Comments on: A Complaint About “Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” Casting

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:04:49 +0000

Hi, I’m a member of Mensa & used to model. Not all attractive people are stupid, and not all smart people are unattractive!

By: Smart Canadian

Smart Canadian — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 18:18:40 +0000

It seems to me the contestants represent an accurate cross section of america. The woman who thought that North America was made up of a single country and couldn’t figure out that Australia was actually the only continent that’s also a single country clinched it for me. ‘Just proves so glaringly that you guys no absolutely nothing about the actual world outside of your own country. FYI, CANADA and MEXICO are also part of North America…..I’m sure this comes as a shock to most of you….it’s not just black, uninhabited space all around the states you know? Sick, self-centred, and REALLY sad! I was in Mexico recently and this american twit asked me if I had to come through Alaska to fly there. Um….yeah, HELLO, we have actual cities here with airports and planes and everything just like you do you idiot! What a freakin’ joke! Many of you are dumber than FIRST Graders! When we Canadians watch shows like this it just proves to us that we live next to vast ignorance and it scares the hell out of us! Read a book america!

By: Dimitri Stoodley

Dimitri Stoodley — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:21:32 +0000

To me I think its one of the best shows that they ever put on TV to embarrase adults. Just to think how dum can adult who went through school and not be smarter than a 5th grader, how stupid is that. And come on, one girl new all th 5th grade questions but didnt know th 1st grade questions, how stupid can she get.

By: Steve Barr

Steve Barr — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 01:05:44 +0000

I counted. You have 13 minutes of commercial time of every 30 minutes of show. I love the show, but cannot stand the constand commercial breaks. I will not watch this show again.

By: “5th Grader?” controversy brewing, diffusing « Hard Drive Life

“5th Grader?” controversy brewing, diffusing « Hard Drive Life — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 04:01:55 +0000

[...] It was previously reported on this blog and in BuzzerBlog that “attractive” contestants were specified in the Craigslist casting call ad for the show, making one think that contestants’ intelligence is secondary. [...]

By: Daren

Daren — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 23:13:57 +0000

I just came back from a taping of this show and you hit the nail on the head. The lady who was answering questions was dumb, dumb, dumb. And yet, she won $100,000.00 for being an idiot. I knew every answer immediately (What is the closest star to the Earth?, What is the name of the ship that the Pilgrams came over to America in?) and she hemmed and hawed and had to get help. It was ridiculous. I came home and asked my 2nd and 4th grader these questions and they knew most of the answers. It was embarrasing and if this is the average intelligence level of Americans, I now have a better understanding of why G. W. Bush was elected twice. I guess it’s fitting that Jeff Foxworthy is hosting.

By: KP

KP — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 08:28:43 +0000

Not everyone seems to know how to play TPIR (if they did, Hit Me would still be in the rotation) but they do seem to get a decent bunch on the whole, and they pick people who’ll be entertaining - regardless of appearance. Deal or No Deal looks like it’s pulling off the same trick on both sides of the Atlantic, though our contestants here are far less consistently extroverted than the US contestants.

And when sucky people get on Millionaire, it’s: a) usually rabbit-in-headlights stuff from reasonably smart people; b) gets them out of the chair PDQ. There’s your 50:50 right there.

By: Donald

Donald — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 19:31:53 +0000

Eh, what did you expect from FOX? Smart ugly people?

Think about Price is Right. Think about Millionaire. Think about Wheel and Jeopardy! They don’t care about the way the contestants look. As long as they know how to play and are smart and Three of those four game shows have been on the air for over 20 years non-stop. Millionaire is on its way hiting 10 years in ‘09.

Dog Eat Dog, Fear Factor, Weakest Link, $how me the Money, Rich List are cancelled because they only cared about looks. Fear factor may have lasted 5 or 6 seasons, but it got old and tired after the second season when all you kept seeing was desperate actors and models who think their farts smell like roses.

By: Measles!

Measles! — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 02:13:44 +0000

…and this should surprise me in what way?

All these games nowadays are looking for people who don’t look like Alex after a night of drinking (no offense bro).

No brains are necessary to be on a gameshow anymore, unless it’s Jeopardy, but the way I get most of the questions right at home, I could probably get on, and I barely graduated high school. It’s a damn shame too…

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 00:37:05 +0000

Yeah, yeah, it’s a shame blah blah blah…

Did we really expect this show to be any good? I mean, it’s a Jeff Foxworthy gameshow on Fox. They are obviously trying to get the ditzy hawt people to look like idiots. Think Street Smarts without the irony.

By: davec

davec — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 20:10:26 +0000

From everything that is being said about the show, it sounds like it’s going to be not much more than a Prime Time version of Jay Leno’s “Battle of the Jaywalk All Stars”, except with 5th graders who will make the people trying to answer very easy questions look even more stupid.

No thanks.

By: John Goodman

John Goodman — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:20:40 +0000

At least there will be one average-looking man on the show (Foxworthy).

By: KP

KP — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:30:35 +0000

Oh that’s a damned good point.

By: Marc Power

Marc Power — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:34:12 +0000

I know it isn’t but for some reason I think it’s wrong to only take attractive contestant. I know in the workforce if they wouldn’t hire a man becuase he was fat or a woman becuase she didn’t have big boobs (like many reality shows today are doing) you could take them to court for discrimination and that’s pretty much what their doing here.

By: KP

KP — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:44:34 +0000

This show can almost get away with being a dumb-off, at least within the bubble it’s in. Most shows can’t.

I’m guessing the contestant coordinators want ‘real people’ to get a shot at the money, rather than closeted brainiacs. But ‘real people’ have a VARIETY of personalities and appearances. Deal has had just about everything (OK, they’re way short of introverts, but that’s forgivable - and I speak as one myself), both in the UK and the US - and I’m absolutely positive that’s one reason, maybe even THE reason, the show is going to remain huge in the near future. 1 vs 100 does the same - yes, the mobsters often fit stereotypes, but they’re varied, well-chosen and often non-obvious stereotypes. This show… well, as we suggested before, Fox would be no worse off selling the post-Idol slot as an infomercial.