of the items facing out total more in retail value than the opposing team. The second challenge has each team designing and building a water craft capable of carrying all their team members and 1,000 pounds of sand across a 200 foot long pond. The catch?: they must also build a water craft using the other team's materials capable of the same task. Each team is given $1,000 for materials and an hour to shop. The fastest team to make it across the pond as specified with each of their two water craft wins the challenge. The two challenges end up demonstrating that there are generally eight competitors that try to work as a team and one person who always believes he/she is right, damn his/her team members. That dynamic has an effect on the challenge outcomes and who is ultimately sent to the danger zone of potential elimination. That danger zone challenge has the two competitors looking at a list of items, which will be placed on a conveyor belt with multiple other items, from which they must find the listed items. The winner of the challenge and the competitor that will stay is the one who gets the most number of items from the list.
- Cary Lucier being the second eliminated competitor is welcome news to the remaining eight, who saw Cary as the non-team player. As a result, the atmosphere among the eight is much more relaxed and reverential toward the other seven. Additional information provided about the competitors includes: Dan being awarded many academic achievements, which in large part stems from his ability to stick to tasks out of fascination; Nick professing to be as physically accomplished as he believes he is mentally accomplished; and Ted being expelled permanently from school in grade 9 due primarily to him challenging the notion of authority. The next two challenges are in the same four member teams selected by Daniel. The first challenge is to extract over one-hundred human bones from a block of ice and assemble them into a human skeleton. This challenge requires not only a knowledge of human anatomy, but also in breaking down ice with what tools they have available. The winning team is the one that has assembled the most number of bones in their correct position in one hour, with one person from the losing team being sent to the danger zone. The second challenge is a head-to-head driving challenge, each team member taking a different driving course with predetermined tasks. Each driving error results in points being deducted. The team with the most points after all four courses are completed wins, with the worst driver percentage-wise from the losing team automatically going to the danger zone. The challenge for the two in the danger zone is a typical question and answer session from a set of provided questions. The object is to ask questions of the other that oneself knows the answer to but believes the opposing competitor doesn't, with the loser being the next eliminated competitor.
- The elimination of Nick Nelson leaves seven competitors in the running for Canada's Greatest Know-It-All Season 1. Additional information provided about the competitors includes: Dave working on a project to send his cell phone into space in a home made device to act as a space camera; and Dan having a side interest in performing improvisational comedy. For the first time, the competitors will be competing as individuals, with the loser of each of the two challenges automatically sent to the danger zone for potential elimination. The first challenge, using a WWII Lancaster bomber, is to bomb a target on the ground, namely Daniel's limousine. The competitors are provided such information as plane speed, plane altitude and horizontal distance of the limousine from the edge of the marked area. From the ground, the competitors, in turn, provide the verbal drop code to the bomber aboard the plane. The losing contestant is the one whose bomb lands furthest away from Daniel's limousine. The second challenge has the competitors being taught all about reptiles and arachnids from expert Dr. Andre Ngo, which they must then teach in a ten minute lesson to a bunch of elementary school aged children. The subsequent lesson must include picking up one of the animals, which may be difficult for any that has an all too common phobia to snakes or spiders. Dr. Ngo and the students vote on who is the losing competitor. The danger zone challenge has the two competitors building three aircraft in three hours - one using plastic, one using Styrofoam and one using cardboard - each to a minimum specification. The winner of the challenge is the one whose three planes fly the farthest in total. Both danger zone competitors may get a reprieve from elimination if they can beat a third last minute competitor, namely the other five working as a team.
- Six competitors remain after the elimination of Dan Dicaire. After the last set of challenges as individuals, the six are again placed into two random teams of three for this next set of challenges, with one competitor from the losing team in each of the two challenges going into the danger zone for potential elimination. The first challenge is having a car drive over a ramp to hit an intended target on the ground. The team whose car comes closest to the target wins. The variables include the size of the car chosen, the speed to drive the car, the horizontal distance of the target from the ramp, and the height of the ramp. The second challenge, in two parts, deals with trebuchets. In part one, each team must build a table top model able to catapult a ball at least twenty meters before they can move onto part two, which is to use an already constructed giant trebuchet to catapult basketballs into an over-sized basketball hoop. The team that wins this challenge is the one that, within a two hour time limit from the time the first team starts part two, gets the most points in sinking baskets, more points awarded for longer distances. The danger zone challenge entails the two competitors needing to identify the international symbol for ten different terms, the winner the first to correctly figure out all ten from a set of fifty possibilities.
