Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

For the original U.S. version, see Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? (U.S. game show).

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? is a game show franchise based on the television game show of the same name. The television show began broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company network as a special in the United States and Canada on February 27, 2007, and it grew to be popular enough that a half-hour-long syndicated TV series was developed by the owners.

Since then, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? has been replicated in several other countries, some versions under the same title, and some under modified ones. The first season of this TV program ranked 28th in the Nielsen ratings in the U.S., with an average of 12.7 million viewers per episode.[1] The status of the Fox-TV series following the summer of 2008 was unknown, but the syndicated TV show debuted in late-September 2009. Episodes from this series were also broadcast on MyNetworkTV one evening per week, and on the Country Music Television (CMT) channel it was broadcast on five evenings per week.

GSN began airing the show November 6, 2011 in five-hour blocks starting at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. They currently air Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Sunday nights.

In 2013, the show appeared in TV Guide's list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.[2]

Gameplay

Each game is played by a single contestant who earns money incrementally based on a payout ladder by answering simple trivia questions, with the game themed as a school quiz. The game relies on the premise that an adult would not know the information generally taught in elementary grade school, because it is rarely used in adult life by the type of person chosen to be a contestant.[1] Therefore, the show is essentially a test to see how much an adult has retained since graduating elementary school. The show also derives its humor by occasionally displaying the contestant's educational attainment, implying that in spite of that, they struggle to answer some questions.

The contestant is presented and chooses from a set of ten subjects and grade level question topics. The question is then revealed. 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 of $1,000,000. At any point up to the final question, the contestant may quit the game after seeing the question, and keep all money earned up to that point. For the final question, the contestant is only presented the subject and then must decide whether to continue or quit (and keep earned money). The contestant may not walk away after choosing to see the question. The contestant is not guaranteed any winnings until after the fifth question is answered correctly, at which point $25,000 is guaranteed.

Only two contestants have attempted to answer the final question and done so correctly:

Many celebrities have competed on this TV show on behalf of various charities. The rock 'n' roll star Gene Simmons of the band KISS dropped out with $500,000 for The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, making him one of the highest-winning celebrities to appear on the show. The subject of the Million Dollar Question was "Science", and the question was "What element is represented by the letter K in the periodic table?" Simmons said that he would have answered krypton, but the correct answer is actually potassium.

The 20-year-old Mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and the youngest mayor in the United States, John Tyler Hammons, appeared on October 24, 2008, winning $25,000 for his charity after missing the question "What's the name of the first American woman to travel to outer space?". Unsure of the correct answer (which is Sally Ride), he "copied" the 5th grader's answer, which was wrong.

Ken Jennings could have become the second person to win the million dollars but he decided not to go for the Social Studies million-dollar question ("U.S. President John Adams was a member of what political party at the time of his election?"). Upon seeing the question after dropping out of school, he answered it correctly (Federalist). However, his winnings of $500,000 were enough to regain the all-time game show winnings record from Brad Rutter, who had defeated him in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions to claim it (but Brad Rutter since reclaimed the title by winning in the Jeopardy! 2014 Battle of the Decades, where Rutter won the tournament, prize money of one million dollars, and the record as the highest money-winner ever on American game shows, which Jennings had held since 2008). Seven other contestants have also dropped out at the million-dollar question.

Correct Answer Value (original U.S. version)
1st Grade Questions 2nd Grade Questions 3rd Grade Questions 4th Grade Questions 5th Grade Bonus Question
$500 each $1,000 each $3,500 each $7,500 each 10 times earned value

There were five "classmates" (three since season 5) 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, he saves the contestant; otherwise, the game ends and the contestant loses the game and wins nothing, unless he correctly answers five questions, at which point he is guaranteed the fifth level of the payout ladder. This "save" no longer apply since season 5. The cheats are not available on the final question;[3] Additionally, once all the 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.

The classmates are generally the same throughout a season, and are given a "study guide" of possible question topics before the start of the season.[4] Since the classmates are not in an adversarial role with the contestants, this only serves to help the contestants if they use the "cheats." It does, however, give a misleading impression of the knowledge level of actual fifth-graders, since the classmates on the show rarely miss the questions, having been given study material in advance. In fact, the show's title is something of a misnomer, since contestants do not actually compete against the classmates, and the classmates' performance on the show is enhanced by study materials, although they still occasionally miss a question. The title was selected to make the show more interesting, specifically making adults look stupid and then exploiting the supposed "stupidity," which is an irony because adults are supposed to teach children.

Upon leaving the game either by quitting ("DROP OUT"), or answering incorrectly ("FLUNK OUT"), the contestant must profess to the camera, "I am not smarter than a fifth grader." However, if the million dollar question is answered correctly (which has only happened twice), the contestant has the opportunity to claim, "I am smarter than a fifth grader."

