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Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? is a television game show format based on asking grade-school level questions to adults. The format originated in the United States. The show's premise was originally created by Howard Stern and later copied by Mark Burnett. The show has since been replicated in several foreign countries; some under the same title, and some under modified titles. The first season of the show ranked 28th in the Nielsen Ratings, with an average of 12.8 million viewers per episode.
Each game is played by a single contestant who earns money incrementally based on a payout ladder by answering trivia questions, with the game themed as a school quiz.
The contestant is presented and he/she is entered in textbook for the grade level of the particular question. Some questions are multiple choice or true/false; others require the contestant to answer without any options.
Each correct answer moves the contestant up a payout ladder with a final bonus fifth grade question moving the contestant up one more step to the top prize. At any point up to the final question, the contestant may quit the game after seeing the question. For the final question, the contestant must decide whether to quit after seeing only the subject; if they choose to see the question, they must answer it.
There are five "classmates" in the game of approximately fifth-grade age who also answer each question in secret by writing their answers. These answers are sometimes used to create tension when the classmates answers do not correlate with the contestant's. Additionally, the contestant selects one of the classmates at the beginning of the game to help them during the game. Each classmate can only help for two questions, and then a new classmate must be selected.
The selected classmate provides the contestant with two "cheats", each of which may only be used once. The contestant may choose to "peek" at the classmate's paper, which allows them to see the classmate's answer before they give their own (once the peek is used the contestant must answer the question); the contestant may "copy" the classmate, which automatically locks the classmate's answer in as their own. In addition, the contestant has one "save" which comes into play after the contestant gives their first wrong answer. If the classmate has written the correct answer, they save the contestant; otherwise, the game ends and the contestant loses the game and wins nothing, unless they have correctly answered five questions, at which point they are guaranteed the fifth level of the payout ladder. The cheats are not available on the final question;[1] additionally, once all three cheats are used, the chosen classmate returns to the group and no new classmate is selected. The classmates continue to write answers for the questions, however, to be used for tension.
Upon leaving the game either by quitting, or answering incorrectly, the contestant must profess to the camera, "I am not smarter than a fifth grader."
The show has spawned many versions around the world:
- ^ "Episode AYS-109". Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. Fox Broadcasting Company. 2007-04-19. No. 09, season 1.
- ^ Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. Channel Ten. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
- ^ Нова тв игра тръгва по bTV през септември (Bulgarian). TvTv.bg (2007-08-16). Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (Portuguese). TvTv.bg (2007-08-16). Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ Global Signs Up for Canadian Version of Burnett Game Show. World Screen (2007-08-02). Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
- ^ Canada to get its French "5th Grader". Game Show Forum (2007-12-23). Retrieved on 2007-12-23.
- ^ Fassler, Kristina. Cordula Stratmann moderiert neue Sat.1-Wissens-Show "Das weiß doch jedes Kind" (German). ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
- ^ Staff, Pestiside. "New Dumb Game Show Shows Hungarians Smarter than Americans, Sort Of", Pestiside.hu, 2007-08-17.
- ^ Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old?. Eyeworks Touchdown. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
- ^ Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?. MNET - A Division of DStv. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
- ^ "Edmonds strikes kids quiz TV deal", BBC, 2007-05-24.