Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? is a game show franchise that was co-created and produced by Mark Burnett, based on the game created by Howard Stern for The Howard Stern Show. Adult contestants answer questions as if they came from an elementary grade school quiz. The original U.S. version with host Jeff Foxworthy debuted on the Fox Broadcasting network on February 27, 2007, airing on Fox until 2009, as a syndicated TV series between 2009 and 2011, and then revived on Fox in 2015. The Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? format has since been replicated in several other countries, some versions under the same title, and some under modified ones.

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?
Genre	Game Show
Created by	Mark Burnett
Directed by	Don Weiner (US)
Production
Running time	20–25 minutes
Production companies	Mark Burnett Prods MGM Television Nickelodeon BBC Studios (UK)
Distributor	Endemol Shine
Release
Original network	Sky 1 (UK) FOX (U.S.) Nick
Original release	27 February 2007 – 8 September 2015
Chronology
Related shows	US show (2007–15) Versions

In 2013, the show appeared in TV Guide's list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.[1]

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.[2] 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 providing any options.

Each correct answer moves the contestant up a payout ladder, with a final bonus fifth-grade question (sixth-grade on the 2015 revival) 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 was only given the category/subject of the question and then must decide whether to quit the game or risk $475,000 to attempt the final question (which is always a question with no options); the question is shown once the decision is made, and the contestant are not permitted to leave should the contestant attempts it. The contestant is not guaranteed any winnings until after the fifth question is answered correctly, at which point $25,000 is guaranteed. During the show's run, seven other contestants have also dropped out at the $1,000,000 question.

To date, only two contestants have attempted to answer the final question successfully:

• Kathy Cox, Superintendent of Schools for the State of Georgia (aired September 4, 2008): "Who was the longest-reigning British Monarch?" (Queen Victoria) .[lower-alpha 1]
• George Smoot, a Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (aired September 16, 2009): "What U.S. state is home to Acadia National Park?" (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 category was "Science", and the question was "What element is represented by the letter K in the periodic table?"; Simmons would have answered krypton, but the correct answer was actually potassium.

The 20-year-old mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and then-youngest mayor in the United States, John Tyler Hammons, appeared on October 24, 2008, became the first celebrity contestant to attempt the $1,000,000 question but answered incorrectly and left with $25,000 for his charity (Hammon's question was: "What's the name of the first American woman to travel to outer space?" (Sally Ride); he copied the 5th-grader's answer, which was later revealed as incorrect).

Ken Jennings, a former Jeopardy! game show champion, could have become the second person to win $1,000,000 but he decided not to go for the Social Studies $1,000,000 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 and has held since (Jennings' record has since surpassed by Rutter after winning another $1,000,000 in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades; however, Jennings later reclaimed the distinction following his victory on Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time in 2020).

Correct Answer Value (original U.S. version)
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	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 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.

Each contestant is given two "cheats" and one "save" in which the contestant can receive help from the selected classmate, but may only be used once throughout a game:

• "Peek": The contestant is shown their classmate's answer and may choose whether to go along with it or not; however, they must answer the question upon using this cheat.
• "Copy": The contestant is automatically committed to the classmate's answer as in their own. The contestant loses if the classmate's answer was incorrect (During the 2015 revival, the classmate is allowed to discuss his/her answer with the other fifth graders and change it if desired).
• "Save": If the contestant answers incorrectly but their classmate is correct, they are credited with a correct answer. It cannot be used normally unlike the first two cheats. (available until season 4).

The contestant may use any cheats up until the 10th question, but any remaining unused cheats are forfeited during the final question. Once all the cheats are used, the chosen classmate returns to the group and no new classmate is selected for the remainder of the game, though the classmates continue to write answers for the questions as usual, as part of tension.[3]

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.

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 contestant answers the final question correctly and won the top prize, the contestant instead declares, "I am smarter than a fifth grader."

Syndicated version

The syndicated version featured a reduced grand prize of $250,000 with a revised game format; unlike the original game format, the contestant must attempt to correctly answer up to ten questions (eight on the second syndicated season, as fifth-grade questions are removed until the final question) with correct answers earning a certain cash value proportional to the difficulty (first-grade questions are worth the lowest amount, and fifth-grade being the highest). The contestant may not leave the game unlike the original format; before answering the final question, the contestant may chose to leave the game or risk all their winnings to answer one final fifth-grade bonus question; a correct answer multiply their current winnings by ten. If the contestant loses the final question, the contestant wins only prepaid card as consolation, with the value dependent on the winnings risked.

The cheats are retained from the original version and can still be used until the tenth (or eighth, in season 2) question.

Nickelodeon version

The 2019 Nickelodeon version also featured a different game format and a prize of up to $100,000. The format was split into two rounds: in round one, contestants answered six questions from the first four grades (one question from the first two grades, and two from the next two grades), with a possible maximum of $10,000. In round two, the contestant was given 60 seconds to correctly answer as many as five fifth-grade questions; each correct answers increase the multiplier by one; answering all five questions correctly for the round multiplies the round one winnings by ten.

