- The series surveys the nation's intelligence through scientific questions testing brainpower, not school knowledge or memorization. The questions lead to entertaining answers.
- The series tests the nation's intelligence, based on a scientific survey. It's not about what you learned at school or your ability to memorize facts. It's a chance to test how your brain works through a series of questions that often lead to entertaining answers.
- Before the show begins, US citizens are asked a series of questions, which test how their brain works.
The show begins with 100 contestants who are given a stake of $1,000. The first question asked is one that 90% of the public were able to answer correctly and the contestants are given 30 seconds to answer it on their keypads. Contestants who answered correctly remain in the game, but those who got it wrong lose their $1,000 stake and it enters the prize pot, which remaining contestants at the end will play for. The following questions decrease each time by 10%.
Once all remaining contestants reach the 50% question, they will receive an opportunity to use their $1,000 stake to pay for a pass at anytime throughout the show, if they are stuck on a question. From now on, every question decreases by 5%.
At the 30% question, all the contestants that still have their money and haven't paid for a pass gets a choice to leave the show with their $1,000 or play on to try and win the money in the prize pot.
If any player or players answer the 5% question or the last contestant left in the game has a chance to play the 1% question and win all the money in the prize pot or they can share a pool of $10,000. To win or share the prize pot, the remaining contestant or contestants must correctly answer a question that only 1% of the public managed to get right. If a contestant plays the 1% question and gets the answer wrong, they leave with nothing, unless they still haven't paid for a pass, in which case they take their $1,000 stake. The highest possible amount to win is $100,000, an amount only reached if every single contestant pays for a pass and doesn't leave at the 30% question with their stake and the only player not to pass answers the 1% question correctly alone.
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