Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

it's so weird to me that people speak so strongly about a program they hate, yet continue to watch.. "..fifth grader?" must be the show you guys love to hate, and can't miss an episode.. about the pace of the show: if it appears to move slowly, it's because the contestants are given time to calm down and become comfortable.. how many of you have appeared before on TV before a studio audience of hundreds which was being televised to millions? fox worthy's jokes, while sometimes lame, are another tool for calming the contestant.. laughter displaces anxiety and concern over how one appears before a crowd, and the fear of appearing foolish from something that was said or done.. about general dislike of the show: so, why watch it? or, maybe you watch it a lot, and get few questions correct? so? join the club; only one contestant won all the money.. more people failed than succeeded.. so? about a student-contributor to the these comments who disliked an ?? or answer: here's something you can fix: get an education, join the team at a quiz show (jeopardy?) and write the questions you feel are better than what you've seen up to this point.. you earlier commenter's are so big on criticism and put-downs, could you do better? so, why don't you? how good does it have to be to meet your criteria? should it be read directly from the encyclopedia Britannia? should the host be an m.i.t. professor? maybe you commenter's forgot the first rules of TV: attract an audience; retain their interest; insure their return for the next episode.. the first rule of watching TV is: if it isn't fun, change the channel.. okay, so it's not everyone's idea of fun-- what is? you like bikini mud wrestling? great! how about basket weaving? great! how about watching shopping networks all day? great! everyone has their preferences and everyone has their idea of what's fun.. do you resent another's enjoyment of a program you don't like? so, find something else! but, get off others' back about what they like!! nobody put a gun (or remote) to your head to keep you watching "..fifth grader?" change the channel or turn the set off, but knock off the knocking of others for the sake of enjoying yourself.. it wastes energy and time.. or do you purely enjoy diminishing another's enjoyment?

In Fox's 20 year history, the network has been the home of the NFL, Major League Baseball and hit shows such as American Idol, The Simpsons and Beverly Hills 90210 but never a major game show hit until Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.

What makes the show stand out is the combination of the youngsters helping the contestant win lots of money until they run out of cheats, a witty first time host in Jeff Foxworthy and the home audience like me likely to shout at the screen if a contestant gets stuck on a very simple question. It's a very important element for a hit game show to have viewers involved.

Foxworthy proves that stand up comedians can host game shows without upstaging the contestants and he is very good at building drama and suspense. Fortunately, he doesn't make any redneck jokes on the show.

My only complaint about the show is when a losing contestant has to tell the world "I am not smarter than a fifth grader." I find it humiliating but it makes a great T-shirt saying.

The idea is fun. See what you remember of the knowledge you may not use on a daily basis. Jeff Foxworthy is a decent host. The set is elaborate and nice. But the questions come along way too slowly. I almost get the feeling that the guests are delaying their answers in order to expand the time, perhaps there is an off-camera indicator. I can only imagine what the contestant screening must be like, because I'm sure there are many people that could whip thru the questions with ease and take home the money. Anyone that knew they were going on the show could probably cram, I mean, the jackpot is a million dollars. So overall, to the producers, we want a number of questions equal to that of Jeopardy per episode or something. Of course, given the limited pool of questions they may run out pretty quickly, and the reason they move slowly could be the amount of money that is offered as a prize.

Ever wanted to know if you still knew everything that you learned in school as a adult? With a million dollars at stake and the chance to prove that you were that smart, this is that show in a nutshell!

The objective is simple: you pick a subject on whatever grade you choose, with 1st grade being the easiest and 5th grade being the hardest, answer a question correctly and you climb up the money ladder, and if you're stumped on a question at any point in the game, you have help from your fellow classmate standing next to you, by using 3 cheats, but after 10 questions, it's all up to you to either win the $1,000,000 grand prize or flunk out!

The host of the show was stand-up comedian Jeff Foxworthy, who does a decent job as host, delivering his unique humor and chemistry to the students, which change every season. A few students later became famous, like Laura Marano and Sierra McCormick, who both became Disney stars, starring in Austin & Ally and A. N. T. Farm, respectively.

So, if you want to know if you're smarter than a 5th grader, watch this show to find out.

This is a great show because it can be watched in two ways: First, you can watch it with kids. That was the key to "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" and it works here as well. The kids love it, especially if the adults don't know the answer (it doesn't matter whether it's the adults on the screen or at home).

Second, this show is sufficiently predictable that, without kids around, you can watch it in ten minutes or less on TIVO. Like "Deal or No Deal," the interesting part is watching the contestant mess up by going for a question they don't know or risking $425,000 on the $1,000,000 question. Since the questions come about every 6 minutes, you just skip forward. And unlike "Deal or No Deal," there's no incentive to stop to watch the banter between the host and the regulars.

Additionally, there are enough questions on subjects that we never use that most adults have a Paul Simon moment every couple of shows (realizing just how much they learned in grade school but forgot).

Finally, although Foxworthy's not at the top of his game (and probably cannot be on a family show); he's far more entertaining than Howie and probably as good as Regis was. Likewise, even though some of the kids' comments appear strained and were likely fed to the kids (through their ear pieces), the ids are still funnier and more articulate than the "Deal Or Not Deal" supporting staff.