I've always wondered why people equate watching TV with somehow being a mindless zombie or uncultured swine.
Personally, I enjoy a variety of TV shows, movies, music, books, etc. I can enjoy a nice rendition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons just as much as
Metallica's Enter Sandman, or even Katy Perry's California Girls. I can enjoy an episode of Survivor, just as much as an episode of Ancient Mysteries.
Likewise, I can go watch Suckerpunch or The King's Speech in the theaters.
Life is too short to be snobby about entertainment options. To each their own, and making generalities about people based on shows they watch is just
absurd.
I'm a reverse snob when it comes to books though. I find most of the cherished "classics" to be awful, awful stories, with unsatisfying endings, and
after many of them, felt like I wasted all that time vested in the stories. On the other hand, there are some prolific and successful authors whose
work I like a lot better than any Hemmingway or Dickens novel.
As for Fifth Grader...yeah, not a great show, but it's on at a "filler" time as I get home from work. Sometimes, these questions were NOT grade
appropriate. For example, this was one question..."On which sea is the capital of Azerbaijan?" (no multiple choice either, hehe...). I wonder how many
of you would know this without Google. I even got this one wrong, and I'm pretty up on my geography (I named the sea on the other side of the area). I
knew I had a 50/50 shot (Caspian or Mediterranean)...but even getting to that point, you'd have to be somewhat more aware than a 5th grader. What 5th
grader is really going to know this?
On at least TWO occasions I can recall (that I've seen the show, which isn't a lot of episodes), they've also been WRONG.
1) What is the biggest bear in the world? Their answer, was the Polar Bear. This is actually kind of in contention between the Kodiak Brown Bear (in
the Grizzly family of bears) and the Polar Bear. Some sources will say one, some the other. Having seen both of them stuffed and mounted, I'd vote for
the Kodiak.
2) What percentage of the Earth's surface is covered by water? Their percentages were multiple choice, and the actual number, was pretty much right
between two of their choices.
edit on 20-4-2011 by Gazrok because: (no reason given)