The contestants are still given two cheats to use during the first round; the "Save" is instead replaced with a final cheat (usable on the second round) where the contestant may discuss with the classmate for the answer without a time limit.

At the end of the show's run, one contestant correctly answered all 11 questions and won the top prize of $100,000.

International versions

The show has spawned many versions around the world:

  Currently airing   No longer airing

Country	Name	Host	Channel	Air Date
Albania	Të gjithë për një	Eno Popi	Top Channel	October 2016
Argentina	¿Sabés más que un chico de 5to grado?	Andrea Frigerio and Pablo Granados	América (Channel 2)	July 9, 2007
Australia	Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?[5]	Rove McManus	Network Ten	September 26, 2007 – October 30, 2009
Austria	Dreizehn	Christian Clerici	ORF1	September 27, 2007
Belgium	Slimmer Dan Een Kind Van 10?	Goedele Liekens	VT4	September 6, 2007
	Êtes-vous plus malin qu'un enfant de primaire ?	Alain Simons	RTL-TVI	September 6, 2007
Brazil	Você é Mais Esperto Que um Aluno da Quinta Série?[6]	Silvio Santos	SBT	September 23, 2007
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
Canada (in English)	Are You Smarter than a Canadian 5th Grader?[8]	Colin Mochrie	Global	October 25, 2007 – November 22, 2007
Canada ( Quebec)	La classe de 5^e[9]	Charles Lafortune	TVA	February 5, 2009[10]
Cambodia	តើអ្នកឆ្លាតជាងក្មេងថ្នាក់ទី៥ឬទេ?	Doung Sokhea	CTN	September 14, 2012
Chile[11]	¿Sabes más que un niño de 5º básico?	José Miguel Viñuela	MEGA	April 2, 2008
China	五年级救助队 Wŭ nián jí jiù zhù duì[12]	Wang Han	HNETV	May 1, 2007
	幸运52 幸运课堂 Xìng yùn 52 xìng yùn kè táng	Li Yong	CCTV-2	June 1, 2007
	谁比谁聪明 Shéi bĭ shéi cōng ming[13]	Liu Ming-ming	SZTV	June 1, 2007[14]
	你能毕业吗? Nĭ néng bì yè ma?[15]	Duan Lei Jia Ning	TJTV	June 2, 2007
	不考不知道 Bù kǎo bù zhī dào[16]	Xu Rui	SXTVS	June 30, 2007[17]
	五年级插班生 Wǔ nián jí chā bān shēng	He Hao-peng	Guangdong TV	August 10, 2007[18]
Colombia	¿Sabes más que un niño de primaria?	Jose Gabriel Ortiz	Caracol TV	February 20, 2008
Czech Republic	Jsi chytřejší než páťák?	Michal Suchánek & Richard Genzer	TV Nova	June 23, 2007
Denmark	Er Du Klogere End En 10-Årig?	Jan Gintberg	TV3	September 22, 2007
Estonia	Targem kui 5B	Indrek Tarand	TV3	September 13, 2008
Finland	Fiksumpi kuin koululainen	Nicke Lignell	MTV3	November 6, 2008
France	Êtes-vous plus fort qu’un élève de 10 ans ?	Roland Magdane	M6	September 3, 2007 – November 30, 2007
Germany	Das weiß doch jedes Kind![19]	Cordula Stratmann	Sat.1	July 6, 2007 – 2008
Greece	Είσαι πιο έξυπνος από ένα δεκάχρονο Eísai pio éxypnos apó éna dekáchrono[20]	Sophia Aliberti	ANT1	January 19, 2008 - June 2009
Hong Kong	係咪小兒科 Hai Mai Siu Yi Fo[21][22][23]	Leo Ku	TVB	October 25, 2008 – November 16, 2009
Hungary	Okosabb vagy mint egy 5-es?	Attila Till	TV2	August 24, 2007
Iceland	Ertu skarpari en skólakrakki?	Gunnar Hansson	Skjár 1	October 21, 2007
India	Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?[24]	Shahrukh Khan	STAR Plus	April 25, 2008 – July 27, 2008
Indonesia	Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Indonesia	Tantowi Yahya Nico Siahaan Indy Barends	Global TV	April 4, 2009 – 2010
Israel	?'האם אתה חכם יותר מתלמיד כיתה ו Ha'im ata hakham metalmid kitah vav?	Eyal Kitzis	Channel 2	July 2007
Italy	Sei più bravo di un ragazzino di 5ª?	Massimiliano Ossini Riccardo Rossi	Sky Uno cielo	October 6, 2008 – 2011
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
		Hitori Gekidan		November 11, 2018 May 3, 2019 August 8, 2019
		Hitori Gekidan and Ryuta Sato		October 18, 2019 –
Latvia	Vai tu esi gudrāks par 5 klasnieku?	Māris Olte	TV3	September 8, 2007
Lithuania	Penktokų iššūkis	Andrius Rožickas	TV3	September 2, 2007
Malaysia	Are You Smarter than a 4th Grader?	Unknown	TV3	October 1, 2007 – September 30, 2008
Mexico	Todo el mundo cree que sabe	Marco Antonio Regil	Televisa	June 13, 2009
Mongolia	Ta 5-p aнгийн хүүхдээс ухаантай юу?		Edutainment Tv	January 5, 2013
Myanmar	၅တန်းနဲ့ပြိုင် ဘယ်သူနိုင်	Unknown	Channel 7	2013
Netherlands	Ben je slimmer dan een kind?	Erik van der Hoff	Net 5	September 2, 2007
New Zealand	Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?[26]	Dominic Bowden	TV2	September 9, 2007 – November 25, 2007
Norway	Er du smartere enn en 5. klassing?	Sturla Berg-Johansen	TV2	March 9, 2012
Peru	Sabes más que un niño de primaria?	Bruno Pinasco	América Televisión	April 27, 2014
Philippines	Kakasa Ka Ba Sa Grade 5?	Janno Gibbs	GMA Network	October 27, 2007 – May 9, 2009 March 21, 2009 – March 28, 2009
Poland	Czy jesteś mądrzejszy od 5-klasisty?	Robert Korólczyk Marzena Rogalska	TV Puls	October 29, 2007 – 2009
Portugal	Sabe Mais Do Que Um Miúdo De 10 Anos?	Jorge Gabriel	RTP1	September 17, 2007 – June 30, 2008
Romania	Te crezi mai deştept decât un copil de clasa a 5-a?	Virgil Ianţu	Prima TV	2007–2008
Russia	Кто умнее 5-классника? Kto umnee 5-klassnika?	Alexandr Pushnoy	CTC	December 9, 2007 – July 20, 2008
Serbia	Da li ste pametniji od đaka petaka?	Voja Nedeljković	Fox	September 2007
Slovakia	Ste chytrejší ako piatak?	Peter Marcin	TV Markiza	2007
South Africa	Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?[27]	Soli Philander	M-Net	January 27, 2008
Spain	¿Sabes más que un niño de primaria?	Ramón García	Antena 3	June 28, 2007 – December 1, 2007 July 14, 2008 – August 18, 2008
Sri Lanka	Punchi Pahe Man	Vijaya Nandasiri	Sirasa TV	2008
Sweden	Smartare än en femteklassare	Lasse Kronér	SVT1	March 19, 2011 - May 16, 2020
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
Thailand	ถ้าคุณแน่? อย่าแพ้ ป.4! T̄ĥā khuṇ næ̀? Xỳā phæ̂ pōh sī![28][29]	Kanit Sarasin	Channel 3	October 1, 2007 – October 10, 2008
	ถ้าคุณแน่? อย่าแพ้ เด็ก (ประถม)! T̄ĥā khuṇ næ̀? Xỳā phæ̂ dĕk (prat̄hom)!			October 13, 2008 – April 29, 2010
Turkey	5'e Gidenden Akıllı Mısın?	Tolga Gariboğlu	Star TV	June 2007
Ukraine	Чи розумніший ти за п’ятикласника? Chy rozumnishiy ty za p'yatyklasnyka?	Serhiy Prytula	Novyi Kanal	January 6, 2008
United Kingdom	Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?[30]	Noel Edmonds (primetime) Damian Williams (daytime)	Sky One	October 7, 2007 – April 24, 2010
United States	Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? (Fox Primetime)	Jeff Foxworthy	Fox	February 27, 2007 – September 18, 2009 May 26 – September 8, 2015
	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 (now Vie Channel)	June 21, 2009 – June 20, 2010
		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)
		Bình Minh (February 16, 2014 – April 13, 2016)	VTV6	February 16, 2014 – April 5, 2015
			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 Entertainment released a game based on the 2015 FOX Primetime revival for the Nintendo 3DS.

