Mental Samurai is a game show on Fox in which the contestants play mental agility games to test their knowledge, while being moved around in a giant robotic arm. The winner/best performer in each episode return in the finale to compete for grand cash prize of $250,000. The show is hosted by Rob Lowe. Mental Samurai premiered on Fox in March 2019. The first season had ten episodes and ended in May 2019.
Mental Samurai is created by Arthur Smith and Mike Darnell. Arthur Smith, Toby Gorman, Jeff Apploff and Noah Bonnett serve as executive producers on Mental Samurai. The official website of the show defines the concept to be this-
“Rob Lowe hosts this mental obstacle course that sees contestants battling the boundaries of their minds to answer questions accurately with speed and precision. Not only does the course test their acumen in categories of knowledge, memory, puzzles and sequencing, but players must also contend with being physically transported around the set at high speeds in a specially designed capsule capable of rotating 360 degrees. People from all walks of life compete — underdogs triumph — in the game that anyone can play, but almost no one can win.”
Mental Samurai Season 2: When is it coming?
The first season of Mental Samurai saw average demo rating of 0.53 in the 18-49 category and an average of 1.77 million viewers across its ten episode first season run. The show had solid ratings as compared to similar shows during the same time period, which prompted the renewal of the show for a second season. Rob Wade, Fox’s president of alternative entertainment and specials, said this about the renewal of the show for a second season-
“When the show launched, we looked at the ratings and they were OK; it didn’t overperform, but we were proud of what we did. As summer came and we saw how shows performed on all networks, it was obvious that actually, the [Mental Samurai] ratings were pretty solid.”
Mental Samurai was renewed for season 2 in February 2020, and was supposed to premiere on April 22, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show was postponed to an unannounced date. The show is now supposedly set to begin shooting in Lisbon, Portugal. The second season will be filmed over a period of a number of days, and considering post-production and editing, could air some time in early 2021.