Wil Wheaton has gotten a reputation over the years for being an expert on all things nerdy, and while it may have stemmed from his well-articulated manner of speaking or his role on Star Trek: The Next Generation, it probably has something to do with his love of geekdom and all its accoutrements. Wheaton has described himself as a “nerd enthusiast”, so when he decided to pitch an idea for a new show to Syfy, they immediately jumped on board.

“They loved the idea. They wanted the show to be a destination for geeks. They thought I was the person to open that door,” Wheaton said.

The show, titled The Wil Wheaton Project, is described as a sort of Talk Soup for nerds. Wheaton, who has been a popular online presence for quite a while now regarding nerd culture–and has built up a huge following–says the project will be a mashup of all the things that are big right now in “nerd” world. Luckily for him, they happen to be things he loves.

“It’s…just sort to taking all of the things that I love and all of the things that I do in relation to the things that I love and putting it into a television format that people understand and know what to expect from. Somebody said to me it’s sort of like everything I do on the Internet converted to television, which I think is pretty accurate,” he said.

Wheaton made headlines earlier this year when a video taken at a comic con went viral. In it, Wheaton addresses a young girl in the panel’s crowd who asked about whether he was called a nerd as a kid, and how he dealt with it. The girl, as it turned out, had been bullied at school, and Wheaton’s response was so articulate and brilliant that it got a huge response from the audience.

The Wil Wheaton Project is a weekly show and aired its debut on Tuesday night.

Image via Wikimedia Commons