5th Grader Syndie Revamp Options

[TheInquisitiveOn...]

Good day everyone!

Much like Deal or No Deal, the rules are refreshed for the daytime edition of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Here's the article from Buzzerblog.

Here's the Cliff's Notes version of the rules:

• The top prize is $250,000
• The cheats are still in play.
• There's no walking away. The only decision is made after question 10...if you have any money left.
• 1st Grade questions are $500; 2nd grade questions are $1,000, 3rd grade is $2,500 each, 4th grade is $3,500, and 5th grade is $5,000. The final question is worth 10 times the amount of money banked.
• An incorrect answer doesn't end the game (unless it's question 10), but instead wipes the bank clean and forces the contestant to build a new bank.

And there you go. Does this apply extra incentive to watch the daytime edition, or are you giving it a pass? Sounds like it's worth a shot to me.

The Inquisitive One

[kenbob_clarker]

Intriguing, to say the least.

In all honesty, my initial reaction was along the lines of "why didn't they do this from the start?" When the show first premiered, I had trouble figuring out if I was watching a serious quiz show or a lighthearted comedy game. With this format, there's some potential for exciting moments, but the budget fits perfectly with what the show's purpose should be- to get laughs.

I'll definitely be checking it out.

[Strikerz04]

Its a nice re-tooling. At least we know that you can't end the game right in the middle. You screw up, you keep going, and at least it would get you to a reasonable dropout level if you go 10-for-10.

It'd probably be best to screw up early anyway, I think. There's no guarantee for the top prize, but it'll make for some decent wins.

[Matt Ottinger]

My first knee-jerk reaction is that it's a pretty clever way to redesign the game so that a single player fills the entire half-hour. You're also building to the big 10x question at the end of the show (which needs a cool name like Final Exam). Hopefully, the home viewer will look forward to that last question no matter what the stakes, much like we do for Final Jeopardy now. Basically, it'll no longer look quite so much like a Millionaire ripoff, and that can only be a good thing.

You're still talking about a Q&A game that'll have exactly eleven questions in thirty minutes, and that's a problem no matter how much funny Mr. Foxworthy brings.

[CarShark]

I can't get behind this format so long as you can't walk away. How many times will someone get the first nine questions right, miss the tenth, and leave with nothing? In fact, I see a lot of contestants leaving with nothing, which doesn't look like good TV to me.

[Clay Zambo]

I can't get behind this format so long as you can't walk away. How many times will someone get the first nine questions right, miss the tenth, and leave with nothing? In fact, I see a lot of contestants leaving with nothing, which doesn't look like good TV to me.

Leaving with nothing isn't necessarily good TV, but a half-hour buildup to an all-or-nothing question seems like it would be compelling.

[rollercoaster87]

I can't get behind this format so long as you can't walk away. How many times will someone get the first nine questions right, miss the tenth, and leave with nothing? In fact, I see a lot of contestants leaving with nothing, which doesn't look like good TV to me.

I like this format MUCH better than the primetime one, but you've pointed out the messed up part- whether you've gotten 4 questions or nine questions right, the tenth one basically decides whether or not you get a shot at 10x? Compelling? Yes, but what will we think when somebody gets the first nine right, and then misses the tenth- or for that matter, somebody misses the first nine, gets the tenth, and now gets a shot at $50K?

I hate to take a page from Jeopardy! on this one, but I think they should have just taken the cash away, rather than zero the bank.