From a media release:

CANADA’S GREATEST KNOW-IT-ALL Returns to Discovery for a Must-See Second Season, Jan. 14

Inspiration strikes again! Back with 10 new players, and 23 even bigger and bolder challenges, CANADA’S GREATEST KNOW-IT-ALL returns to Discovery for a second explosive season, premiering Monday, January 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. An original Canadian series – and smash hit – from Boxing Cats Productions, Season 2 returns with eight new episodes – plus a bonus “Survival Guide to CANADA’S GREATEST KNOW-IT-ALL” wrap-up special – featuring 10 of the country’s biggest self-proclaimed smarties, competing head-to-head in a supersized arena of grit and wit. With physical and mental challenges designed to test their superior knowledge, problem-solving skills, leadership, cooperation, and game-playing strategy, this brains-and-brawn series is the perfect forum to test their mettle. The CGKIA Class of 2013 watched the epic and record-breaking first season, and think they know how to beat the game. But this will only be true for the last player standing…the one who claims the ultimate title of CANADA’S GREATEST KNOW-IT-ALL.

Watch as these Know-It-Alls are thrown out of an airplane and during a 40-second free-fall, must memorize the giant letters scattered in the landing field, then create as many words as possible in the “Free Fall Word Scramble” challenge; the KIAs must learn to SCUBA and develop a non-verbal language to de-code – and defuse – an underwater bomb; and also endeavour to destroy a coffee truck more than ¾-kilometers away with a bowling ball cannon by determining the angle of the barrel, power, and distance. Ka-boom! These are among the smart, spectacular and mind-bending challenges put to 10 of the country’s most passionate experimenters, super-geeks, and jacks-of-all-trades in their quest for the top.

But the race won’t be easy. The tests demand multi-layered problem-solving, independent thought and, (grudgingly), teamwork. Under the eye of host Daniel Fathers (THE TRANSPORTER, HEARTLAND), they compete with – and against – each other in challenges designed to prove which one of them knows the most about a lot of different stuff: how things are engineered, driven, built, powered, and even blown up! Every episode contains several complex and highly-entertaining group and individual tasks. The competitor with the fewest points after each episode’s final elimination challenge leaves the series.

Coming from a wide range of professions, experiences, and educational backgrounds, the competitors think they’re as smart as these challenges. And each is vying to prove that their “know-it-all” moniker is actually justified. It’s street smarts vs. book-smarts; common sense vs. theory; Ego vs. Id. Meet this season’s KNOW-IT-ALLs:

• Bill Robinson, age 65, from Madeira Park, British Columbia: A technological expert, Bill Robinson was one of Canada’s earliest computer programmers, and claims to be the creator of client servers – the precursor to online banking. A retired Renaissance man, he spends most of his time travelling and exploring the open seas on his sailboat. He’s searched for the remnants of the Fraser Expedition in the Arctic, and traversed waters just as far south.
• Carla Davidson, age 36, from Calgary, Alberta: A PhD biologist who specializes in flu vaccine development, Carla Davidson knows she can handle any challenge, no matter how dirty or infectious it is. She is super-competitive and fully expects to win.
• Ben Eadie, age 40, from Calgary, Alberta: Ben Eadie is a an inventor-at-heart, a tinkerer at his core, and a guy who always thinks he has the answer to most problems. He’s a Guinness World Record holder for human-powered transportation engineering. He has also been hit by lightning – twice. Wildly enthusiastic, always ready with an answer, Eadie loves to give input – even when no one’s asked.
• Scott Gravelle, age 40, from Calgary, Alberta: Scott Gravelle’s middle name is “competitive.” He never backs down and is confident that his ideas are consistently the best ones…and often they are. A champion hang glider, a long-board racer, and machine designer, Gravelle faces down his fears by taking them on. Outspoken, opinionated, talented, and driven, Gravelle claims his only competition is himself.
• Owen Garratt, age 44, from Spruce Grove, Alberta: Owen Garratt is a world-renowned artist who prides himself in getting every detail of everything in his life just right – but on his own terms. He learns by taking life by the horns and experiencing it. Adventurous travel, voracious reading, and swimming with sharks makes him supremely confident that he’s prepared for this competition.
• Abraham (Abe) Qamminiq, age 51, from Hall Beach, Nunavut: Born and raised in a Nunavut town of less than 700 people in a traditional Inuit (Inuktitut) culture, Abe Qamminiq possesses truly unique skills that set him apart from anyone else. Fix a car at -45 degrees? Check. Hunt, butcher, and prepare a polar bear? Check. He’s also worked as a Canadian Ranger and is a government liaison/translator. Unlike other competitors, Qamminiq relies on his knowledge and a unique skillset for daily survival – but can he survive among nine other Know-It-Alls?
• Andrew Rader, age 32, from Cambridge, Ontario: When Andrew Rader isn’t busy working on designing innovative spacecraft systems, this MIT Aerospace Engineering PhD graduate is hosting Star Wars dinner parties and creating complicated board games. Rader was a finalist in the Canadian Astronaut Selection in 2009 and fiercely clings to his lifelong goal – to help establish a human base on Mars – and go there himself.
• Laura Suen, age 23, from Mississauga, Ontario: Laura Suen’s just 23, but has done more in her short life than many do in a lifetime. A super high-achiever and gifted student, Suen is currently completing her Master’s Degree in physics. She’s built lasers, worked in biophysics and, despite her mild demeanor, she has a wildly competitive streak that dominates the online gaming world. A strategist by nature, Suen has the brains but must battle her lack of life experience to win.
• Doug Hicton, age 52, Toronto, Ontario: Doug Hicton is a JEOPARDY! Grand Master Champion…with an edge. He’s beat Watson (the IBM supercomputer), and revels in his broad base of trivia knowledge. But Hicton’s a “theoretical guy” and isn’t big on getting his hands dirty – can he overcome that obstacle to take the competition?
• Beth Furlong, age 27, from Pickering, Ontario: Beth Furlong is an adrenaline junkie who has a passion for extreme activities, competition, and feeding her insatiable hunger for knowledge. A straight-A student, Furlong studied genetics and telecommunications at university before becoming a commissioned officer, aircraft mechanic, and a pilot for the U.S. Air Force. Born in the U.S. and now married to a Canadian, she’s fiercely independent and loyal. She has flown in hostile territory and survived – so she can certainly survive this!