Games - SmartAsk

	Games - SmartAsk

SmartAsk was a Canadian quiz show which ran for three seasons (2001-02 through 2003-04) on the CBC. The show was taped in front of a live audience, with the players sitting on a tiered set (One team on top and the other on the bottom). The SmartAsk tournament was described by Ralph Benmergui, the show's executive producer, on TSN's Off the Record as being "Reach for the Top
on acid," although in practice this largely involved crude humor, especially as the show went on and ratings sagged. Many of the questions were also factually inaccurate or poorly written. The show did not return for a fourth season, but did generate a community that went on to develop a Canadian "quiz bowl" community at several university campuses.

On-air personalities

The show was hosted in its first season by Justin Landry and rapper Michie Mee. Brothers Nobu and Mio Adilman replaced Landry for the second season, and Sabrina Jalees replaced Michie for the final season.

During the show's first two seasons, "Judge Lucci" (Luciano Casimiri) had a semi-recurring role as the show's on-air judge. The show also brought in numerous "Celebrity Judges" for Season 2, including such celebrities as Colin Mochrie from Whose Line Is It Anyway, Olympic gold medallist Sami Jo Small, and MLB star Chris Woodward. The judging panel was moved off-camera in Season 3, with the title of "Celebrity Judge" given to a random audience member for each episode.

"Superfan" Andy Saunders also made guest appearances during the show's second and final seasons, to give analysis, predictions, and statistics. Saunders also handed out "Andy Awards" to the show's top players and funnier moments.

How to get on SmartAsk!

Schools wishing to compete for the championship first submitted a written, audio or video entry to the CBC on a topic announced on the CBC's SmartAsk page. 124 schools were chosen from these entries from across the nation (the defending champion received an automatic berth into the next season). 122 of these 125 schools then competed with another school in their province or region on CBC Radio for a berth in the television round. The 3 teams chosen from the territories received a bye into the television round. Teams then competed in a 64-team single-elimination tournament, culminating in the championships. The championship games were not taped until all of the first 60 games, to determine the four teams in the championships, had been aired. Schools fielded teams of up to 4 players for the competition, 3 players playing on-air, and up to 1 alternate.

Game formats

SmartAsk had 4 different formats: one for the radio games, and one for TV in each season. The Adilman brothers were infamous for getting the rules to their own show wrong, often to inadvertent comic effect.

Radio show

The first stage of SmartAsk after team's entries were accepted was qualifying for television through a game played on CBC Radio. These games aired every Friday from late September to mid-November of the school year in which the season took place. The games were generally 15 minutes in length. There were three rounds to the game in each season: the 10 point round, the 20 point round and the Lightning Round.

In the 10 and 20 point rounds, players had to wait until the host had finished the reading the question to buzz in. This rule was known as the "no preemptive buzzing" (NPB) rule. In the radio show, teams buzzing in early forfeited their right to answer the question. The questions were given in categories of 3 or 4 questions, such as science or spelling, with the last 20 point category being a viewer-submitted questions category, which was general knowledge. There was no penalty for an incorrect response in these rounds, and if the first team to buzz answered incorrectly, their opponents could then buzz in and provide an answer. These rounds were shortened each season to increase the importance of the Lightning Round. Before the 20 point round started, the host conducted brief interviews with the team captains.

In the Lightning Round, all questions were worth 30 points and could be on any topic. Players could buzz in at any time, making it much like Reach for the Top. However, only one answer was accepted from all players, and incorrect answers were penalized 30 points. Many radio hosts forgot that "steals" (answering a question, hopefully correctly, after the opposing team has answered incorrectly) were not allowed in the Lightning Round. Each year, the Lightning Round on radio was 90 seconds long. Generally, hosts got through anywhere from 7 to 13 questions in that time. Even though the Lightning Round itself was not made longer, the fact that the earlier rounds were shortened increased the Lightning Round's importance in determining the final result.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for SmartAsk ]

Searches on eBay

smartask