History YMMV / AreYouSmarterThanA5thGrader

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The syndicated version, or at least Season 1 of it.
* WhatAnIdiot:
** Look no further than the show's first ever contestant, a UCLA American History graduate, who [[ArtisticLicenseHistory didn't know Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached]] and thought Columbus Day was celebrated in ''[[FacePalm September!]]'' He walked with [[EpicFail $5,000]], not answering a single question without one of his cheats.
** The first contestant on the program to "flunk out" with $0, Pat Germano, did so on the first question when he went straight for a 3rd grade question, and got a multiple choice question asking what "biosphere" we live in (Correct Answer, C) Troposphere). He uses his Copy, but his classmate got the question wrong, ending the quiz and sending him home broke. He returned as the first classmate in a "Flunkout" edition, and, when restarting the game, goes '''one grade level''' higher than what he lost out on. Jeff was quick to chide him pushing his luck a second time when he should have learned and started with the "little green ones at the bottom" (The 1st Grade questions, which are easy). He flunks out on the first question ''again''.
** Ashley [=McCohn=] also flunked out on her first question, but the producers seemed to like her personality enough to force Creator/WayneBrady to come in and invite her to appear on sister show ''Series/DontForgetTheLyrics''. There, she did a little better, but faced a similar fate on the $10,000 level when she picked a category containing {{Title Theme Tune}}s she had never heard of.
** One contestant didn't know how "vowel" is spelled when the question was how many consonants in that word. She thought it was "voul".
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls Kellie Pickler.]] Oh sweet baby '''Jesus''', ''[[DumbBlonde Kellie Pickler]]''.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHgkbdXnMiY&list=FLcJlPtHnPJkc&index=5 352 feet in a yard?!]]
** Another contestant horrifically flubs the first question (1st grade health), which asks if the esophagus connects the mouth to the nose (It actually connects the mouth to the stomach). The guy answers true and he is ''a freaking pre-med student!'' If it weren't for the Save, he would have been eliminated on the very first question. Of course, the host takes a jab at him by saying "Thank god you are not my doctor!" and "Did you go to any of your pre-med classes while you were there?"
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=613hHzdp6lk This contestant]], when asked "What planet in our solar system takes the least amount of time to orbit the Sun?", said that [[ArtisticLicenseAstronomy the Moon did because we see it every night]].
-->'''Contestant:''' I'm gonna go with the Moon. I'm gonna lock in the Moon. [[labelnote:answer]] It's Mercury, which is much closer to the Sun that the Moon, which does NOT orbit the Sun at all, but rather, Earth [[/labelnote]]
** One contestant early in the syndie run, Charity Cabico, was relatively lousy with her test, missing the first two questions and needing to be Saved on the third one [[note]] in syndication, the contestant keeps playing until all 10 questions have been dealt with, and if they have any money after them (up to $25,000; wrong answers reset their bank to $0 and lowers the potential final prize), they can play the 11th question, which is called "Bonus" and multiples the final total by 10, but operates under the same rules (only the subject is given; once seen, the player has to answer if they elected to earlier), or drop out with the money they already have; anything less than a [[FlawlessVictory perfect run]] of all 11 questions, which would win them $250,000, forces them to say the exit {{CatchPhrase}} "I am not smarter than a 5th grader!"; the second season reduced it down to 8 questions amongst the lower 4 grades and one 5th grade question for the final plus the Save was removed. [[/note]], but her final question, a 1st grade question, asked for a continent, and she gave them, [[ArtisticLicenseGeography "The United States"]]. This resulted in her only winning a $250 gift card since she had no money, and the "Bonus" question was never played [[note]] Contestants who miss the final question of the main 10 or get the Bonus question wrong with less than $2,500 get that gift card; contestants who lose the "Bonus" with more than that get a $2,500 credit card. [[/note]]
** June 23, 2015: Spin instructor Ryan, who graduated from NYU with a 4.0 GPA, loses on his second question (2nd Grade Spelling) - "How many times does H appear in 'The eighth letter of the alphabet'?", answering that H appears four times in said phrase.
** July 28, 2015: Another contestant (an attorney) flunks the first question (1st grade spelling) when asked which month alphabetically follows November. Her answer? September.
** September 1, 2015: Yet another contestant (a paleontologist) wipes out on the first question (1st Grade Grammar) after saying that only 3 letters needed to be capitalized in the sentence "On her birthday, Angela went hiking with Lauren & her dog, Spike."
----

** Ashley [=McCohn=] also flunked out on her first question, but the producers seemed to like her personality enough to force Wayne Brady to come in and invite her to appear on sister show ''Series/DontForgetTheLyrics''. There, she did a little better, but faced a similar fate on the $10,000 level when she picked a category containing {{Title Theme Tune}}s she had never heard of.