International versions

The show has spawned many versions around the world:

     Currently airing      No longer airing

Country Name Host Channel Air Date Language
 Argentina ¿Sabés más que un chico de 5to grado? Andrea Frigerio and Pablo Granados América (Channel 2) July 9, 2007 Spanish
 Australia Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?[5] Rove McManus Network Ten September 26, 2007 – October 30, 2009 English
 Austria Dreizehn Christian Clerici ORF1 September 27, 2007 German
 Belgium Slimmer Dan Een Kind Van 10? Goedele Liekens VT4 September 6, 2007 Dutch
Êtes-vous plus malin qu'un enfant de primaire ? Alain Simons RTL-TVI September 6, 2007 French
 Brazil Você é Mais Esperto Que um Aluno da Quinta Série?[6] Silvio Santos SBT September 23, 2007 Portuguese
 Bulgaria Това го знае всяко хлапе!
Tova go znae vsiako hlape!
[7]
Ivan & Andrei (2007-2008), Dimitar & Deo (2008-2009) bTV September 15, 2007 - February 20, 2009 Bulgarian
 Canada Are You Smarter than a Canadian 5th Grader?[8] Colin Mochrie Global October 25, 2007 – November 22, 2007 English
La classe de 5e[9] Charles Lafortune TVA February 5, 2009[10] French
 Cambodia តើអ្នកឆ្លាតជាងក្មេងថ្នាក់ទី៥ឬទេ? Doung Sokhea CTN September 14, 2012 Khmer
 Chile[11] ¿Sabes más que un niño de 5º básico? José Miguel Viñuela MEGA April 2, 2008 Spanish
 China 五年级救助队
Wŭ nián jí jiù zhù duì
[12]
Wang Han HNETV May 1, 2007 Standard Chinese
幸运52 幸运课堂
Xìng yùn 52 xìng yùn kè táng
Li Yong CCTV-2 June 1, 2007 Standard Chinese
谁比谁聪明
Shéi bĭ shéi cōng ming
[13]
Liu Ming-ming SZTV June 1, 2007[14] Standard Chinese
你能毕业吗?
Nĭ néng bì yè ma?
[15]
Duan Lei
Jia Ning
TJTV June 2, 2007 Standard Chinese
不考不知道
Bù kǎo bù zhī dào
[16]
Xu Rui SXTVS June 30, 2007[17] Standard Chinese
五年级插班生
Wǔ nián jí chā bān shēng
He Hao-peng Guangdong TV August 10, 2007[18] Cantonese
 Colombia ¿Sabes más que un niño de primaria? Jose Gabriel Ortiz Caracol TV February 20, 2008 Spanish
 Czech Republic Jsi chytřejší než páťák? Michal Suchánek & Richard Genzer TV Nova 2007 Czech
 Denmark Er Du Klogere End En 10-Årig? Jan Gintberg TV3 September 22, 2007 Danish
 Estonia Targem kui 5B Indrek Tarand TV3 September 13, 2008 Estonian
 Finland Fiksumpi kuin koululainen Nicke Lignell MTV3 November 6, 2008 Finnish
 France Êtes-vous plus fort qu’un élève de 10 ans ? Roland Magdane M6 September 3, 2007 French
 Germany Das weiß doch jedes Kind![19] Cordula Stratmann Sat.1 July 6, 2007 German
 Greece Είσαι πιο έξυπνος από ένα δεκάχρονο
Eísai pio éxypnos apó éna dekáchrono
[20]
Sophia Aliberti ANT1 January 19, 2008 Greek
 Hong Kong 係咪小兒科
Hai Mai Siu Yi Fo
[21][22][23]
Leo Ku TVB October 25, 2008 – November 16, 2009 Cantonese
 Hungary Okosabb vagy mint egy 5-es? Attila Till TV2 August 24, 2007 Hungarian
 Iceland Ertu skarpari en skólakrakki? Gunnar Hansson Skjár 1 October 21, 2007 Icelandic
 India Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?[24] Shahrukh Khan STAR Plus April 25, 2008 – July 27, 2008 Hindi
 Indonesia Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Indonesia Indy Barends
Syahrini (TBA)
Global TV
RCTI
April 4, 2009 - 2010
2016-TBA
Indonesian
 Israel ?'האם אתה חכם יותר מתלמיד כיתה ו
Ha'im ata hakham metalmid kitah vav?
Eyal Kitzis Channel 2 July 2007 Hebrew
 Italy Sei più bravo di un ragazzino di 5ª? Massimiliano Ossini / Riccardo Rossi Sky Uno / cielo October 6, 2008 - 2011 Italian
 Japan クイズ あなたは小学5年生より賢いの?
Kuizu anata wa shogaku 5-nensei yori kashikoi no?[25]
Takashi Suzuki NTV April 24, 2011 Japanese
 Latvia Vai tu esi gudrāks par 5 klasnieku? Māris Olte TV3 September 8, 2007 Latvian
 Lithuania Penktokų iššūkis Andrius Rožickas TV3 September 2, 2007 Lithuanian
 Malaysia Are You Smarter than a 4th Grader? Unknown TV3 1 October 2007 - 30 September 2008 Malay
 Mexico Todo el mundo cree que sabe Marco Antonio Regil Televisa June 13, 2009 Spanish
 Mongolia Ta 5-p aʜгɴňʜ
 Myanmar ၅တန္းနဲ႔ျပိဳင္ ဘယ္သူႏုိင္ Unknown Channel 7 2013 Burmese
 Netherlands Ben je slimmer dan een kind? Erik van der Hoff Net 5 September 2, 2007 Dutch
 New Zealand Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?[26] Dominic Bowden TV2 September 9, 2007 English
 Norway Er du smartere enn en 5. klassing? Sturla Berg-Johansen TV2 March 9, 2012 Norwegian
 Peru Sabes más que un niño de primaria? Bruno Pinasco América Televisión April 27, 2014 Spanish
 Philippines Kakasa Ka Ba Sa Grade 5? Janno Gibbs GMA Network October 27, 2007 – May 9, 2009
March 21, 2009 - March 28, 2009
Filipino (Tagalog)
 Poland Czy jesteś mądrzejszy od 5-klasisty? Robert Korólczyk / Marzena Rogalska TV Puls October 29, 2007 Polish
 Portugal Sabe Mais Do Que Um Miúdo De 10 Anos? Jorge Gabriel RTP1 September 17, 2007 (1st edition)

