Opportunity for Quizbowl champs

RUSmarter · Post by **RUSmarter** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:29 pm

Hello, everyone. I hope you all don't mind my guest posting, but I am a producer on FOX's game show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader," and I'm looking for quizbowl champs and academic record-holders in the Southern California area to be contestants on the show.

It's a lot of fun and offers you the chance to win up to one million dollars. Right now, we're hoping to find folks (who are U.S. citizens, aged 18 or older) who hold or have held some sort of state, national or widely-recognized academic title.

If you or someone you know are interested (or if you have any suggestions on how I may be able find other academic champs), please email me at [email protected] . I can also be reached in the office at 323-575-5541.

Yes, this is legitimate, and I hope the Quizbowl community doesn't mind my posting about this opportunity!

All best,
Semi Aboud
Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader
Casting Department

cvdwightw · Post by **cvdwightw** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:38 pm

The above post clearly refutes this thread.

UCLA won CBI a couple years ago, though I don't think any of us would further risk our dignity by doing this. Outside of that, I don't know how many "widely-recognized academic title" holders there are down here.

RUSmarter · Post by **RUSmarter** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:52 pm

CVD: Thanks for directing me to that thread! Yes, there's at least one person affiliated with this show who has heard of NAQT, and ACF, CBI and the like. We'd love to feature someone affiliated with these organizations if he/she is interested (and meets the criteria above)! "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" is meant to be a fun and entertaining opportunity to win some money. So I'd love to hear from anyone who'd like to participate!

Post by **DumbJaques** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:00 pm

Isn't Andrew in California right now?

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:10 pm

I'd probably sell myself out for this show if I lived in Southern California.

And was an academic record holder.

First Chairman · Post by **First Chairman** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 3:33 pm

I would if I lived in SoCal too. :) Then again, I also like Jeff Foxworthy. I would prefer that my proceeds go to charity (though some of the money I'd like to keep to pay off bills).

grapesmoker · Post by **grapesmoker** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:49 pm

What's the time frame you're looking at? I'll be in SoCal around Labor Day, is that too late?

RUSmarter · Post by **RUSmarter** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 7:10 pm

We're casting contestants through mid August, I believe. If you are not in Southern California, feel free to download an application from the following website:

http://www.fox.com/areyousmarter/showinfo/index.htm

You can mail it in to the address listed on that page. But if you are in Southern California, you can easily schedule an interview at our offices. If you're visiting town, we'd love to see you. But if you're chosen for the show, there's no guarantee that we'll be shooting your episode while you're still in town. There could be three or more weeks between the interview and shoot day. That's the only tricky part.

Leo Wolpert · Post by **Leo Wolpert** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 8:59 pm

I'm in Vegas now. How might I go about scheduling an interview if I make the drive to SoCal?

Edit: Are my chances of getting on the show diminished by the fact that you've already had a poker "pro" on the show?

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:01 pm

grapesmoker wrote:What's the time frame you're looking at? I'll be in SoCal around Labor Day, is that too late?

Man I cannot wait to make a YTMND page of Jerry saying that he's not smarter than a fifth grader.

RUSmarter · Post by **RUSmarter** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:15 pm

Leo: Please send me an email since I won't be checking this thread very often. You can reach me at [email protected]

As much as we'd love to see you here, I don't often encourage folks to drive a few hours out of their way to see us. An interview is no guarantee that you will be chosen for the show. But if you are willing, drop me an email.

vandyhawk · Post by **vandyhawk** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:13 pm

I'd love to audition if I had any remotely plausible reason to be in SoCal. If a quizbowler gets selected, would the questions get any harder, or would said person get to identify the only continent that is also a country for $500,000?

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:45 pm

vandyhawk wrote:I'd love to audition if I had any remotely plausible reason to be in SoCal. If a quizbowler gets selected, would the questions get any harder, or would said person get to identify the only continent that is also a country for $500,000?

I get the feeling the harder questions would be pop culture because you know us nerds don't know nothing about that.

Jeremy Gibbs Lemma · Post by **Jeremy Gibbs Lemma** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:19 am

We definitely bageled a bonus on the love interests of Nicholas Cage at Route 66. You have to suspect something like that .. or current Nick shows would come up .... seriously ... I see no reason to learn about LazyTown but that has come up multiple times in packets I have seen :-P

Post by **Auks Ran Ova** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:26 am

One of my three powers in the first round of SCT this year, in addition to the one on my own home state, was on LazyTown.

ValenciaQBowl · Post by **ValenciaQBowl** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:38 am

So I checked the show out for the first time last night. What struck me is how "animated" and "peppy/wacky" the contestant (a woman named Avis) was, and ads for other episodes indicate that this is standard. I presume that if you get an interview, you'll want to BE UP AND ENERGETIC! The usually sardonic pose most QBers strike would seem to be an ill fit with the audience and host. It would have been fun if Avis had answered the "Australia" question for 500k, she would've cut short Foxworthy's attempts at drama by saying something like, "Dude, it's Australia, just cut me my check." But I imagine that would be frowned upon. Still, if I could be out there, I'd smile and clap and jump for 500 grand.

PS--crap, I would've missed the question about how many months have 31 days.

Post by **theMoMA** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:44 am

Use the knuckle trick.

grapesmoker · Post by **grapesmoker** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 6:29 pm

Steroid McBlooddoper wrote:
grapesmoker wrote:What's the time frame you're looking at? I'll be in SoCal around Labor Day, is that too late?
Man I cannot wait to make a YTMND page of Jerry saying that he's not smarter than a fifth grader.

I don't even know what the show is like. Do they give you different categories or something, is it speed-buzzing-oriented, or what?

edit: so, having played the online game, my strategy would be to choose geography/social science/history every time

pray for elves · Post by **pray for elves** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 5:23 am

grapesmoker wrote:
Steroid McBlooddoper wrote:
grapesmoker wrote:What's the time frame you're looking at? I'll be in SoCal around Labor Day, is that too late?
Man I cannot wait to make a YTMND page of Jerry saying that he's not smarter than a fifth grader.
I don't even know what the show is like. Do they give you different categories or something, is it speed-buzzing-oriented, or what?

edit: so, having played the online game, my strategy would be to choose geography/social science/history every time

Jerry, they give you a list of 10 categories, with pre-assigned "grade levels" of difficulty. You have to choose which question you want when, and there's only a few history/geography/social science questions.