DVD game

Parker Brothers 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 21 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 its 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:

• Peek – Just like the TV show, this help lets you look at the answers of a "classmate". You can then choose to "copy" the answer for the game while the other cheat is "Save" for which it automatically corrects your wrong answer if the classmate has the correct one.
• Field Trip – In this bonus events, the picks are made to reveal multipliers for a free-spin bonus and two primary game events called "Mystery Jackpot" and "Mega Block Spins" where it expands the real field for up to 10 rows of symbols with three wild reels for one super spin.
• Additional Note – In the "Peek" bonus event, the classmate will not always have the right answer.

Notes

1. At the time of filming, Queen Victoria was then the longest-reigning British Monarch. It has since surpassed by Queen Elizabeth II as of 2015.

See also

• Gatekeepers (game show) – A 2010 Singaporean game show with gameplay format borrowed from Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, but was not part of the Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? franchise

References

1. Fretts, Bruce (June 17, 2013). "Eyes on the Prize", TV Guide, pp. 14 and 15.
2. 2006-07 primetime wrap
3. "Episode AYS-109". Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?. Season 1. Episode 09. 2007-04-19. Fox Broadcasting Company.
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7. "Нова тв игра тръгва по bTV през септември" (in Bulgarian). TvTv.bg. 2007-08-16. Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
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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
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28. "If You Know? Do not Lose G4!". BEC Tero Entertainment PCL. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
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External links

• Official site