Brain Games (2011 TV series)

Brain Games is an American popular science television series that explores cognitive science by focusing on illusions, psychological experiments, and counterintuitive thinking. The series debuted on National Geographic in 2011 as a special. Its return as an original series in 2013 set a record for the highest premiere rating for any National Geographic original series with 1.5 million viewers.

Neil Patrick Harris was the unseen narrator in the first season, replaced by Jason Silva for the remainder of the series as its host and presenter; in addition, sleight-of-hand artist Apollo Robbins has been a frequent consultant and illusionist guest on the show. As time passed, Magician Eric Leclerc took over this role in seasons 4 and 5. The show is interactive, encouraging television viewers, often along with a handful of live volunteers, to engage in visual, auditory, and other cognitive experiments, or "brain games", that emphasize the main points presented in each episode. Experts like Sri Sarma also explain why humans react in a certain way because of the brain.

The series is deemed acceptable for use toward E/I credits, and Litton Entertainment added repurposed reruns of the show to its One Magnificent Morning block in fall 2017.

In December 2019, it was announced that a new format of this series, hosted by Keegan-Michael Key, would premiere on January 20, 2020; neuroscientist Daniel Levitin was brought in as a script consultant for the season to ensure accuracy. Its sneak peek was played on December 29, 2019. On January 17, 2020, a ninth season was announced, but production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ninth season was branded as "Brain Games: On the Road", and was hosted by Chuck Nice and was released on both National Geographic and Disney+.

Main

 * Neil Patrick Harris – Narrator (season 1)
 * Jason Silva – host (season 2–7)
 * Keegan-Michael Key – host (season 8)
 * Chuck Nice – host (season 9)
 * Apollo Robbins – sleight-of-hand artist, "deception specialist" (season 1)
 * Eric Leclerc – illusionist
 * Max Darwin – illusionist
 * Ben Bailey – comedian
 * Jay Painter – comedian (season 2 episode 5, "Power of Persuasion")
 * Andrei Jikh – cardist (season 4 episode 9, "Patterns")
 * Shara Ashley Zeiger – improviser
 * Bill Hobbs – author
 * Jordan Hirsch – improviser
 * Amanda Hirsch – improviser
 * Lior Suchard – mentalist (season 8)

Featured

 * Art Shapiro – American University
 * Amy Bastian
 * Alex Todorov – Princeton University
 * Brady Barr
 * Brian Scholl – Yale University
 * Coren Apicella – psychologist, University of Pennsylvania
 * Chess Stetson – Caltech
 * Dan Simons
 * Daniel Goldstein – Microsoft Research
 * Frans de Waal – Emory University
 * Forrest Griffin – UFC fighter (season 3 episode 8, "Mind Your Body")
 * Helen Fisher – anthropologist, Rutgers University
 * Jim Coan – psychologist, University of Virginia
 * Jonah Berger – University of Pennsylvania
 * Joshua Ackerman – MIT
 * Kamran Fallahpour – Brain Resource Center
 * Karen Wynn
 * Laurie R. Santos – Yale University
 * Mark Changizi – theoretical neurobiologist
 * Michael Bisping – UFC fighter (season 3 episode 8, "Mind Your Body)
 * Rhoda Boone – Food artist (season 4 episode 7, "Food")
 * Shankar Vedantam – NPR science correspondent
 * Steve Schirripa (season 2 episode 12, "Liar, Liar")
 * Susan Carnell – Johns Hopkins University
 * Suzanne Dikker – New York University
 * Sri Sarma – Asst. Professor, Johns Hopkins University
 * Scott Barry Kaufman
 * Sara Mednick – University of California
 * Harrison Greenbaum – Debunker of Physic Phenomenon (season 4 episode 6, "Superstition")
 * Dave Goelz – Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
 * David Rudman – Beaker
 * Daniel Levitin – Professor, McGill University

Production
National Geographic announced that the show would return as a 2-hour live event in the fall of 2018, but no live event has been broadcast.

Season 1 (2011)
Season 1 consists of three one-hour pilot episodes.

Season 2 (2013)
Jason Silva takes over as the new host.

Season 3 (2013–14)
Often games are less intense than season 2 and experiments with random people on the street are done.

Season 4 (2014)
Graphics get an update. The show introduces new experts and illusionists/magicians.

Season 5 (2015)
Shocking fails, moments, and confusion show how the brain can be easily deterred from its goal. The show abandons the studio in favor of more real-life application.

Season 6 (2015)
How the brain acts and thinks is explored. The show continues to abandon the transparent studio for real-life experiences.

Season 7 (2016)
Episodes are now one hour. The show is told from a real-world perspective with Jason Silva outside in the world with real people. Small games the audience can play along with are shown as well.

Season 9: On the Road (2022)
The show is now a competition and takes place outside. Teams of 4 compete in challenges. This show is separate from the seasons before it and is a spin-off series.