Eight Days...I Know, I Know

Yes, I am still here. Yesterday marked the season premiere of The Price Is Right and the daytime premiere of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?

The Price Is Right, when you actually break it down, hasn't changed that much. The set has been redone a bit, and while parts of it admittedly look flat out stupid, that doesn't change my opinion of the show - it needs a rest. I flat out adore The Price Is Right, but I can't be the only one who thinks it's just past its prime, and has been since long before Bob Barker retired.

Then comes Fifth Grader. Obviously they aren't going to offer a $1,000,000 jackpot in daytime, but not only has the jackpot gone down, the game structure has changed. There still two questions from each grade from first to fifth, but rather than a money ladder, each correct answer adds to your bank. First grade questions are worth $500, second grade $1,000, third grade $2,500, fourth grade $3,500, and fifth grade $5,000. If you get a question wrong, you lose everything, but you have to play all ten questions no matter what. The cheats remain the same, but the number of fifth graders has gone down - only three (beats me how they divide up the questions). If, after ten questions, you have any money left, you can risk it all on the final question, which, if correct, multiplies your bank by ten.

Good changes? Well...I feel pretty much the same way I did about daytime Deal Or No Deal when I first saw it - everything has changed, and nothing has. As with daytime Deal Or No Deal, the pace feels a lot faster, and the budget feels a lot smaller, even if the set and music are almost identical. All in all, though, I liked primetime Fifth Grader, and I like daytime Fifth Grader. It's certainly the only show to make really good use of the "Do you remember what you learned in school?" motif. Will it last? I've said it before and I'll say it again: I seriously doubt it has a chance. Ah well.

Sorry about the long wait,

Aaron