It's Academic
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It's Academic is a high school version of quizbowl, in Washington, DC (WRC-TV), Charlottesville, Virginia (WVIR), and Baltimore, Maryland (WJZ). It is also the longest continuously running game show in history, according to the Guinness Book of Records. The show has been on the air since 1961. The host, Mac McGarry, has held the job in Washington since the beginning. The show features three local high school teams of three players each competing for scholarship money. Over the years Giant Food has been the sponsor, and over $2,000,000 has been given out for school scholarship funds. Currently, both Giant Food and Comcast sponsor It's Academic. The show's format is as follows:
- First round: Toss up. The questions are thematic. Questions are worth 10 points up or down.
- Second Round: Individual questions, directed at the teams. All questions are worth 20 points, except for the occasional two-parter worth 40 points (20 for each part)
- Third Round: Visual round. Each of the questions has a corresponding image. All questions are worth 10 points up or down.
- Fourth Round: Eight individual questions. All questions are worth 20 points and a 25 point bonus is awarded for answering all of them correctly.
- Fifth Round: "Grab bag, free-for-all." The number of questions are limited only by the time left in the game. Questions are worth 20 points up or down, with visual questions worth 30.
Note: In older versions of the show, there was a second category round after the Visual Round.
Most schools have other tournaments which they compete in through out the year. These other tournaments generally last one day and do not award cash prizes. These tournaments are not affiliated with the TV show, and often use a different format such as NAQT. Most tournaments rely either on bracketing or swiss pairing in the preliminary rounds and then a single elimination playoff.
The TV tournament is a single elimination tournament featuring 81 schools. The winners in each region (Baltimore, D.C. Metro and Central Virgina) go on to battle each other in the "Super Bowl."
Notable figures who have competed on "It's Academic" have been Charles Schumer, Angus King, Donald Graham, Bruce Cohen, Laura Lippman, and George Stephanopoulos. Hillary Clinton also appeared as an alternate, and Sandra Bullock appeared on the show as a cheerleader.