I think the quiz shows got dumber when most of them moved from New York to the west coast.

Sent by George Alfano | 3:18 PM ET | 03-22-2007

My chief complaint about Jeopardy in recent years is the invasion of "branding" and not-so-subtle advertising in the show. There have been more and more categories and questions devoted to consumer products and advertising slogans; for instance, last night's "Boggle" category, while interesting, is a free (or is it?) advertisement for the game. In addition to giving free (?) product placements, these types of questions tend to be easier for the home viewer and penalize those contestants who are not avid consumers. I also hate the use of celebrity clue readers.

Sent by Melissa Noble | 3:20 PM ET | 03-22-2007

I have to say, the first caller who said she watches the "smarter than a 5th grader" show just for the laughs probably had it right. We need something positive, something we can identify with, something happy. Why do you think "Weakest Link" didn't last? It was negative. Who wants to watch someone be insulted and told they're not good enough? We want something positive, something we can identify with, something we can daydream about doing ourselves. Most of us aren't on a par with Ken Jennings!

Sent by Staci | 3:31 PM ET | 03-22-2007

Quiz shows seem to concentrate on embarrasing people instead of celebrating knowledge. People like to watch "dumb" people, it makes one feel smarter. People enjoy laughing at the contestant, not about themselves.

Sent by Thomas Shea | 3:34 PM ET | 03-22-2007

Speaking of dumbing things down, your next segment is about collecting shopping bags.

Sent by Don Duval | 3:37 PM ET | 03-22-2007

The tv version of Jeopardy has provided enough entertainment and educational information to my family over the years as the children were growing up. I found out recently that my son who attends a big ten university is using the Jeopardy format to present his group report in a Medieval History class. They won't be "dumbing down" the information--they want an "A"

Sent by J. Hansen | 3:40 PM ET | 03-22-2007

The dynamics of television have simply changed in recent years. ???Smarter than a 5th grader??? may be on the extreme of easier questions, but it yields an interesting insight into higher education. I often get many of the questions wrong on the show, despite almost finishing my PhD, whereas my wife gets almost all of them right. I think the ???5th grader??? game is an excellent social and psychological experiment about how specialized we are in our fields of employ, that we simply cannot even remember the basics. How many of us still struggle with our children???s homework? I not sure if the questions are simply ???dumbed down??? as much as specialized education simply deprives us as a society in the realm of general knowledge.

Sent by Jeffrey Stephens | 4:09 PM ET | 03-22-2007

The one thing that all of the new game shows (Who Wants to Be a Millonaire, Deal or No Deal, One vs One Hundred, etc.) have in common is that knowledge is secondary. What gets people to watch is their use of the rising popularity of gambling in American culture. We want to know if the contestant is going to wager the enormous sum they have already won on being able to answer a question that hasn't been asked yet. Answering correctly or not is what keeps us watching, but it's the bet that pulls us in. It's about greed and hubris and the vouyeuristic nature of current entertainment and not whether you know more than the guy taking the gamble.

Sent by John Anthony | 5:32 PM ET | 03-22-2007

I need the address before Tuesday the 2nd of July. I lost the address on who wants to be a millioniare .I was chosen to be a contestant and have no address my computer is broken and did another computer, and it did not save it,so please can you help with that.

Sent by Alan Wright | 12:36 PM ET | 06-27-2008