Some may consider it to be a put-down but for one Powell River woman it will be all about pride as she competes on a new television show to be declared the biggest know-it-all in Canada.
Jennifer Salisbury, originally from the United States, is one of 10 contestants competing on Discovery Channel’s new show Canada’s Greatest Know-It-All. The show, which premiers on Monday, January 30, pits smarty-pants contestants against each other in a series of skill and know-how testing challenges to determine who is the greatest know-it-all in the nation.
In August, 2010, while at a family reunion at Christina Lake, BC, Salisbury read about the casting call for the show and filled out an application with her family, more for fun than anything. She said her application came out more humorous and sarcastic than sincere and she never had any expectations of it going anywhere. It wasn’t until April, 2011, she got a call from the show. Not long after she found herself being flown to Ontario for filming.
Salisbury said her wide-ranging background and academic experience makes her a know-it-all. She has two masters degrees, is working on a doctorate and is a certified nuclear engineer. She ran reactors for the US Navy on the USS Enterprise and has military training. A natural love for challenge and an ability to see multiple perspectives on a problem also add to her intellectual skills. Add to that the fact Salisbury hunts elk and she seems like the perfect combination of smarts and ability for the show.
The series was filmed over the course of a month somewhere near Toronto, although Salisbury isn’t allowed to reveal exactly where. She said going into the show she had no idea what she would be doing, who else would be on the show or really anything at all about the program.
“It was really interesting to have to totally let go of control because...I’m a control freak,” said Salisbury. “We just knew that they weren’t going to put us in situations that were going to injure us, because that would be bad for them and us.”
Salisbury said she has watched reality television series before and thought the level of drama and competition between participants couldn’t have possibly been as bad as portrayed. On her show though things did heat up and she found out just how stressful a competition like this can be.
“The whole notion that there was an elimination aspect to it was very frightening,” said Salisbury. “It was very frightening that ‘oh my gosh, I could be eliminated or one of my friends could be eliminated. I just want to keep playing this game.’”
Despite the opportunity, however, Salisbury said she stayed away from confrontational situations and refused to play dirty. She said she also refused to try to play to the audience and think of her participation as a performance. In the end, Salisbury strived to be the best person she could be and not worry about the outcome.
“I could have been awful...I could have just shredded some people. But why? What’s the purpose of that?” she said.
Of course, Salisbury already knows how the show ends but she is not giving any hints on the final outcome. She said some people have tried to draw it out of her but her lips are sealed so tight even her husband doesn’t know how it turned out.
Salisbury said she learned a lot about herself through the experience of being on the show and that she had a good time overall. She is still in contact with the other participants and made some good friends. She also said she gave it her all and, whatever the outcome, is proud of her performance.
To share her experience with her community Salisbury has rented Evergreen Theatre at the Powell River Recreation Complex for a showing of the first and seventh episodes of the eight-episode series. She will be getting together with the one other BC contestant for the final episode, hence screening the seventh in Powell River.
Both screenings will run from 7 to 8 pm, with doors opening at 6:30 pm. The first episode will be broadcast at the Evergreen on Monday, January 30 and the seventh episode will be broadcast on March 12. There is no charge for admission but viewers are encouraged to bring either food or money as a donation for the local Salvation Army, who will be present at the theatre.
All eight episodes will air at 7 pm Mondays on Discovery Channel and, after broadcast, on its website.
