"Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" (2007/I) TV series

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Creators:

Barry Poznick
John Stevens

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | unknown

Release Date:

27 February 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Game-Show

Plot:

A quiz show that features adult contestants and questions directly from the textbooks of first through fifth graders.

Plot Keywords:

Quiz Show | Punctuation In Title | Question In Title | Non Fiction | Number In Title

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 9	11:00 PM	CMTV
Mon. Nov. 9	11:30 PM	CMTV

Cast

Jeff Foxworthy	...	Himself - Host / ... (39 episodes, 2007-2009)
Kyle Collier	...	Himself / ... (23 episodes, 2007)
Alana Ethridge	...	Herself / ... (23 episodes, 2007)
Jacob Hays	...	Himself / ... (23 episodes, 2007)
Spencer Martin	...	Himself / ... (23 episodes, 2007)
Mark Thompson	...	Himself - Announcer (21 episodes, 2007)
Bryce Cass	...	Himself (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Olivia Dellums	...	Herself (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Francesca Derosa	...	Herself (16 episodes, 2008-2009)

Also Known As:

5th Grader (USA) (short title)
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (USA) (alternative spelling)
Fifth Grader (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

USA:60 min (including commercials) | 30 min (including commercials) (4 Episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Zoo Productions

Trivia:

The host and kids wear the same clothes every episode.

Quotes:

Alana Etheridge: [while contestant carefully deliberates] Can you just pick an answer, man!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 12 Rounds (2009)

Is it fashionable to be smarter than a 5th grader?

When I first heard about this show I thought, "What a silly premise for a show!" and had no desire to look at it. Then one episode, I saw this smug Harvard Graduate get beaten down, literally early in the game. I thought, "Why did that happen? He's a Harvard Grad!" and then I watched a regular, normal working-stiff guy get beaten down but he did get farther than the Harvard Grad. Then I thought, wait a minute, this show may have something. So I kept watching. This show does have something, and I started to like what I saw.

All backgrounds come to the game - from the apparent lowest of the educational scale to the Yale, Harvard and NYU graduates with high GPA's. One episode that tickled me was this lovely blonde woman who thought she was "Miss IT". She lost everything but her attitude upon losing was "Who cares, I'm pretty and blonde and I don't need to be as smart as a 5th grader." She's correct. But the public humiliation was indeed a guilty pleasure.

Granted, it has been years since I was in 5th grade and I am not going to remember or recall much of what they are asking, either. Which means I don't have the guts to get on this show to win money. But I noticed many folks on the show seemed smug enough to. That's where the lesson may come in. This show puts you in your place, so to speak. Doesn't matter how pretty you are, how popular you are, how Ivy league you are, after 5th grade, you do forget A LOT.

The show's host Jeff Foxworthy is perfect for this kind of venue for he has always made no bones about being blue collar, and after fifth grade, forgets stuff. Why? Life Happens. The children are adorable, anxious and either they know the answer or don't - so you cannot count on them either to jar your memories.

If you win, what have you won? Besides a million dollars and bragging rights to the World that you are smarter than a 5th grader. You may have won an answer to the age old question, is it better to retain knowledge or just be beautiful and grace through life? For that, this is an hours worth of entertainment that is very entertaining.