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It's Academic is a televised academic quiz competition for high school students, currently airing on two NBC affiliates in Washington, D.C. (WRC-TV), Central Virginia (WVIR), and one CBS affiliate Baltimore, Maryland (WJZ-TV). The show has been on the air since 1961, making it the longest continuously-running quiz show ever. The program was created by Sophie Altman, who continued as executive producer until she died on May 24, 2008. Mac McGarry has hosted the Washington shows since the beginning. The Baltimore show is currently hosted by David Zahren. The show features three local high school teams of three players each. Over the years, chief sponsor Giant Food has given more than $2,000,000 in scholarship funds to participating schools.
The single elimination tournament features 81 schools in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, 81 schools in the Baltimore metropolitan region (including western Maryland and the Eastern Shore), and 9 schools in the Central Virginia region. The winners in each region go on to battle each other in the Super Bowl. The record-high score of 935 is held by Centennial High School in Ellicott City, Maryland, achieved in 2000.
Under the name "Academic Challenge," the quiz has also been produced on WEWS in Cleveland since the 1960's. Pittsburgh area schools compete on KDKA-TV, where the series is called "Hometown Hi-Q Quiz." KDKA news anchor Ken Rice is the host.
"It's Academic" is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running quiz program in TV history. This title was first entered in the 50th anniversary edition of the Guinness Book.
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Format
Each contest is composed of 5 rounds:
Round 1
Category round with 8 questions all centered around a theme such as "the letter B" or "famous paintings." The questions do not appear on the players' monitors but do appear for the viewing audience.
Round 2
Each team is asked 5 directed questions for 20 points each.
Round 3
Toss-up visual round. The monitor displays an image and the host provides a question accompanying the image. 10 points for each correct answer, 10 off for each incorrect answer. Eight questions are used.
Round 4
The captain of each team introduces the sponsors and administrators. There are three question packets to choose from. The team to the immediate left of the team that is supposed to answer chooses which packet the answering team gets. 8 questions are given to each team, with 20 points for a correct answer and no penalties. A 25 point bonus is given if all 8 are correct, for a total of 185 points in this round.
Round 5 (Grab Bag)
Toss-up questions. 20 points are given for correct answers, and 20 points are taken off for incorrect answers. Visual questions are 30 points for correct answers and 30 points off for incorrect answers. The number of questions varies depending on the time left in the game. The game ends when the buzzer sounds.
Conclusion
After the host has announced the teams' final scores, he invites the studio audience down from the stands to join the contestants on camera during the closing credit sequence. The song heard under the credit roll is "T.L.C. (Tender Loving Care)" by the band MFSB.
Guest Questions
Beginning in 2008, "It's Academic" telecasts on the WRC-TV version have included "guest questions" from notable persons in government business, sports, and the arts. Among those seen in pre-recorded videos are:
- Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
- U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
- U.S. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan
- U.S. Senator Jim Webb of Virginia
- Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia
- Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao
- AFL-CIO president John Sweeney
- Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
- Organization of American States Secretary-General Miguel Insulza
- Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.
- Actress Lynda Carter
- Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health
- Gen. Jack Daily, director of the National Air and Space Museum
- Dr. Wayne Clough, direcotr of the Smithsonian Institution
- Rusty Powell, director of the National Gallery of Art
- Tim Russert of Meet the Press
- David Gregory of Meet the Press
- Chris Matthews, NBC News
- Ted Leonsis, owner, Washington Capitols
- Leonard Slatkin, music director of Washington and Detroit orchestras
- Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Spin-offs
Many teams participating in It's Academic are also active in the Washington region's quiz bowl circuit.
An Australian version of the show aired on Network Ten and the Seven Network from 1968–1975, and was revived by Seven's Perth affiliate in 2001. Seven took the show national in 2005. (http://au.tv.yahoo.com/b/its-academic/)
A version was also screened in New Zealand by TVNZ in the 1980s, with Lockwood Smith as the host.
WNBC-TV in New York aired a local edition of It's Academic from the mid-1960s through about 1971, hosted most of the time by Art James, with Lee Leonard filling in for a year.
WNBQ in Chicago had a version in the 1960s and 1970s under the "It's Academic" name, hosted by Ed Grennan.
WLWT and WCET in Cincinnati aired a local It's Academic from the late 1960s into the 1980s.
A similar competition aired in Columbus, Ohio under the title In The Know. It began in 1966 on WBNS television and later moved to WOSU, a PBS affiliate, where it still airs today.
A version of It's Academic aired on WBEN-TV in Buffalo in the 1960s and 1970s, hosted by sportscaster Van Miller. It was later revived for a few months in 2008 by WGRZ-TV, with Kevin O'Neill as host.
A show using the It's Academic name aired in Richmond, Virginia in the 1970s, but that has been replaced by Battle of the Brains. Battle of the Brains has also replaced a version of It's Academic that aired in Hampton Roads.
The World Affairs Council, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State, hosted an'It's Academic International event in 2002, also hosted by Mac McGarry.
In 2007, the game Brainstorm was introduced to Arizona. It featured 21 teams for its inaugural season.
KPRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Houston, Texas, had their own version of It's Academic called the Texaco Star Academic Challenge. The show left KPRC-TV and would eventually be retitled The Challenge, airing on one of Houston's public access cable channels and KTBU Channel 55.
KRGV-TV in Weslaco, Texas has aired their own version of It's Academic for many years, entitled Masterminds.
Notable contestants
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Notable figures who have competed on It's Academic include:
- Michael Chabon, author and Pulitzer Prize winner
- Bruce Cohen, Oscar-winning producer of "American Beauty"
- David Ignatius, journalist and novelist
- Joshua Foer, writer
- Donald E. Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company
- Angus King, former governor of Maine
- Laura Lippman, author
- Daniel M. Maggin, sculptor
- Peter Salovey, Provost of Yale University
- Charles Schumer, U.S. senator from New York
- George Stephanopoulos, political commentator
Other notable participants:
- Sandra Bullock appeared on the show as a cheerleader.
- Hillary Rodham was an alternate for Maine South High School in 1965 on WNBQ (Chicago). A picture of her with her quiz team is on display at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, AR.
Champions
(Note: bold denotes Super Bowl Champions)
References
External links
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