5th Grader -- Burying the Lead?

[TheConfessor]

At the end of Steve Beverly's report about the $1 million winner on 5th Grader last night (which I didn't see), he says that the winner is giving away her entire prize to a few local schools. That's certainly impressive, if true.

I wonder if her intention might run afoul of IRS rules. Assuming she gets a 1099 showing that she won $1 million, then she shows $1 million of itemized charitable deductions on her 2008 Schedule A, she won't get full credit for her itemized deductions. Up to 80% of itemized deductions are disallowed (phased out) for high income earners. With an income of more than $1 million, she would fall into that category. So if she really gives away the million, she may still owe substantial taxes, and may wind up in bankruptcy.

There may be smart accountants who know how to get around this. I hope so. The obvious best option would be never to take possession of the money, and request that the show donate it directly to the intended beneficiaries. But it's not clear whether that is an option.

The article also says that a local politician ran an ad during the Atlanta broadcast of the show, critical of the winner (a teacher) for going on a game show when local schools are in trouble. What a loser! I hope the voters send him a strong and clear message that he needs to find a different line of work.

****MOVE OVER, NANCY & JESSICA: GEORGIA SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT WINS $1M ON "5TH GRADER"

Nancy Christy now has lots more company. For five years, she sat alone as American game shows' only female millionaire. Monday night, Jessica Robinson---soon to be from Austin, Tx.---joined Christy when she won $1 million on "Deal or No Deal."

Friday night on Fox's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?," Georgia School Superintendent Kathy Cox became the first to break the bank on the Mark Burnett game.

In the third season opener for "5th Grader," Cox became the third female millionaire in quiz/game show history when----with no help from the fifth graders and no cheats, she knew the World History question: who was the longest reigning British monarch. Answer: Queen Victoria, who was on the throne for 63 years.

She had nailed the $500,000 question (with a peek at fifth grader Olivia's answer---and ignoring it): which commanding British general surrendered to American troops in Yorktown in 1781 (5th grade U.S. History)? Answer: Cornwallis.

The show was taped August 6 and Cox took some political heat from one Democratic foe for appearing on "5th Grader." During the Atlanta airing on Fox affiliate WAGA, State Rep. Rob Teilhet of Smyrna bought an ad criticizing Cox for being on the show while "students are struggling in crowded Georgia classrooms." According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that brought a chorus of boos from about 100 friends watching with Cox at Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill in Peachtree City near Atlanta.

Cox is donating her entire winnings to three schools: Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon, Atlanta Area School for the Deaf in Clarkston and Georgia School for the Deaf in Cave Spring.

Host Jeff Foxworthy teased Cox unmercifully during the episode. Foxworthy lives in Alpharetta, a suburb north of Atlanta.

[Beebs52]

I hope to heck someone can get the tax considerations all figured out. That's a great testament to our tax code if true. (snarkafont)
Also, what a jerkwad of a "political foe." (no snarkafont)

Congrats to both the winners.

[KillerTomato]

Ed, I'm not normally a spelling police member, but I believe you mean "Burying the lede."

[frogman042]

Nancy Christy now has lots more company. For five years, she sat alone as American game shows' only female millionaire. Monday night, Jessica Robinson---soon to be from Austin, Tx.---joined Christy when she won $1 million on "Deal or No Deal."

Do you think we'll see her at Mother Egan's anytime soon ?

---Jay

[silvercamaro]

I hope the tax attorneys will weigh in. My understanding was that if someone claimed charitable deductions of more than half his or her earnings, an audit would be virtually automatic. In this case, assuming that all gifts were distributed as promised, the principal would pass the audit.

Also (and this I don't know), if there a limit on the amount of charitable deductions in a single year, there may be a credit for the balance that can be carried forward to future years.

As a former fund-raiser, I knew of some public figures who announced to great applause charitable gifts that never seem to have been given. On the other hand, I never heard of anybody who got into trouble for actually making big donations to legitimate non-profit institutions.

[silvercamaro]

Ed, I'm not normally a spelling police member, but I believe you mean "Burying the lede."

Both lead and lede are correct. Lede is a spelling that has come into fashion only within the past 20 years or so.

I say "lead." I'm old-fashioned, and I have only two degrees in journalism.

[TheConfessor]

Ed, I'm not normally a spelling police member, but I believe you mean "Burying the lede."

Thanks for the advice, but if Wikipedia says we're both right, I'll go with what looks right.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_writing

Lede or lead

The most important structural element of a story is the lede or lead—the story's first, or leading, sentence.

