Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader? on FOX

By Ally Matteodo

The Best TV Show of the Week was Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?, airing on October 10th at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox.  This game show’s structure is a simple one in which adults are asked grade-school-level questions.  Money is garnered in increments after answering questions.  The first question is worth $1000, the second is worth $2000 and so on, until the final bonus question, which is worth one million dollars.  In this episode, Ken Jennings was the competitor.  Jennings was on his way to being the highest winning game show contestant in history, having already won three million dollars on the game show Jeopardy.

This show has the amusing premise that adults often forget what they learn in grade school since that information is not commonly used in everyday life.  With the large amounts of money contestants are able to win on this show however, it is clear there are benefits in being able to retain the information and it was not all for naught.  The questions are interesting and bring back memories of the elementary school classroom.  Waves of nostalgia will hit the viewer when they hear questions like: “Built in the 1600s, the Taj Mahal stands in the city of Agra in which country?,” “What is the approximate diameter of the earth in miles?,” and “Who did Pocahontas marry?”  The five children who make up the classmates on the show are bright and engaging to watch, and Jeff Foxworthy is a funny and charming host.  It is clear that we should never underestimate children.  Of course children can learn from adults, but adults can also learn a lot from children, and Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader? proves the point.