- The competitor number is down to five with the latest eliminated being Sabina Dawson. To give them a break, Daniel takes them on a commercial jet boat tour on the Niagara River. What they aren't told however, but what some guess, is that this trip was not just for fun. After the tour, they are given a pop quiz of twenty questions all about the Niagara region, all the answers which were just provided to them by the tour boat operator. The competitor with the fewest correct answers in this pop quiz - which is really their first challenge in this set of two - is automatically sent to the danger zone for potential elimination, unless... Their second challenge is a mock emergency drill, where each person is given the same multiple car pile-up scenario with actors pretending to be in distress in several different situations. If the situation was real, a wrong decision by the competitors could mean life or death. Each competitor is graded by real life emergency responders. If the loser of the pop quiz is graded first among the five in this challenge, he/she will get a reprieve from the danger zone, which means the bottom two in this challenge go to the danger zone. If the loser of the pop quiz also finishes last in this challenge, he/she will automatically be eliminated. Beyond the competition, this challenge hits home with all in terms of its life and death factor if it was real, which many forgot is not while the challenge was happening. The danger zone challenge, if it occurs, is a race with a combination of breaking a code and putting together a series of tangrams.
- With the latest elimination of Thomas Porter, the competitor figure is down to four, who are split into two teams of two for the next set of challenges. The first challenge, in three rounds, is to determine how many standing objects a bullet can pierce through. Each round uses a different type of firearm, a different type of bullet and a different type of material through which the bullet will travel. The team that guesses the closest number of objects without the bullet going over that number wins the round. The team that wins the challenge is the one that wins the most rounds, with one member of the losing team going to the danger zone for potential elimination. The second challenge is a two phase race using an ATV. The first phase has each team partially reassembling their ATV with each member having one hand tied behind their back. The second phase is driving four laps of the track, the first with the driver blindfolded and the passenger the navigator directing the driver, the second with the first lap passenger driving in reverse using only the mirrors as guides, and the third and fourth driving full bore forward with one of the two final laps driven by each team member. The danger zone challenge, which operates a little differently than the previous ones based on the team challenge results, tests the competitors' collective knowledge of everything that they've encountered since the start of the competition.
- With Jennifer Salisbury being the latest competitor eliminated, the three finalists are determined: Ted Coffey, Wayne Skuhala and Dave Spencer. Their first challenge is to find in order a set of four disks out of a hundred disks strewn through the Know-It-All pit based on the numerical answers to questions, with the fastest two moving onto the final two challenges. This challenge not only requires knowledge of those answers, but a good sense of direction, a good sense of distance, and being able to stay calm under pressure as each wrong disk results in a 2 minute time penalty. The penultimate challenge, worth 100 points, is to drive from the Know-It-All pit back to the competitors' hotel in the shortest route in a car that should not turn right. For every right turn or reverse, 5 kilometers are added to the route total. For every kilometer difference between the two, 2 points are deducted for the longer traveler. The final challenge, worth 150 points, pits the two finalists against one hundred people who applied for the show but didn't make the cut. Ten will ask the competitors a question or propose a topic, with the competitors' task being not so much to answer the questions correctly, but convince the one hundred that their answer or what they say about the topic is correct. Daniel will ask his own questions, followed by one nemesis who will also ask a question. Those one hundred two people will assign the points. The competitor with the greatest number of points combined in the final two challenges is named Canada's Greatest Know-It-All Season 1.
- Host Daniel Fathers introduces the ten people chosen to compete to become Canada's Greatest Know-It-All Season 2: northern ranger Abe Qamminiq who was born and still lives in the traditional Inuit culture; former Jeopardy! (1984) champion Doug Hicton who beat the IBM supercomputer in a human versus computer battle; retired systems manager Bill Robinson, who spends most of his time exploring the wild west coast on his boat; artist Owen Garratt who believes he can solve any problem using the creative right side of his brain; Ben Eadie who has his own DIY website and who has many projects on the go at given point in time; hang gliding champion Scott Gravelle who designs and builds his own equipment for whatever extreme sport in which he partakes; aerospace engineer Andrew Rader who wants to understand the world; microbiologist Carla Davidson who admits she has ruined many a party with her incessant nattering about useless information; former US air force pilot Beth Furlong who believes her military training places her in good stead; and twenty-three year old former science child prodigy Laura Suen who doesn't know which of the many possible career paths to take that are afforded her. They are split into two teams of five for their first two challenges, those teams pitting the top five scorers of the entrance exam versus the bottom five. Donning a wet suit, Daniel emerges from the water pit to introduce the first challenge: to diffuse an underwater bomb by solving problems which reveal the diffusing codes, which they must communicate to their diving colleague non-verbally. Their second challenge consists of one-on-one pistol duels, the winner of each duel having the ability to answer the previously asked questions. One member of the losing team in each of the two challenges goes to the danger zone for potential elimination. In both cases, they come to an easy consensus. That danger zone challenge has the two trying to identify and spell twenty items on a table. The losing competitor is the first eliminated from competition. That person is thwarted by not focusing on the small details.
