Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? (Hong Kong game show) explained

Native Name:係咪小兒科
Runtime:60 minutes per episode (episode 1-15)
45 minutes per episode (episode 16-26)
30 minutes per episode (season 2)
(inc. commercials)
Creator:Fox
Starring:Leo Ku
Country:Hong Kong
Network:TVB
Num Episodes:26 (season 1)
30 (season 2)

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? is a game show produced by TVB from 2008 to 2009. It is the Hong Kong version of the American show of the same name. It was hosted by Leo Ku and narrated by .

The first season started on 25 October 2008 and ended on 25 April 2009. The second season aired between 5 October 2009 and 16 November 2009.

Format

The format is based on the original 2007-09 United States version (not the level-based format adopted when the show switched to syndication).

The 3 "cheats" are called "參考隔籬" (Peek), "搬字過紙" (Copy) and "自動補答" (Save) respectively.

The question values are also the same as the American version, but in Hong Kong Dollars. The top prize, HK$1,000,000, is about US$129,000.

Question Values
11$1,000,000
5$25,00010$500,000
4$10,0009$300,000
3$5,0008$175,000
2$2,0007$100,000
1$1,0006$50,000

The subjects of the questions are:

However, unlike other versions, at the start of every episode, the host will ask an IQ question, which is just for fun, the answer will be announced at the end of that episode.

List of contestants

All the contestants are celebrities. "Drop out" means the contestant quits in the middle of the game, "Flunk out" means the contestant answers the question incorrectly.

Season 1

EpisodeDateContestantDrop out/Flunk outPrize won
125 October 2008Sandra NgDrop outHK$50,000
21 November 2008Roger KwokDrop outHK$50,000
38 November 2008So Sze-wongFlunk out on the HK$100,000 questionHK$25,000
415 November 2008Sammy LeungFlunk out on the HK$100,000 questionHK$25,000
522 November 2008Eric KotDrop outHK$100,000
629 November 2008Athena ChuDrop outHK$100,000
76 December 2008Bosco WongDrop outHK$100,000
813 December 2008Edmond LeungDrop outHK$100,000
920 December 2008Eric SuenDrop outHK$175,000
1027 December 2008Cheung Tat-MingDrop outHK$100,000
113 January 2009Jessica HsuanDrop outHK$175,000
1210 January 2009Louis YuenDrop outHK$100,000
1317 January 2009Myolie WuDrop outHK$100,000
1424 January 2009Andrew LamDrop outHK$100,000
1531 January 2009Wong Cho LamDrop outHK$100,000
167 February 2009Ha YuDrop outHK$100,000
1714 February 2009Kate TsuiDrop outHK$175,000
1821 February 2009Law Kar-yingFlunk out on the HK$100,000 questionHK$25,000
1928 February 2009Amigo ChoiDrop outHK$100,000
207 March 2009Mark LuiDrop outHK$50,000
2114 March 2009Michael MiuDrop outHK$175,000
2221 March 2009Ivan HoDrop outHK$100,000
2328 March 2009FAMADrop outHK$175,000
244 April 2009Felix Wong, Carlo NgDrop outHK$175,000
2518 April 2009I Love You BoyzDrop outHK$175,000
2625 April 2009Sammy Leung, Kitty YuenDrop outHK$175,000

Season 2

EpisodeDateContestantDrop out/Flunk outPrize won
1-25–6 October 2009Michael TseDrop outHK$300,000
3-47–8 October 2009Sunny ChanDrop outHK$100,000
5-69 and 12 October 2009Charmaine ShehDrop outHK$175,000
7-813–14 October 2009Kiki SheungDrop outHK$100,000
9-1015–16 October 2009Wayne LaiDrop outHK$175,000
11-1220–21 October 2009Peter SoDrop outHK$100,000
13-1422–23 October 2009Shirley YeungDrop outHK$300,000
15-1626–27 October 2009Wong HeDrop outHK$175,000
17-1828–29 October 2009Chapman To, Yumiko ChengDrop outHK$100,000
19-2030 October – 2 November 2009Kenny Bee, Benette PangDrop outHK$175,000
21-223–4 November 2009Nancy Sit, Lee Lik-ChiDrop outHK$175,000
23-245–6 November 2009Vincy Chan, Wong Cho LamDrop outHK$300,000
25-269–10 November 2009Anthony Wong Chau Sang, Lorretta ChowFlunk out on the HK$500,000 questionHK$25,000
27-2811–12 November 2009Chow Chung, Andrew LamDrop outHK$100,000
29-3013 and 16 November 2009Sammy Leung, Kitty YuenDrop outHK$175,000

Criticism

Since the "classmates" of every episode almost got all the questions correctly, many audience thought that they memorized all the answers already before the recording of the show. Some audience may even think that the actual purpose of the show is to bring out the message that children are smarter than adults.[1] Memorizing like that convinced some people they cheated via sophisticated state-of-the-art gadgets, this included "telephoning" individualistic thoughts, pre-recorded hidden textual dialogues and even secrecy in transfer quixotic answers.[1] [2]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Vincent Terrace. Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 Through 2007: A-E. 2009. McFarland. 978-0-7864-3305-6. 760–789.
  2. Belgomi, Velhousi. Star India.