The Substitute Filling In At MTV On Weekdays Later This Month

When given the opportunity to sneak in a bit of TV after school during my youth, I usually watched reruns of shows like The Facts of Life or Mr. Belvedere, or else, I’d put MTV on and stare blankly at music videos for a while. Today, according to MTV, the kids want game shows. Or MTV hopes they do because that’s what they have lined up to air on weekdays at 4:30 p.m.

This show actually sounds like a lot of fun, as it’s set up as a surprise to students. If my memory of school-life is accurate (and relevant), oftentimes when a substitute teacher shows up to fill in while the normal teacher is out sick, the regular lesson plan is put on hold for the day. In the case of MTV’s new gameshow The Substitute, students will be surprised to learn that their substitute teacher isn’t actually a teacher and that they’ll be given a chance to win cash in exchange for competing in trivia questions and “interactive challenges."

There are four rounds and here’s how MTV broke them down:

Round One: “Things You Should Know:”  Trivia questions that focus on academics, subjects such as history, math, literature and politics.  At the end of this round, there are 10 finalists left.
Round Two: “Things You Do Know:”  Trivia questions that are pop-culture in nature. This round ends with five students moving on to the next round.
Round Three: “What You Do:”  An interactive challenge that gets students moving – such as solving math equations to open combination locks, a rapid-fire spelling bee, and a blind typing test.  The student that wins this round goes on to face the People’s Choice – in another surprise twist, the classroom gets to vote on their peer they want to go up against the student in the lead.
Round Four: “Things You Think:”  Students are polled in advance and contestants must guess the top answer, for example “We polled the student body and they said the best activity for a first date is…”


Whichever students win the fourth round go on to play for the cash, while the rest of the students watch on, serving as the audience.

MTV has comedian Jon Gabrus lined up to serve as the host, and hopefully make having a substitute a lot funnier and more entertaining than it might otherwise be for kids.

The Substitute premieres Monday, September 12th at 4:30 p.m. ET/PT and will air weekdays at 4:30 p.m.