- A behind the scenes look at the first season of the show is presented. The creative team first discuss the notion of what constitutes a know it all. Creator Brad Brough talks about how he came up with the show's concept, and how it was developed for the Discovery Channel. The creative team talk about the casting process, wanting a diverse group of competitors and a non-actor as the host, the latter which did not happen and which resulted in a bromance between Brough and eventual host, actor Daniel Fathers. They talk about wanting to develop challenges that were screen friendly, and solvable in complex and multidimensional ways. The "one take" nature of many of the challenges proved to be a challenge in and of itself in certain circumstances, which in turn demonstrated the fact that the competitors, in being know it alls, wanted to take control whenever possible but still play fair. The creative team and the competitors talk about their favorite and the most memorable challenges. And the competitors talk about their experience on the show, their interactions with each other, and how they came out of the show different than when they went in, the latter especially for the eventual winner, Ted Coffey.
- Bill Robinson is the first eliminated contestant, leaving nine in the running as Canada's Greatest Know-It-All. They are separated into two teams for the next two challenges, with the two highest scorers of the entrance exam on last week's blue team being this week's team captains who choose their respective teams. One member of the losing team for each of the two challenges goes into the danger zone for possible elimination. The first challenge is a three stage race each over a quarter mile. Each team is provided the exact same vehicle, which they will race against a higher powered vehicle. The objective is to drive their vehicle at its top speed to estimate getting to the finish line as close to the high powered vehicle as possible, with the team having the smallest cumulative time difference being the winner. The second challenge is to investigate a potential crime scene. Within a ninety minute time frame, each team must gather the evidence and present their findings to a panel of forensics experts, who will judge who was better at both the process and actually discovering the key pieces of evidence to solve the possible crime. The challenge for the two in the danger zone is to choose from a preset list of twenty names or things what their alternate name is from a list one one hundred possibilities, the one who gets to five correct being the winner, with the loser being eliminated from competition.
- Abe Qamminiq is the second eliminated contestant, leaving eight in the running as Canada's Greatest Know-It-All. With last week's blue team now down by two people, one person from the orange team must volunteer to switch teams for the next two challenges. The decision is relatively easy as two people clash on the orange team, with one of them volunteering. One member of the losing team for each of the two challenges goes into the danger zone for possible elimination. The first challenge is a two round two-on-two competition to build a bridge spanning a twenty-five foot gap over a body of water using only a minimal number of items provided to them. The objective is not to build the bridge itself, but to get both team members as far across their bridge as possible. In the two head-on-heads, the team that makes it across the structures the farthest in combination wins. The second challenge is to create the most impressive science fair project possible using only $1,000 worth of materials and seven hours to devise and construct their project. They will be judged by sixty-five winning science fair students. One person emerges from each team as the leader, one de facto, the other by design. The challenge for the two in the danger zone is to identify a total of nine organs in three different dissected animals. The competitor who identifies the fewest number of organs correctly will be the next eliminated from competition.
- The latest eliminated contestant is Doug Hicton, leaving seven in the running as Canada's Greatest Know-It-All. The next set of challenges tests the competitors' abilities to complete tasks while distracted. Using a combination of past results and self-choosing, they are separated into two new teams, the resulting teams which has the practical people versus the scientific minds. In each of the two team challenges, one person from the losing team will be sent to the danger zone for possible elimination. The first challenge has team members skydiving while trying to memorize letters placed on the landing pad below them. Using only those letters, the teams then have to create as many unique words than the other team, earning points only for those unique words, with each letter in those words earning one point. There is a significant bonus if all the letters are used in one word. The team with the most points after three such rounds wins. This challenge ends up testing whether some can overcome their fear, in some cases extreme fear, of skydiving. The second challenge, also over three rounds, is to build an item in each round, with one person given the instructions to build, who communicates the instructions to a second team member who is in an oversized beaker filling with water, that person who must in turn communicate how to build to a third team member, who must build that item. The team who is most complete in the actual build of the three items wins. The danger zone challenge is to remember a sequence of colors, while being distracted by excessive noise. Over three rounds, the competitor who gets the closest to remembering the sequences wins, with the loser eliminated from competition. This process brings up some bad blood between some, one who feels thrown under the bus by team members.
