On the Spot is an American weekly syndicated television series that debuted in September 2011. The series is produced and distributed by Bellum Entertainment Group.
| On the Spot | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Trivia |
| Written by | Jen Skelly |
| Directed by | Peter McDonnell |
| Narrated by | Pete Sepenuk |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 33 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Peter McDonnell |
| Producer | Matthew Coccoluto (assistant) |
| Editor | Matt Fisher |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company | Bellum Entertainment Group |
| Original release | |
| Network | First-run syndication |
| Release | September 18, 2011 |
Synopsis edit
On the Spot is a weekly syndicated trivia show that asks entertaining questions from different categories including untold history, globetrotting, origins, supernatural, in sickness and in health, myths, now and then, record setters, mad science and bad ideas. Example questions include:
Can a cow have an accent?
What came first, the color orange or the fruit?
As a kid, did Napoleon hate the French?
Was the name Google an accident?
Who got the world's longest standing ovation?
The show first aired nationally on September 18, 2011. The first 13 episodes were hosted by Eric Schwartz and included man-on-the-street segments where everyday people were asked the trivia questions (and many got the answers wrong), which led to each question being answered and explained. Later episodes had only unseen narrator Pete Sepenuk.
Episode Guide edit
Season 1 edit
On The Spot premiered its first season in 2011 and aired across 90% of the United States.
| Episode Number | Episode Name | About |
|---|---|---|
| 101 | History, Transportation, Astronomy | From Columbus to Ponce de Leon, the horse to horsepower, and Galileo to the order of the planets. |
| 102 | Animals, Geography of North America, Math | From insects to polar bears, the Great Lakes to the Not So Great Lakes, and the Pythagorean Theorem to endless Pi. |
| 103 | Money, Plans, World Geography | From dollar bills to financial abbreviations, fruits to chromosomes, and a new ocean to a globe gone south. |
| 104 | Government, Sports, Music | From presidents to the Supreme Court, the first Olympics to Jackie Robinson, and orchestras to air guitar. |
| 105 | Climate, Language, Health | From the last ice age to the hottest place on Earth, an antonym for antonym to a metaphor, and calories to the secret about stretching. |
| 106 | Inventors, Agriculture, Mythology | From the light bulb to the internet, livestock to the real cash crop, and Zeus to the Minotaur. |
| 107 | Explorers, Culture, Economics | From the South Pole to the moon, slurping soup to feng shui, and purchasing power to monopoly. |
| 108 | Human Skeleton, Visual Art, American History | From your head to your phalanges, Van Gogh to the rainbow, and the American Revolution to the industrial one. |
| 109 | Natural History Early Technologies, Food Science | From sabertooth cats to America's first people, the history of pencils to the history of knives, and why popcorn pops and we have only five tastes. |
| 110 | Civil War, Business, Weather | From Lincoln to Lee, CEO's to the S&P, and tornados to the speed of lightning. |
| 111 | U.S. Presidents, Chemistry, Performing Arts | From Obama and Reagan, hot air to hydrogen, and Chaplin to Buster Keaton. |
| 112 | Medieval Times, Astronomy, Energy | From the Crusades to catapults, Earth's rotation to Jupiter's moons, and OPEC to windmills. |
| 113 | U.S. Capitals, Oceans, Dinosaurs | From the smallest capital to the highest, the Great Barrier Reef to volcanoes, and T-Rex to ancient birds. |
| 114 | Sports, Geography, Science | From the first Olympic gold to the oldest Olympic athlete, the longest geographical name to countries within countries, and the brains of geniuses to animals with accents. |
| 115 | Health, Food, History | From your number one fear to hiccups, the history of the baker's dozen to the origin of orange, and blitzkriegs to "bless your." |
| 116 | Science, People, Animals | From the foundation of the universe to a jiffy, spies who become leaders to Nobel Prizes, and speedy hippos to weird pets. |
| 117 | Technology, Travel, Music | From the first photograph to the creation of the Internet, the wonders of the world to death by lightning, and platinum albums to 5-year old composers. |
| 118 | Geography, Culture, History | From the first Academy Awards to the easternmost state, pirates to the discovery of Antarctica, and unfurnished German apartments to politely sticking out your tongue. |
| 119 | Health, History, Science | The happiest country; the word "robot"; predictions. |
| 120 | Animals, History, People | From naked mole rats to the animals of 1492, the real reason it's called America to Civil War surgeries, and Charles Lindbergh to Jackie Robinson. |
| 121 | Geography, Science, Health | From the reason North is up to the fight over the number of oceans, the history of climate change to the truth about vegetables, and the skinny on stretching to the medical benefit of hugs. |
| 122 | Science, History, the Arts | From the reason cheese tastes good to the air pressure on Everest, the first pencil to the poleaxe, and Harry Houdini to Charlie Chaplin. |
Season Two edit
The second season of On The Spot debuted September 16, 2012 and is currently airing across 91% of the United States.