[christie1111]

Where's Marley?



I actually watched the beginning of this. Yes, true!

It was a 'celebrity' edition. All of the people were donating their winnings to charities.

First up was Kathy Ireland (Cathy?) and she was donating any winnings to another school.

Does that make the discussion easier?

I really wouldn't know the tax differences.

[TheConfessor]

Nancy Christy now has lots more company. For five years, she sat alone as American game shows' only female millionaire. Monday night, Jessica Robinson---soon to be from Austin, Tx.---joined Christy when she won $1 million on "Deal or No Deal."

Do you think we'll see her at Mother Egan's anytime soon ?

---Jay

I doubt it. There's not much correlation between picking random numbers in a studio and answering trivia questions in a bar. Especially for pregnant Mormon women.

[TheConfessor]

Where's Marley?



I actually watched the beginning of this. Yes, true!

It was a 'celebrity' edition. All of the people were donating their winnings to charities.

First up was Kathy Ireland (Cathy?) and she was donating any winnings to another school.

Does that make the discussion easier?

I really wouldn't know the tax differences.

Yes, thanks, that makes a big difference. I didn't know the person was considered a celebrity. So she knew in advance that she was not going to win any money for herself. So there are no tax issues. I misunderstood the situation. The articles I've read did not make that clear.

Still, congratulations to her for doing well. In a situation like this, she had a lot to lose, and nothing to gain, personally. She definitely stuck her neck out (kind of like being a Phone A Friend).

Here are the questions in her stack. Are these of typical difficulty? Going for a million takes guts. Playing for charity might tend to make most people more conservative than playing for themselves.

[frogman042]

Nancy Christy now has lots more company. For five years, she sat alone as American game shows' only female millionaire. Monday night, Jessica Robinson---soon to be from Austin, Tx.---joined Christy when she won $1 million on "Deal or No Deal."

Do you think we'll see her at Mother Egan's anytime soon ?

---Jay

I doubt it. There's not much correlation between picking random numbers in a studio and answering trivia questions in a bar. Especially for pregnant Mormon women.

That's why I tossed in the surprissed emotican...

---Jay

[KillerTomato]

Ed, I'm not normally a spelling police member, but I believe you mean "Burying the lede."

Thanks for the advice, but if Wikipedia says we're both right, I'll go with what looks right.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_writing

Lede or lead

The most important structural element of a story is the lede or lead—the story's first, or leading, sentence.

Yeah, Wikipedia is definitely the best source for all things spelling and journalistic.

Now, since Sliver says it's OK either way, THAT's a source I can believe in.

[Bob78164]

At the end of Steve Beverly's report about the $1 million winner on 5th Grader last night (which I didn't see), he says that the winner is giving away her entire prize to a few local schools. That's certainly impressive, if true.

I wonder if her intention might run afoul of IRS rules. Assuming she gets a 1099 showing that she won $1 million, then she shows $1 million of itemized charitable deductions on her 2008 Schedule A, she won't get full credit for her itemized deductions. Up to 80% of itemized deductions are disallowed (phased out) for high income earners. With an income of more than $1 million, she would fall into that category. So if she really gives away the million, she may still owe substantial taxes, and may wind up in bankruptcy.

I'd have to check the Schedule A instructions to be sure, but I believe that this particular phase-out does not apply to charitable deductions. However, there's another limit that probably does. I believe that charitable deductions are limited to half of your AGI. Contributions above that amount are disallowed for the current year, although they can be carried forward into future years. --Bob

[TheConfessor]

I've watched clips and read discussions on other game show boards. I haven't seen any indication that Kathy Cox was playing as a "celebrity," and thus knew from the start that she was playing only for charity.

I don't watch the show, so I may be asking dumb questions. Does the fact that Kathy Ireland was also on the show mean that this was exclusively a "celebrity" episode, or does "5th Grader" mix celebs and non-celebs within the same episode? Having a Georgia school administrator play as a celebrity would certainly stretch the definition of the word and render it almost meaningless. The video clip makes no mention of her playing for charity. I wonder if that is just something she decided to do after her political opponent attacked her for caring more about Hollywood than for her failing schools. It seems like a sleazy charge to make, but in politics, I guess that's just business as usual.
http://buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/ka ... /#comments

[frogman042]

I've watched clips and read discussions on other game show boards. I haven't seen any indication that Kathy Cox was playing as a "celebrity," and thus knew from the start that she was playing only for charity.

