Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

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.

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.

This is barely a game show. Pretty certain what we have here is an ensemble of actors, including the contestant AND the classmates. Wouldn't be surprised if the show's creators actually create the boards that are displayed from the class.

Pile on top of that how unbearable it is listening to the contestant "talk through" the answers when they obviously know, the show's horrible pacing, the all too frequent commercial breaks, and the show's terrible attempt to hold on to suspense, and you get a mildly entertaining trivia show.

Also, these contestants easily miss some of the most simple questions.

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?

The wife and I love this silly game show hat asks fairly simple grade school-level questions of adult contestants. Cornpone comic Jeff Foworthy was thrown in at the last minute as host, and he does remarkably well in this role, hillbilly accent, blue jeans and all. Fivel kids are on hand to help the contestant, who can win up to $1 million (and that has happened). Now for a complaint: some bright bulb got the idea to do a half-hour version of the show for daytime TV. Foxworthy is again the host,there are fewer kids on hand to help out and the money is far less than what might be earned on the original show. The real problem is the show is very tightly edited, and feels it, and most of the contestants seem to have been picked off the streets five minutes beforehand. They often flunk out pretty fast. One chipper young woman recently got every answer wrong, and the questions were at a kindergarten level. This sort of defeats the purpose of the show. Stick with the nighttime version. where the contestants have been properly screened and the show runs a full hour, which allowed for some suspense to build..