June 30, 2008 (2nd edition)

Portuguese
 Romania Te crezi mai deştept decât un copil de clasa a 5-a? Virgil Ianţu Prima TV 2007-2008 Romanian
 Russia Кто умнее 5-классника?
Kto umnee 5-klassnika?
Alexandr Pushnoy CTC December 9, 2007 Russian
 Serbia Da li ste pametniji od đaka petaka? Voja Nedeljković Fox televizija September 2007 Serbian
 Slovakia Ste chytrejší ako piatak? Peter Marcin TV Markiza 2007 Slovak
 Slovenia Ste pametnejši od petošolca? TBA POP TV TBA Slovene
 South Africa Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?[27] Soli Philander M-Net January 27, 2008 English
 Spain ¿Sabes más que un niño de primaria? Ramón García Antena 3 June 28 - December 1, 2007
July 14 - August 18, 2008
Spanish
 Sri Lanka Punchi Pahe Man Vijaya Nandasiri Sirasa TV 2008 Sinhala
 Sweden Smartare än en femteklassare Lasse Kronér SVT1 March 19, 2011 Swedish
 Taiwan 百萬小學堂
Bǎi wàn xiǎo xuétáng
Zhang Xiao-yan (張小燕, 1st edition)
Bowie Tsang (曾寶儀) and Xiaoxia (小蝦) (2nd edition)
TTV October 3, 2008 – May 3, 2013 Standard Chinese
 Thailand ถ้าคุณแน่? อย่าแพ้ เด็ก (ประถม)!
T̄ĥā khuṇ næ̀? Xỳā phæ̂ dĕk (prat̄hm)!
[28][29]
Kanit Sarasin Thai TV 3 October 1, 2007 (1st edition)
October 13, 2008 – April 29, 2010 (2nd edition)
Thai
 Turkey 5'e Gidenden Akıllı Mısın? Tolga Gariboğlu STAR TV June 2007 Turkish
 Ukraine Чи розумніший ти за п’ятикласника?
Chy rozumnishiy ty za p'yatyklasnyka?
Serhiy Prytula Novyi Kanal January 6, 2008 Ukrainian
 United Kingdom Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?[30] Noel Edmonds
(primetime)
Damian Williams
(daytime)
Sky One 7 October 2007 – 24 April 2010 English
 United States Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? (Fox Primetime) Jeff Foxworthy Fox February 27, 2007 – September 18, 2009
May 26, 2015 - TBA
English
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? (20th Television daily version) Syndicated by 20th Television September 21, 2009 – March 24, 2011
 Vietnam Ai thông minh hơn học sinh lớp 5? Tạ Minh Tâm (2009-2010) HTV2 June 21, 2009 – June 20, 2010 Vietnamese
Thanh Bạch (June 27, 2010 – January 10, 2013)
Trấn Thành (January 17, 2013 – January 9, 2014)
VTV3 January 19, 2012 – January 9, 2014 (2nd revived) Vietnamese
Bình Minh (February 16, 2014 – present) VTV6 February 16, 2014 – April 5, 2015 Vietnamese
HTV7 April 22, 2015 - April 13, 2016 (3rd revived)

Video game

On October 20, 2008, developer THQ released the first video game, titled Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?: Make the Grade, for the PC, PS2, Nintendo DS, Wii, and Xbox Live Arcade. The Xbox Live Arcade version as of mid 2010 was delisted from the Xbox Live Game Marketplace.