| Episode Number | Episode Name | About |
|---|---|---|
| 201 | What It's Worth, Problem & Solution, Globetrotting | From the value of a first edition of the Bible to a 1943 penny, the breakfast food that can kill ants to the food you can use to shave, remove make up, and polish your shoes, and the world's most dangerous pool to its most dangerous beach. |
| 202 | Mad Science, Myths, Who Said That? | From a headless chicken to Martian radio signals, the truth about alligators in sewers to the man-made objects you can see from outer space, and what Juliet really means when she asks "wherefore art thou Romeo" to the real origin of the phrase, "Elementary, my dear Watson." |
| 203 | Supernatural, In Sickness & In Health, Record Breakers | From Roswell to alien radio signals, how to tame claustrophobia to that bacterial laden piece of technology in your pocket, and records broken in surfing, cookies, hula hoops, and fishing, to the hilarious story of how the Guinness Book of Records got started. |
| 204 | What's In a Name, Now and Then, On the Menu | From the origin of the words "trivia" and "sideburn," to how Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Earth itself have changed, to unusual foods such as poutine, blood pudding, and "toad in the hole" to the Museum of Burnt Food. |
| 205 | Untold History, Get Creative, Origins | From cannibalism to the jobs dictators had before they were dictators, to the Golden Age of Television and the "armonica" instrument, to the origins of the Pony Express, wedding gowns, candy canes, and gift shops. |
| 206 | What Could Have Been, Conspiracies, Identify This | From the wrong turn that started World War I and how the Titanic disaster could have been averted, to code cracking and a $2 million car, to braving Niagara Falls in a barrel and the world's biggest Ferris wheel. |
| 207 | Bad Ideas, Oddities, Mad Science | From plane crashes in Beverly Hills and airbag underwear, to teenage popes and wild Arizona camels, to the doctor who tested catheters on himself and superhero mice. |
| 208 | Record Breakers, What It's Worth, In Sickness & In Health | From breaking the sound barrier on land and in the air, to selling the Eiffel Tower and the price of some very famous dentures, to working out in zero gravity and the astounding weight of all the bacteria in your body. |
| 209 | Problem & Solution, Who Said That?, Supernatural | From the home remedy for itches to the best solutions for missing recipe ingredients, to famous quotes from comedians, politicians, writers, and actors, to the secret behind crop circles, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness monster. |
| 210 | What's In a Name?, Now and Then, Myths | From the history of French Fries and fast food, to whether or not cell phones can pop popcorn, cause fires, and disorient planes, to the truth about ninjas, Viking warriors, and Billy the Kid. |
| 211 | Untold History, Globetrotting, Oddities | From gladiators to an amazing escape, the world's shortest war to its longest, to the amazing sights off Route 66, zorbing, graveyards, and a petrified giant. |
| 212 | What Could Have Been, Get Creative, Identify This | From crazy ideas for exploring space to the amazing plan for an unsinkable aircraft carrier, the surprising uses for goat's milk and spider webs, to hybrid animals, animals that can paint, and the most extreme close-ups of everyday things. |
| 213 | Origins, Supernatural, Bad Ideas | From the first hot air balloons and submarines to the common origin of many car companies, to the time travel, superheroes, mermaids, geniuses, and immortality, to three-wheeled cars, flying cars, and the brave first test of a flight suit. |
| 214 | Mad Science, Myths, Claim to Fame | From the science behind invisibility to what's really behind sightings of zombies and vampires, to the mummy's curse, presidential claims to fame, and the world's most amazing streets. |