Exclusive: Mayim Bialik, Bill Nye and Kevin Sorbo to Guest-Judge King of the Nerds Season 2

King of the Nerds is looking to make a big bang in Season 2.

The TBS reality competition, which returns on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 10/9c on TBS, has recruited The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik (who also happens to have a PhD in neuroscience) to serve as a guest judge, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively. Bill Nye the Science Guy, Hercules star Kevin Sorbo and Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder will also guest-judge, as will returning favorites George Takei and Yaya Han.

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Hosted by Revenge of the Nerds stars Curtis Armstrong and Robert Carradine, King of the Nerds pits 11 contestants up against each other in the ultimate nerd-off. Here are the names of the 11 nerds vying for the throne this season:

Brian, 27 from Urbana, Ill. — Library science scholar who enjoys German-style board games and discussing 18th-century European history. At one time, he had 100 books checked out from the Yale library.

Chris, 27 from Waco, Texas — Structural engineer who loves to travel and aspires to work in the space exploration industry.

Jack, 24 from Urbana, Ill. — Bioengineering student and fencing and chess champion who enjoys watching anime in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese.

Josh, 23 from Grayslake, Ill. — Game vlogger (with nearly 700,000 subscribers), nerdcore rapper and world competitor in card games. 

Katie, 24 from Pittsburgh, Pa. — Roboticist and puppeteer whose work has appeared on Broadway and who formerly performed in ballet companies.

Kayla, 28 from Greenacres, Wash. — An ice hockey player who also holds a master's degree in space studies and believes she will one day reach Mars.

Kelsey, 23 from Canton, Ga. —  Quad-lingual Japanophile who is equally as interested in playing video game music on the piano as she is keeping up with fantasy/sci-fi novels and swing dancing.

Mary Kate, 23 from Starkville, Miss. — Aerospace engineering student and avid costumer.

Nicole, 28 from Milwaukee, Wisc. —  Chemist, gamer and former marching band member who currently competes in a Milwaukee roller derby league.

Xander, 27 from Los Angeles, Calif. — Vlogger, graphic designer and LARP enthusiast who lost 100 pounds by playing a popular dance video game.

Zachary, 21 from Minneapolis, Minn. — Fantasy writer and hardcore gamer who has also memorized more than 300 hours of musical lyrics in genres ranging from J-pop to rock.

Check  out an exclusive sneak peek at the season below:

King of the Nerds premieres on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 10/9c on TBS. Who are you rooting for? Which guest judges are you excited to see?