A sequel Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Game Time was released on October 26, 2009 for Nintendo DS, Wii and Xbox 360.

Capcom Mobile released a game based on the game show for iOS devices called "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader 2010" in 2009.

In 2012, Ludia released a free game based on the game show called "Are You Smarter than a 5th grader? & Friends" for iOS devices.

In 2015, GameMill Entertaiment released a game based on the 2015 FOX Primetime revival for the Nintendo 3DS.

DVD game

Parker Bros. released a DVD game based on the show. Unlike the show, the player can only pick one classmate for the whole game, and has a choice of 20 games. A 2-player mode is also available.

Video Slot Machine

In 2014, AGS (American Gaming Systems)[31][32] released a slot machine game based on the show (along with Family Feud and Ripley's Believe It or Not) as part of their "It Pays to Know" series of games. The base of the game is a five-reel scatter pay video slot on a four-by-five, yielding 1,024 possible winning combinations on every spin. packed with bonus event like: "Free Spin Events", "Picking Bonuses" & "Mystery Awards". In the game, players are prompted to choose one of the four "Helpers" fall-backs like eliminating one of the four possible multiple-choice answers or it's stats on how the audience would answer the question. The layer is then given a first-grade question and then tries to answer it correctly. The earlier the correct answer is picked, the higher the award. Answering a question correctly within three times advance the grade level and the game goes on. Completing the "Gold Star Bonus" in which the player picks from a field of five stars to reveal an advance award. In addition to the "Helper" picked at the beginning, the player can earn any of the three "cheats" by landing symbols on the primary game:

References

  1. 1 2 2006-07 primetime wrap
  2. Fretts, Bruce (June 17, 2013). "Eyes on the Prize", TV Guide, pp. 14 and 15.
  3. "Episode AYS-109". Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?. Season 1. Episode 09. 2007-04-19. Fox Broadcasting Company.
  4. Camarillo fifth-grader joins class on 'Smarter' game show : Lifestyle : Ventura County Star Archived April 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?". Channel Ten. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  6. "Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão" (in Portuguese). TvTv.bg. 2007-08-16. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  7. "Нова тв игра тръгва по bTV през септември" (in Bulgarian). TvTv.bg. 2007-08-16. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  8. "Global Signs Up for Canadian Version of Burnett Game Show". World Screen. 2007-08-02. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  9. "Official website of the new show". TVA. 2008-03-05. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  10. "Canada to get its French "5th Grader"". Game Show Forum. 2007-12-23. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  11. "¿Sabes más que un niño de 5° básico?". mega.cl. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  12. http://www.hnetv.com/07zhuanti/5nianji/index.htm
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  14. http://ante.blog.sohu.com/49566640.html
  15. http://tjtv.big5.enorth.com.cn/system/2007/05/23/001675067.shtml
  16. http://yule.sohu.com/s2007/bkbzd/
  17. http://yule.sohu.com/20070620/n250677284.shtml
  18. http://ent.qq.com/a/20090225/000177.htm
  19. Fassler, Kristina. "Cordula Stratmann moderiert neue Sat.1-Wissens-Show "Das weiß doch jedes Kind"" (in German). ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2008-01-27. tv.antenna.gr
  21. http://event.tvb.com/areyousmarter
  22. http://event.tvb.com/areyousmarterthanthefifthgrader/
  23. http://programme.tvb.com/variety/areyousmarterthan5thgrade2/
  24. "Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?". STAR TV. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  25. http://www.ntv.co.jp/svf/20110424.html
  26. "Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old?". Eyeworks Touchdown. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  27. "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?". MNET — A Division of DStv. Archived from the original on 5 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  28. "If You Know? Do not Lose G4!". BEC Tero Entertainment PCL. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  29. "If You Know? Do not Lose G4!". BEC Tero Entertainment PCL. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  30. "Edmonds strikes kids quiz TV deal". BBC. 2007-05-24.
  31. http://ggbmagazine.com/issue/vol-13-no-7-july-2014/article/are-you-smarter-than-a-5th-grader
  32. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2015-01-18.

External links

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