- Beth Furlong's elimination in a loss in the danger zone to Ben Eadie - his third such time in the danger zone out of a possible four - leads to Ben vowing revenge against Owen Garratt and Scott Gravelle who he believes threw him under the bus. The remaining six contestants are reorganized into two new teams of three apiece for the next two challenges, with one person on the losing team for each challenge going to the danger zone for potential elimination. The first team challenge is a two round one on knowing the world. The first round is creating an approximately three by ten meter sized world map to as much detail as possible. The second round tests the team's knowledge of the world in various categories and identifying the correct answer to each of the questions on the world map. The second team challenge, also in two rounds, is orienteering in a hilly forested area using only a topographical map as their guide. The first round is scored on total distance traveled, the second round on total time to complete the orienteering. The danger zone challenge is a combination Stratego/checkers match. The questions are whether Ben will head to the danger zone for the fourth time out of a possible five, and if so whether he will meet Owen or Scott in his wanted revenge.
- Ben Eadie's luck runs out as he is the next eliminated contestant in his fourth trip out of a possible five to the danger zone. One person from each of the losing teams in the next two team challenges will be sent to the danger zone for possible elimination. For the first challenge, the existing two man team has the opportunity to pilfer any contestant from the three man team they want. That challenge, held at Canada's Wonderland, has the teams answering questions about the science, engineering and/or experience of some of the extreme rides, requiring them to actually go on the rides, which doesn't sit well with some. For the second challenge, the existing two man team has the opportunity of returning the favor by pilfering any contestant from the three man team. That second challenge, in two parts, is about shooting guns. The first part has them building a potato gun using limited materials including PVC piping, hairspray as the propellant and a barbecue lighter as the igniter, the resulting gun which they are to shoot at and hit a target from three distances. Part two has them shooting a much larger already built air gun. Given different items as the ammunition and given distance to their target, they have to provide gun angle and in some cases power in PSI to get as close to their target as possible without going over, for which there is a significant penalty. In the danger zone, the two contestants show how much knowledge they can retain by performing tasks they are shown only once, with that demonstrator judging them on their performance. The tasks they are asked to perform are not quite what they expect.
- The elimination of Scott Gravelle, the well regarded front runner, leaves three in the finale: Carla Davidson, Owen Garratt and Andrew Rader. The loser of the first challenge is eliminated, leaving two heading into the final challenge. That first challenge, for which commentary is provided by Season 1 winner Ted Coffey, combines two Season 1 challenges which propelled Ted to victory, namely the disk hunt and the school bus drive. The final challenge is an ATV rally styled event with four parts between the rally races. Those four parts include creating and maneuvering a maze, putting together a jigsaw puzzle blindfolded, using an excavator to build a mound of sand to a specific height, and deciphering a code to reveal the winning phrase. At the end of this challenge, one of the two finalists is named Canada's Greatest Know-It-All Season 2.
- Laura Suen's elimination leaves four contestants standing, they who will now compete as individuals. Their first challenge, recycled from season one, is the pyramid of experience, where they are each asked the same ten questions about their experience on the show thus far, each provided with four answers from which to choose for each question. The contestant who answers all ten correctly the slowest - while not being told which answers they have incorrect, which makes this challenge more difficult than it seems since there are over one million possible combinations of answers - is sent to the danger zone for possible elimination. After that challenge, the four however are told that the loser in the first challenge has the possibility to redeem him/herself if he/she wins the next challenge with only half the resources of the other three. That second challenge, again with the loser going to the danger zone, is the old egg drop test, where, over three rounds, they must build a contraption to protect one dozen eggs being dropped. They get points for drop height as well as the number of unbroken eggs. In each of the three rounds, each contestant has a maximum spending limit, and is given a different type of specialty store in which they can shop. In the danger zone, the two contestants are pitted against each other in a bluffing question and answer contest. They are provided a set of questions from which to choose, and are given the correct answer. They have the option of telling their opponent the correct answer or a made up answer. Point are awarded for correctly guessing if their opponent is telling the truth or lying, with more point awarded for calling the other's bluff correctly.