* TheyJustDidntCare: On May 3, 2007, the correct answers to two separate questions in the same game were inadvertently muttered loud enough for the contestant to hear. The $2,500-question in 1st Grade Music asked which of the following was a percussion instrument: A. Viola, B. Xylophone, C. Bassoon. [[spoiler: The correct answer was B]]. The $175,000-question in 4th Grade World History asked to identify the picture writing used by ancient Egyptians: [[spoiler: Hieroglyphics]]. Neither question was thrown out and the contestant quit with $175,000.

** Ashley [=McCohn=], who lost the game on her first question! The funny part came when the producers seemed to like her personality enough to force Wayne Brady to come in and invite her to appear on sister show ''Series/DontForgetTheLyrics''. Unfortunately she faced a similar fate, losing on the $10,000 level when she picked a category containing {{Title Theme Tune}}s she had never heard of.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls Kellie Pickler.]] Oh sweet baby ''Jesus'', [[DumbBlonde Kellie Pickler.]]

* TheyJustDidntCare: On May 3, 2007, the correct answers to two separate questions in the same game were inadvertently muttered loud enough for the contestant to hear. The $2,500-question in 1st Grade Music asked which of the following was a percussion instrument: A. Viola, B. Xylophone, C.

** The first contestant on the program to "flunk out" with $0, Pat Germano, did so on the first question when he went straight for a 3rd grade question, and got a multiple choice question asking what "biosphere" we live in (Correct Answer, C) Troposphere). He uses his Copy, but his classmate got the question wrong, ending the quiz and sending him home broke. He returned as the first classmate in a "Flunkout" edition, and, when restarting the game, goes '''one grade level''' higher than what he lost out on. Jeff was quick to chide him pushing his luck a second time when he should have learned and started with the "little green ones at the bottom" (The 1st Grade questions, which are easy). He flunks out on the first question ''again''.Bassoon. [[spoiler: The correct answer was B]]. The $175,000-question in 4th Grade World History asked to identify the picture writing used by ancient Egyptians: [[spoiler: Hieroglyphics]]. Neither question was thrown out and the contestant quit with $175,000.
* WhatAnIdiot:the game, goes '''one grade level''' higher than what he lost out on. Jeff was quick to chide him pushing his luck a second time when he should have learned and started with the "little green ones at the bottom" (The 1st Grade questions, which are easy). He flunks out on the first question ''again''.

** The first contestant on the program to "flunk out" with $0, Pat Germano, did so on the first question when he went straight for a 3rd grade question, and got a multiple choice question asking what "biosphere" we live in (Correct Answer, C) Troposphere). He uses his Copy, but his classmate got the question wrong, ending the quiz and sending him home broke. He returned as the first classmate in a "Flunkout" edition, and, when restarting Bassoon. [[spoiler: The correct answer was B]]. The $175,000-question in 4th Grade World History asked to identify the picture writing used by ancient Egyptians: [[spoiler: Hieroglyphics]]. Neither question was thrown out and the contestant quit with $175,000.

* TheyJustDidntCare: On May 3, 2007, the correct answers to two separate questions in the same game were inadvertently muttered loud enough for the contestant to hear. The $2,500-question in 1st Grade Music asked which of the following was a percussion instrument: A. Viola, B. Xylophone, C. Bassoon. [[spoiler: The correct answer was B]]. The $175,000-question in 4th Grade World History asked to identify the picture writing used by ancient Egyptians: [[spoiler: Hieroglyphics]]. Neither question was thrown out and the contestant quit with $175,000.
* WhatAnIdiot:

** The first contestant on the program to "flunk out" with $0, Pat Germano, did so on the first question when he went straight for a 3rd grade question, and got a multiple choice question asking what "biosphere" we live in (Correct Answer, C) Troposphere). He uses his Copy, but his classmate got the question wrong, ending the quiz and sending him home broke. He returned as the first classmate in a "Flunkout" edition, and, when restarting the game, goes '''one grade level''' higher than what he lost out on. Jeff was quick to chide him pushing his luck a second time when he should have learned and started with the "little green ones at the bottom" (The 1st Grade questions, which are easy). He flunks out on the first question ''again''.

