The Tester

TheTester.png
Genre Reality competition
Presented by Meredith Molinari
Judges Brent Gocke (Season 1-3)
Adrianne Curry (Season 2-3)
Hal Sparks (Season 1)
Various guest judges
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 25 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time 18 to 33 minutes (including advertisement)
Production company(s) 51 Minds Entertainment
Distributor Endemol
Release
Original network PlayStation Network
Original release February 18, 2010 – April 3, 2012
External links
Website
The Tester was a serialized reality program created by Sony Computer Entertainment
and produced by 51 Minds.[1] Notable as the first original live-action series
distributed on a video game console,[2] it features eleven or twelve contestants,
selected from thousands of applicants, competing in a variety of challenges to win
a job at Sony Computer Entertainment in quality assurance as a game tester with a
$5,000 signing bonus and a PlayStation 3 video game console. The winner of the
third season also earned an opportunity to work at SCE Santa Monica Studio as a
Production Associate on an unnamed PlayStation 3 title, a two-year lease on a 2012
Ford Focus Titanium edition and a Sony BRAVIA 3D Television. The first season
launched in North America on February 18, 2010 and new episodes were released
weekly until the finale aired on April 8, 2010. In its third season, the program is
available as a free download exclusively on the PlayStation Network. Full seasons
can also be streamed from the PlayStation website.

Contents
1 Format
2 Casting
3 Contestant progress
3.1 Season 1
3.2 Season 2
3.3 Season 3
4 References
5 External links
Format
The host, Meredith Molinari, guides the contestants through physical challenges
based on skills required of game testers, such as a critical eye for detail and
effective communication. Each week, with the exception of the finale, at least one
contestant is eliminated by a panel of three judges: release manager for Sony
first-party quality assurance Brent Gocke, American model Adrianne Curry (Hal
Sparks in season 1), and a special guest judge.

Eliminations are based on performance in the weekly challenges. The show is

notable, however, for occasionally breaking its own rules during these
eliminations. For instance, in the first episode of Season 3, instead of
eliminating 2 contestants, as planned, only one was voted out.

For the finale, the three remaining contestants race each other in a final
challenge with multiple chapters with the first contestant to complete all chapters
crowned "the tester." The show has since produced three winners: Will "Cyrus"
Powers from season 1, Matthew "Gaymer" Brown from season 2, and Wilson
"AkilleezMight" Santiago from season 3.[3][4]

Casting
After commenting on the success of the first season, Sony Computer Entertainment
America President and CEO Jack Tretton announced a second season on June 14, 2010
at Sony's keynote address at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010.[5] Auditions
were accepted through July 6, 2010, at which point community voting began.[6] Among
the 11 contestants chosen by Sony, the community-vote winner, "8-bit" Mickey
Paradis, also joined the cast as a twelfth member.[7] Season 2 began on November 2
with twelve brand new contestants. The first episode of the second season was made
available to PlayStation Plus subscribers on October 29, 2010. The series premiered
on November 2, 2010 with the finale on December 21, 2010.

The casting call for the show's third season began on August 4, 2011.[8] Auditions
and voting ended on September 17, 2011. The Top 100 were revealed on September 30,
with voting ending on October 5. The Final 20 was revealed on October 18, with Arin
"Egoraptor" Hanson revealed as the winner of The Casting Call on October 20, 2011,
after voting had ended. The third season premiered on the PlayStation Network on
February 7, 2012, with the finale on April 3, 2012.