I don't watch the show, so I may be asking dumb questions. Does the fact that Kathy Ireland was also on the show mean that this was exclusively a "celebrity" episode, or does "5th Grader" mix celebs and non-celebs within the same episode? Having a Georgia school administrator play as a celebrity would certainly stretch the definition of the word and render it almost meaningless. The video clip makes no mention of her playing for charity. I wonder if that is just something she decided to do after her political opponent attacked her for caring more about Hollywood than for her failing schools. It seems like a sleazy charge to make, but in politics, I guess that's just business as usual.
http://buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/ka ... /#comments

I did catch her episode - I didn't get the impression that she was playing as a celeb because they didn't say she was playing for a charity, she said that she would be donating it which got a huge response - my impression is that that was a noble thing she was doing and not something she was required to do. At one point Jeff even suggested that she should hold a small portion for herself to visit Europe (I think it was on the Switzerland question and Jeff asked if she ever was there, and she said no but would love to go - that triggered the comment) - to me that made it clear that it wasn't a 'celeb' game.

Lastly, she went for the Million Dollar Question because as an educated she wanted to send the message to her students to never drop out - regardless of the personal risk - so she felt she couldn't do that if she dropped out herself. I thought it was an a gutsy and interesting move and I'm glad she won.

---Jay (WSB-AM in Atlanta was the first radio station in the southeastern United States, signing on in this year of the 20th century - if you know the year you will know the number of days until my episode is scheduled to air)

[KillerTomato]

It was a two-hour premiere, but I believe the graphics for only the first half (when Kathy Ireland was on) specified "Celebrity".

[MarleysGh0st]

Where's Marley?



I actually watched the beginning of this. Yes, true!

It was a 'celebrity' edition. All of the people were donating their winnings to charities.

First up was Kathy Ireland (Cathy?) and she was donating any winnings to another school.

Does that make the discussion easier?

I really wouldn't know the tax differences.

I'm here!

TPTB at 5th Grader mixes up the order of their tapings (which is why the kids in the the class always wear the same clothes all season long), so it's not at all clear that these episodes were taped back to back. I suspect they moved Kathy Cox's run to start the season with a bang.

Although they did introduce the show as a two-hour celebrity edition, Jeff did not introduce Ms. Cox as a celebrity, nor did they start off by saying she was playing for charity. So I also had this question about whether the money would be considered to be passing through her hands, causing all kinds of grief with the IRS. I presume those celebrities who are identified from the beginning as playing for charity are considered to have never touched the money, themselves. For Kathy, it's not at all clear.

[MarleysGh0st]

Here are the questions in her stack. Are these of typical difficulty? Going for a million takes guts. Playing for charity might tend to make most people more conservative than playing for themselves.

I'd say that was typical difficulty last night, although both Kathy Ireland and Kathy Cox handled the stacks much better than the average contestant. Here's the full transcript from the night, including Kathy Ireland's run. (She walked away with $175K, leaving her Copy and Save cheats on the table.)

http://forums.fox.com/n/mb/message.asp? ... msg=4914.1

As for the new class of kids, I'd have to say they didn't have a spectacular start. In both stacks, there were moments when their help might have been disastrous. When Kathy Ireland was playing, she had this 4th Grade Social Studies question for $100K:

What historical document begins with the words, "When in the Course of human events"? a) US Declaration of Independence b) US Constitution c) Magna Carta? A: US Declaration of Independence

Kathy hadn't used any cheats to this point, so she decided to Peek at Jonathan's answer. Luckily, she didn't go with his choice of the US Constitution!

Then, when Kathy Cox peeked at Olivia's answer to 5th Grade US History:

Which commanding British general surrendered to American troops at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781?

Olivia's answer was "General Potter".

If there's a Nathan in this class, I can't tell who that might be yet.

[MarleysGh0st]

One more comment about what's new this season: When it's time for the contestants to choose which kid from the class should help them next, the show has added a flashing spotlight effect over the class, accompanied by the sound effect from when contestants are playing Press Your Luck.

I was waiting for contestant and/or audience to start shouting, "No whammies! No whammies!"