** One contestant early in the syndie run, Charity Cabico, was relatively lousy with her test, missing the first two questions and needing to be Saved on the third one [[note]] in syndication, the contestant keeps playing until all 10 questions have been dealt with, and if they have any money after them (up to $25,000; wrong answers reset their bank to $0 and lowers the potential final prize), they can play the 11th question, which is called "Bonus" and multiples the final total by 10, but operates under the same rules (only the subject is given; once seen, the player has to answer if they elected to earlier), or drop out with the money they already have; anything less than a [[FlawlessVictory perfect run of all 11 questions, which would win them $250,000, forces them to say the exit {{CatchPhrase}} "I am not smarter than a 5th grader!"; the second season reduced it down to 8 questions amongst the lower 4 grades and one 5th grade question for the final plus the Save was removed. [[/note]], but her final question, a 1st grade question, asked for a continent, and she gave them, [[ArtisticLicenseGeography "The United States"]]. This resulted in her only winning a $250 gift card since she had no money, and the "Bonus" question was never played [[note]] Contestants who miss the final question of the main 10 or get the Bonus question wrong with less than $2,500 get that gift card; contestants who lose the "Bonus" with more than that get a $2,500 credit card. [[/note]]

** One contestant early in the syndie run, Charity Cabico, was relatively lousy with her test, missing the first two questions and needing to be Saved on the third one [[note]] in syndication, the contestant keeps playing until all 10 questions have been dealt with, and if they have any money after them (up to $25,000; wrong answers reset their bank to $0 and lowers the potential final prize), they can play the 11th question, which is called "Bonus" and multiples the final total by 10, but operates under the same rules (only the subject is given; once seen, the player has to answer if they elected to earlier), or drop out with the money they already have; anything less than a perfect run of all 11 questions, which would win them $250,000, forces them to say the exit {{CatchPhrase}} "I am not smarter than a 5th grader!"; the second season reduced it down to 8 questions amongst the lower 4 grades and one 5th grade question for the final. [[/note]], but her final question, a 1st grade question, asked for a continent, and she gave them, [[ArtisticLicenseGeography "The United States"]]. This resulted in her only winning a $250 gift card since she had no money, and the "Bonus" question was never played [[note]] Contestants who miss the final question of the main 10 or get the Bonus question wrong with less than $2,500 get that gift card; contestants who lose the "Bonus" with more than that get a $2,500 credit card. [[/note]]

* OlderThanTheyThink: A quiz show with an elementary school theme? ''WinTuition'' did it first.

** Look no further than the show's first ever contestant, A UCLA American History graduate, who [[ArtisticLicenseHistory didn't know Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached]] and thought Columbus Day was celebrated in ''[[FacePalm September!]]'' He walked with [[EpicFail $5,000]], not answering a single question without one of his cheats.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls Kellie Pickler.]] Oh sweet baby ''Jesus'', Kellie Pickler.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls Kellie Pickler.]]

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The syndicated version, or at least Season 1 of it.
* WhatAnIdiot:
** Probably Ashley [=McCohn=], who lost the game on her first question! However the funny part came when the producers seemed to like her personality enough to force Wayne Brady to come in and invite her to appear on sister show ''Series/DontForgetTheLyrics''. Unfortunately she faced a similar fate, losing on the $10,000 level when she picked a category containing {{Title Theme Tune}}s she had never heard of.
** A contestant who didn't know how the word "vowel" is spelled when the question was how many consonants in that word. She thought it's spelled "voul".
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls Kellie Pickler.]]
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHgkbdXnMiY&list=FLcJlPtHnPJkc&index=5 352 feet in a yard...]]

** Probably Ashley [=McCohn=], who lost the game on her first question! However the funny part came when the producers seemed to like her personality enough to force Wayne Brady to come in and invite her to appear on sister show ''DontForgetTheLyrics''. Unfortunately she faced a similar fate, losing on the $10,000 level when she picked a category containing {{Title Theme Tune}}s she had never heard of.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The syndicated version.
* WhatAnIdiot: Probably Ashley [=McCohn=], who lost the game on her first question! However the funny part came when the producers seemed to like her personality enough to force Wayne Brady to come in and invite her to appear on sister show ''[[DontForgetTheLyrics Don't Forget The Lyrics]]''. Unfortunately she faced a similar fate, losing on the $10,000 level when she picked a category containing {{Title Theme Tune}}s she had never heard of.
** Also another contestant who didn't know how the word "vowel" is spelled when the question was how many consonants in that word. She thought it's spelled "voul".
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls Kellie Pickler]].