Make the Grade
| Make the Grade | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by | Michael Klinghoffer |
| Developed by | Bonni Grossberg Robert Mittenthal Herb Scannell Nina Silvestri Cyma Zarghami |
| Presented by |
Lew Schneider (1989–1990) Robb Edward Morris (1991) |
| Narrated by | Maria Milito |
| Composer(s) | Edd Kalehoff |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 160 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Geoffrey Darby Kristin Martin Andy Bamberger |
| Location(s) | New York, New York (1989) Universal Studios Orlando, Florida (1990) |
| Running time | 23–24 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nickelodeon |
| Original release | October 2, 1989 – December 29, 1991 |
Make the Grade is a children's game show that aired from October 2, 1989 through December 29, 1991 on Nickelodeon.
Make the Grade premiered on Nickelodeon on October 2, 1989, with three seasons worth of first-run episodes airing until December 29, 1991. Reruns later aired on Nickelodeon Games and Sports from January 2, 2000 to April 2, 2004.
The first two seasons were hosted by Lew Schneider, and were taped in a small New York studio with no live audience and false crowd noise and was filmed from July 1989 to December 1990 and aired in the 6:30PM Monday through Friday time slot . For the third season, the show moved to the newly opened Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida, with Robb Edward Morris taking Schneider's place as host. New York-based disc jockey Maria Milito was the announcer for the entire run.
The third season with Robb Edward Morris shot 30 episodes June to September 1990 and aired in the Saturday and Sunday 4:30PM time slot from September 21 to December 29, 1991, shortly after the opening of Nickelodeon Studios and Universal Studios Florida.
Three contestants – each situated at either a red, green, or blue desk – competed to answer trivia questions and acquire squares on a 7x7 split-flap game board. The category icons and grade levels lit up on the front of each desk when a question was answered correctly. Grade levels, which ranged from elementary school and grades 7 through 12, ran along the top of the board; six subjects plus a "special elective" ran down the left. The contestants' goal was to answer enough questions to light every category and grade level on the desk.
In the first season, each episode had a different set of all seven categories. In the second and third seasons, the last category was a "Special Elective", which was represented by a checkmark.
Most squares contained questions. If a contestant answered the question correctly, he earned that square for his desk and control of the board. If incorrect, the other two had a chance to answer once the host had re-read the question. If no one answered correctly, the square turned black and could not be selected again, which Schneider referred to as a "dead square". Additionally, several squares contained "wild card" panels that could ultimately alter the outcome of the game. The wild cards were:
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