[frogman042]

Since I like beating a dead horse (less likely to bite then a live one) - the other nights episode of ARSTAFG was the first one I've seen since the few I saw on the first season. Is it my imagination or does this show have the lowest ratio of questions per hour then any show in game show history. Is it getting worse? I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure that for one segment (defined as any portion of the show between commerical breaks) it had only a single question and they didn't even get to the answer, that came after the next break - so they only got in 1/2 of question for a whole segment. In addition, unlike BOM where it used to be the contestant that would drag it out - on FG it seems like they drag out the telling them the answer for what is an eternity. I could maybe see it on a single very critical question where there is some uncertainty on what might be the right answer, but it seems to be every question gets the dramatic treatment - regardless of how easy it is... talk about false drama.

I'm usually hooked on trying to catch any show that asks trivia/quiz questions regardless of the format, but this is just painful - are there really that many people out there wondering what ocean borders NYC, how to abbriviate the word doctor or what a decibel measures - sitting in suspense to see if the contestant got it right?

If they want to ask these types of questions, fine, its their show - but cut out the dramatics and speed it up so I can see more questions (after all it is all about me)

I probably wont bother tuning in again except maybe to watch the KJ show (I wonder if they are going to up the difficulty), of course, if it is on when I happen to be around I will probably put it on, addicts are like that - regardless of how poor the quality or how small the amount is, they can't turn down an chance on a fix.

Finally, if the contestant misses a question and all the classmates do, shouldn't they be allowed to say "I may not be smarter then a 5th grader, but they don't seem to be smarter then me either"

---Jay (I'm almost certain this question will never come up on ARSTAFG - but if it ever does and they do ask the atomic number of titanium - if you know the number of days to go until my scheduled air date then you will be able to nail the answer)

[mom2five]

Hey frogman,

You need to get a DVR! I've had one for over a year and I absolutely love it!

AYSTAFG takes about 20 minutes to watch for an hour episode, and BAM can be viewed in as little as 7. I always skip past all the blather and get to the part I want to see, which is the correct answer.

The "dramatic pauses" are so annoying, especially on FG!

[MarleysGh0st]

Since I like beating a dead horse (less likely to bite then a live one) - the other nights episode of ARSTAFG was the first one I've seen since the few I saw on the first season. Is it my imagination or does this show have the lowest ratio of questions per hour then any show in game show history. Is it getting worse? I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure that for one segment (defined as any portion of the show between commerical breaks) it had only a single question and they didn't even get to the answer, that came after the next break - so they only got in 1/2 of question for a whole segment. In addition, unlike BOM where it used to be the contestant that would drag it out - on FG it seems like they drag out the telling them the answer for what is an eternity. I could maybe see it on a single very critical question where there is some uncertainty on what might be the right answer, but it seems to be every question gets the dramatic treatment - regardless of how easy it is... talk about false drama.

Definitely, 5th Grader is the slowest quiz show ever. Jeff reads the question once or twice, the contestant reads it again, Jeff warns the contestant not to answer too quickly, the contestant hems and haws, finally answers, then Jeff repeats the question once more, as if the contestant had missed something horribly subtle, then he tries a fake-out "have you ever heard of" some other answer....and on and on. If a contestant does answer quickly and decisively, that's about the worst fate possible, in Jeff's eyes.

I'd like to take that new timer from SyndieBAM and make Jeff reveal the correct answer in that time. Tied to a jolt of electricity if he doesn't!

Friday night, it took the final half hour to go through three questions ($300K, $500K and $1 million). And just a couple minutes of that was actual contemplation of the answers.

[SportsFan68]

Definitely, 5th Grader is the slowest quiz show ever. Jeff reads the question once or twice, the contestant reads it again, Jeff warns the contestant not to answer too quickly, the contestant hems and haws, finally answers, then Jeff repeats the question once more, as if the contestant had missed something horribly subtle, then he tries a fake-out "have you ever heard of" some other answer....and on and on. If a contestant does answer quickly and decisively, that's about the worst fate possible, in Jeff's eyes.

I'd like to take that new timer from SyndieBAM and make Jeff reveal the correct answer in that time. Tied to a jolt of electricity if he doesn't!

Friday night, it took the final half hour to go through three questions ($300K, $500K and $1 million). And just a couple minutes of that was actual contemplation of the answers.

You're still watching, Marley -- they must be doing something right.

I think it's Jeff. People love him.

[MarleysGh0st]

You're still watching, Marley -- they must be doing something right.

As I've said before, there can be "entertainment" value in a good blood-boiling.

[earendel]

It was a two-hour premiere, but I believe the graphics for only the first half (when Kathy Ireland was on) specified "Celebrity".

That's correct - although it was billed as a two-hour premiere, it was actually two one-hour shows strung together by connecting music. The graphics indicated the difference.