Spelling nerds rejoice: national spelling bee in primetime

Is there anything geekier than a spelling bee? I think not, and yet -- in this strange new geekified world we’re suddenly living in -- this has not stopped the Scripps National Spelling Bee from, for the first time ever, airing on primetime network television. From the AP:

WASHINGTON - For the first time in its 79-year history, the National Spelling Bee — the original "reality TV" — will go prime time for next month's drama-filled finals. Thanks to recent movies, books and even a Broadway musical, young spellers are suddenly hot. After 12 years of showings by the sports cable network ESPN, the final rounds of the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee will be shown live Thursday evening, June 1, on the ABC network.
"I think we're ready for prime time and I think America is ready for spelling bees in prime time, too," Paige Kimble, the bee's director and its 1981 national champion, said in an interview Tuesday.

Part of the reason is how surprisingly popular films about spelling bees have been over the last couple of years -- the latest, Akeelah and the Bee (read my review at FlickFilosopher.com) is even about a girl geek, which alone is worth celebrating.

9 Comments

by Tonio Kruger on May 3, 2006 2:06 PM

Well, people who can spell words accurately are fast becoming extinct here in America, MaryAnn. Correct spelling apparently is part of the old ways, I reckon. We will not see its like in the future...

by David C on May 3, 2006 3:10 PM

"We will not see its like in the future..." Perhaps not. I'm constantly baffled by the now-common inability to correctly spell the words "loose" and "lose." (As in "Loose the hounds, Smithers! There's no time to lose!") I honestly don't remember seeing that particular spelling dysfunction until 10 years ago or thereabouts, but it's now pandemic.

by bonnie on May 3, 2006 5:26 PM

spelling errors have always abounded... i can tell you that a *lot* more than ten years ago, i broke up with a guy because he consistently spelled "hear" (as in what you hear) as "here" (as in, here, he misspelled "hear"). as well as confusing, they're, their and there, weather and whether and to, too and two. i work in a law firm and a lot of attorneys -- and secretaries! -- mix those words up AND misspell "received". *that* one really gets to me.

by tinman on May 3, 2006 5:39 PM

all this hype over spelling bees - they should have math & science bees instead -america is losing its science creds, or if it must be english - why not have vocabulary bees- where the participant must define the word and use it in a sentence - frankly who needs to spell correctly in the age of everpresent spell check IMHO-spelling skills are right up there next to diagramming sentences as part of the innane vagaries of detail that obssessed language police who make up the majority of elementary school english teachers use to extinguish our love for writing and literature -hacking it up with bright red pens...

by MaryAnn on May 3, 2006 9:42 PM

who needs to spell correctly in the age of everpresent spell check === Spell check wood knot ketchup awl the miss takes in this sentience, bee cause aviary would is spelled wright.

by Atul on May 4, 2006 5:04 PM

As a former spelling bee contestant who was one word away from going to Washington, I can say that spelling bees are more valuable than just memorizing spellings. You learn discipline, studying skills, and etymology too. I agree that we should have math and science "bees", but there are math/science academic competitions that are similar. They just don't get the recognition of the spelling bee. And I believe sentence diagramming actually did help my grammar, believe it or not. We should not be so quick to blame computers on people's inability to spell. Most of my misspellings are from errant typing. Spell check might make us careless, but it can also teach us the right spelling of words. I do agree that way too many people don't know the proper usage of words that are spelled similarly.

by Tonio Kruger on May 4, 2006 9:00 PM

True. People were misspelling words long before the advent of computers and no doubt will continue misspelling words long after they cease to be fashionable. Just as people made math errors long before the invention of calculators... BTW, anyone else have the perverse notion of trying to come up with the type of story that would use sentences like "Lose the hounds, Smithers! There's no time to loose!"? ;-)

by littlem on May 4, 2006 11:08 PM

They're not there with their suitcases, Smithers. We'll pass these on to tinman's "innane" friends. "Definately." *Shudder*

by tinman on May 6, 2006 1:09 PM

To: *sigh* littlem: you would probably do well on this quizz: http://quizilla.com/users/WickedGigglyMistress/quizzes/Are%20you%20a%20Spelling%20Nazi%3F

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Spelling nerds rejoice: national spelling bee in primetime

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