Are You Blogger Than a 5th Grader?
Every so often I get the urge to blog while I'm watching a game show. It last happened with The Rich List and we saw what happened with that. Let's give Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader the old college try.
* Theme song is annoying, no problem with lyrics in a theme but they have to be catchy.
* I have to admit I like the set. Got the elements of a school down very well (the backpack cubby holes are a nice touch) and having the audience above everything is nifty.
* Odd money tree...$100K, $175K (??), $300K
* Since when is "animal science" a subject that kids study?
* The calling of grade number and subject is very Make the Grade
* Are we eventually going to run out of synonyms for "lifeline"? We have "helps" and "cheats"--what's next?
* I refuse to believe the average 1st grader knows when Columbus Day happens.
* The annoying catch phrase that contestants have to say into the camera will get old by episode number...oh wait, by *this* episode.
* 3rd Grade Measurements? That just sounds bad.
* The berating of the contestants and basically calling them dumb all episode, that's just lame. It's not meant to be a comedy roast, it's a game show.
* Jeff isn't as bad as I thought he would be, but I thought he would be *really* bad, so it's saying very little.
* 4th Graders are learning about the REM cycle? Is this Julliard Elementary School?
* The kids are less annoying than I thought they'd be, which is a relief, because I thought they were going to be precocious know-it-all types (though I can't imagine they made the audience fall in love with them either)
Anyways, my main beef with the show is the contestants, mainly because for the show to work, they have to pick dumb people. A standard game show shouldn't do that, and it seems like you could easily Larson the show by going to the audition, half-assing it and pretending you're dumb, and then show up for your taping and say, "Surprise! I know what the Mayflower is."
The game is set up to basically humiliate the contestants, and that shouldn't be the premise of any show.
It's a 4 out of 10, probably not worth watching again, but curious to see if some odd tract of Middle America gets into it and makes it a hit. The level of drop it takes from AI will be interesting to track.
* Theme song is annoying, no problem with lyrics in a theme but they have to be catchy.
* I have to admit I like the set. Got the elements of a school down very well (the backpack cubby holes are a nice touch) and having the audience above everything is nifty.
* Odd money tree...$100K, $175K (??), $300K
* Since when is "animal science" a subject that kids study?
* The calling of grade number and subject is very Make the Grade
* Are we eventually going to run out of synonyms for "lifeline"? We have "helps" and "cheats"--what's next?
* I refuse to believe the average 1st grader knows when Columbus Day happens.
* The annoying catch phrase that contestants have to say into the camera will get old by episode number...oh wait, by *this* episode.
* 3rd Grade Measurements? That just sounds bad.
* The berating of the contestants and basically calling them dumb all episode, that's just lame. It's not meant to be a comedy roast, it's a game show.
* Jeff isn't as bad as I thought he would be, but I thought he would be *really* bad, so it's saying very little.
* 4th Graders are learning about the REM cycle? Is this Julliard Elementary School?
* The kids are less annoying than I thought they'd be, which is a relief, because I thought they were going to be precocious know-it-all types (though I can't imagine they made the audience fall in love with them either)
Anyways, my main beef with the show is the contestants, mainly because for the show to work, they have to pick dumb people. A standard game show shouldn't do that, and it seems like you could easily Larson the show by going to the audition, half-assing it and pretending you're dumb, and then show up for your taping and say, "Surprise! I know what the Mayflower is."
The game is set up to basically humiliate the contestants, and that shouldn't be the premise of any show.
It's a 4 out of 10, probably not worth watching again, but curious to see if some odd tract of Middle America gets into it and makes it a hit. The level of drop it takes from AI will be interesting to track.
posted by Brad @ 9:38 PM 4 comment(s)