Idiot Savants (game show)

Idiot Savants
Genre	Comedy/Game Show
Created by	Michael Dugan Chris Kreski
Written by	Tom Cohen
Directed by	Steve Paley
Presented by	Greg Fitzsimmons
Narrated by	Marc Price Paul Kozlowski
Country of origin	United States
Production
Location(s)	New York City, New York (state)
Running time	30 minutes
Release
Original network	MTV
Original release	December 9, 1996 – April 25, 1997

Idiot Savants was an American television game show on the MTV network which ran from December 9, 1996 to April 25, 1997. It was created by Michael Dugan and Chris Kreski, directed by Steve Paley, and hosted by comedian Greg Fitzsimmons.

The show's title refers to a label historically directed toward autistic people with Savant Syndrome.

Four contestants competed through an entire week of shows (Monday through Friday), answering questions in a variety of categories. In each of the first four shows of the week, contestants were eliminated one by one, and the day's top scorer played a bonus round for a prize. However, all four contestants returned to start each new episode, and each contestant's scores from all episodes throughout the week were added together to create a grand total. The contestant who had the highest total at the end of the Friday episode won the week's grand prize, usually a vacation or a car.

Before appearing on the show, each contestant chose a specific topic in which he/she was particularly knowledgeable as his/her "savant category." These categories covered a broad range of fields such as entertainment, academics, and popular culture.

Many of the questions were asked (or performed) by the "savant contestants", a group of actors who acted out comical sketches that led to the questions. Many of these actors were also writers on the show, including senior writer Tom Cohen, along with Jason Nash, Paul Kozlowski, Eric Friedman, and Shonda Farr.

The contestants' scores were set to zero at the start of each day.

The contestant in control chose one of eight categories from a board. A toss-up question was asked, and the first contestant to buzz in with the right answer received 100 points and the chance to answer a bonus question worth 200 points. If that contestant answered the bonus correctly, he/she then had the right to try for a 300-point "Big Gamble" question, the last in the category. No points were deducted for a miss on the toss-up or bonus questions, but an incorrect response on the Big Gamble deducted 300. Whenever a contestant answered a question incorrectly or ran out of time, the other contestants could buzz in and give the correct answer to steal the points.

The round ended when either time ran out or all eight categories had been used. At this point, the lowest scorer was labeled as the day's "dunce" and made to sit in a corner of the stage, separate from the other contestants.

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