Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

For information related to a version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? airing in a specific country, see Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?#International versions.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? is a television game show format based on asking are you smarter than a fifth grader to adults, hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. This television show was first broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company network as a special in the United States and southern 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. The status of the Fox-TV series following the summer of 2008 is unknown, but the syndicated TV show debuted in late-September 2009. Episodes from this series are also broadcast on MyNetworkTV one evening per week, and on the Country Music Television (CMT) channel it is 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 will also be airing it on Friday Afternoons starting at 3pm effective January 27th.

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. 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:

• Kathy Cox, the Superintendent of Schools for the State of Georgia, was the first person to have correctly answered the $1,000,000 question (MDQ): "Who was the longest reigning British Monarch?" The answer was Queen Victoria.
• The Nobel Prize in Physics laureate George Smoot was the second person, answering "What U.S. state is home to Acadia National Park?", with the correct answer of Maine.

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?". Mr. 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. Seven other contestants have also dropped out at the million-dollar question.

Correct Answer Value (original U.S. version)
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Bonus (11)
$1,000	$2,000	$5,000	$10,000	$25,000	$50,000	$100,000	$175,000	$300,000	$500,000	$1,000,000

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, 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. The cheats are not available on the final question; 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.

The classmates are generally the same throughout the season, and are given a "study guide" of possible question topics before the start of the season. 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:

Country	Name	Host	Channel	Premiere	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?	Rove McManus	Network Ten	September 26, 2007	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?	Silvio Santos	SBT	September 23, 2007	Portuguese
Bulgaria	Това го знае всяко хлапе!	Dimitar & Deo	bTV	September 15, 2007 (canceled on February 20, 2009)	Bulgarian
Canada	Are You Smarter Than a Canadian 5th Grader?	Colin Mochrie	Global	October 25, 2007	English
	La classe de 5e	Charles Lafortune	TVA	February 5, 2009	French
Cambodia	Are You Smarter Than a Khmer kid?	Unknown	NKTV	July 3, 2009-March 14, 2010	Khmer
Chile	¿Sabes más que un niño de 5º básico?	José Miguel Viñuela	MEGA	April 2, 2008	Spanish
China	五年级救助队	Wang Han	HNETV	May 1, 2007	Putonghua
	幸运52 幸运课堂	Li Yong	CCTV-2	June 1, 2007	Putonghua
	谁比谁聪明	Liu Ming-ming	SZTV	June 1, 2007	Putonghua
	你能毕业吗?	Duan Lei Jia Ning	TJTV	June 2, 2007	Putonghua
	不考不知道	Xu Rui	SXTVS	June 30, 2007	Putonghua
	五年级插班生	He Hao-peng	Guangdong TV	August 10, 2007	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!	Cordula Stratmann	Sat.1	July 6, 2007	German
Greece	Είσαι πιο έξυπνος από ένα δεκάχρονο;	Sophia Aliberti	ANT1	January 19, 2008	Greek
Hong Kong	係咪小兒科	Leo Ku	TVB	October 25, 2008	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	क्या आप पांचवी पास से तेज़ हैं?	Shahrukh Khan	STAR Plus	April 25, 2008	Hindi
Indonesia	Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Indonesia	Indy Barends	Global TV	April 4, 2009	Indonesian
Israel	?'האם אתה חכם יותר מתלמיד כיתה ו	Eyal Kitzis	Channel 2	July 2007	Hebrew
Italy	Sei più bravo di un ragazzino di 5ª?	Massimiliano Ossini	Sky Uno / cielo	October 6, 2008	Italian
Japan	クイズ あなたは小学5年生より賢いの?	Takashi Suzuki	NTV	April 24, 2011	Japanese
Latvia	Vai tu esi gudrāks par piektklasnieku?	Māris Olte	TV3	September 8, 2007	Latvian
Lithuania	Penktokų iššūkis	Andrius Rožickas	TV3	September 2, 2007	Lithuanian
Mexico	Todo el mundo cree que sabe	Marco Antonio Regil	Televisa	June 13, 2009	Spanish
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?	Dominic Bowden	TV2	September 9, 2007	English
Philippines	Kakasa Ka Ba Sa Grade 5?	Janno Gibbs	GMA Network	October 27, 2007	Filipino and English
Poland	Czy jesteś mądrzejszy od 5-klasisty?	Robert Korólczyk / Marzena Rogalska	TV Puls	October 29, 2007, 3am	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	Unknown	Romanian
Russia	Кто умнее 5-классника?	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?	Soli Philander	M-Net	January 27, 2008	English
Spain	¿Sabes más que un niño de primaria?	Ramón García	Antena 3	July 2007	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	Zhang Xiao-yan (張小燕)	TTV	October 3, 2008	Mandarin
Thailand	ถ้าคุณแน่? อย่าแพ้ เด็ก(ประถม)!	Kanit Sarasin	Thai TV 3	October 1, 2007 (1st edition) October 13, 2008 (2nd edition)-April 29, 2010	Thai
Turkey	5'e Gidenden Akıllı Mısın?	Tolga Gariboğlu	STAR TV	June 2007	Turkish
Ukraine	Чи розумніший ти за п'ятикласника?	Serhiy Prytula	Novyi Kanal	January 6, 2008	Ukrainian
United Kingdom	Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old?	Noel Edmonds (primetime) Damian Williams (daytime)	Sky One	October 7, 2007 (primetime) November 12, 2007 (daytime)	English
United States	Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Fox Primetime)	Jeff Foxworthy	Fox	February 27, 2007	English
	Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (20th Television daily version)	Jeff Foxworthy	Syndicated by 20th Television	September 21, 2009	English
Vietnam	Ai thông minh hơn học sinh lớp 5?	Tạ Minh Tâm (2009) Thanh Bạch (2009-2011)	HTV2	June 19, 2009 - late 2009 (axed) November 2010 - early 2011 (1st revived)	Vietnamese
	Ai thông minh hơn học sinh lớp 5?	Thanh Bạch	VTV3	January 19, 2012 - present (2nd revived)	Vietnamese

Video game

On October 20, 2008, developer THQ released the first Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? 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.

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.

External links

• Official site