What was the very first Award Show?

Summary

Who Smarted?

Episode: What was the very first Award Show?

Date: March 11, 2026
Host: Trusty Narrator (Atomic Entertainment / Starglow Media)

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Overview

This episode of “Who Smarted?” takes listeners on a hilarious, fast-paced journey through the history and meaning of award shows. Presented in the style of a playful mock awards ceremony, the episode uses interactivity, jokes, and character banter to explain:

• The origins of the very first award show in ancient Greece,
• The development into modern awards like the Oscars,
• How many awards shows there are now,
• What an EGOT is, and who’s won it,
• Why humans love handing out so many awards.
  Throughout, the narrative is full of puns, playful interruptions, and silly moments that keep kids and grownups engaged while sneakily providing a lesson in history, trivia, and language.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kicking Off the Smartie Awards

• The episode opens as a mock award show: the “Smartie Awards,” presented by the Academy of Farts and Sciences.
• [00:36] “Who wants meat cake?” – Running joke throughout the series.
• Listeners are teased about what the show will honor: intelligence? Characters? Candy? Answer: It’s for the characters and creators of “Who Smarted?”.

2. Ancient Greek Origins: The Real First Award Show

• Producer character claims to have produced “all” award shows—starting with the very first, the Great Dionysia in Athens, Greece.
  • [03:29] “The Great Dionysia was an annual festival held in Athens, Greece, in honor of the God Dionysus. In 534 BCE, a competition was added for best tragedy, which the writer-actor Thespis won.”
  • Thespis invented tragedy and acting (using masks for different roles).
  • Fun fact: “Actors are often referred to as thespians.” [04:08]
  • Etymology: “The word tragedy derives from the Greek tragos, meaning goat…”
• [04:55] The conversation pivots to the first modern award show: the Academy Awards (Oscars).

3. The First Oscars: Surprising Origins

• [04:55] – [05:44] The first Academy Awards in 1929:
  • Lasted only 15 minutes!
  • Winners were announced three months in advance.
  • Only one acceptance speech; most movies were silent films.
  • “Wasn’t even a show, more of a dinner party, really.” – Producer

4. Chef of the Year: Classic Show Humor

• [06:04] – [06:39] In true “Who Smarted?” fashion, the “Chef of the Year” is awarded to the recurring “Meat Cake Lady.”
• Nominee banter includes food puns and callbacks to previous episodes.

5. How Many Awards Are There? What is an EGOT?

• EGOT explained as an acronym for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. [07:22]
  • “If you said an acronym, you’re right.” – Trusty Narrator [07:38]
  • Definitions: What’s an acronym?
  • Details on each award:
    • Emmy (television)
    • Grammy (music)
    • Oscar (film)
    • Tony (theater)
• Only 21 people have achieved an EGOT.
• Notable fact [08:31]: “Robert Lopez… has won two Oscars, three Tonys, three Grammys, and four Emmys.”
• There are thousands more awards—Golden Globes, Razzies (the anti-award for worst movies/acting), etc.

6. How Many Awards Exist?

• [09:28] “A recent study noted that a list tracking all cultural prizes and awards was over 2000 pages long and that new awards were being added at a rate of one every six hours.”
  • Math moment: Four new awards every day; over 1,460 per year!
• [10:10] “Why do there need to be so many awards?” Main question.

7. Why Do We Give Awards?

• Theory: Awards define standards of excellence and establish authority in a field.

  • Oscars: Created to improve and advance film as an industry.
  • [14:01] “Awards can symbolize authority on a subject and create a lasting legacy.”

• Example: Nobel Prizes

  • Named after Alfred Nobel (inventor of dynamite).
  • Nobel used his fortune to create prizes to honor those who benefit humanity.
  • “He didn’t want his legacy to be defined by inventing dynamite…” [14:47]

8. Funny/Meta Moments

• [15:16] Has an award show ever won an award? Yes—the Oscars telecast has won an Emmy!
• Suggestion made for “Best Award Show” as an actual category.
• Winner for “Best Original Who Smarted Episode” is the award shows episode itself—a meta ending.
• Multiple callbacks to in-universe running jokes (e.g., “Who wants meat cake?”, “Chet’s Bagels”).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [03:29] Producer: “The Great Dionysia was an annual festival held in Athens, Greece in honor of the God Dionysus. In 534 BCE, a competition was added for best tragedy, which the writer actor Thespis won.”
• [04:08] Trusty Narrator: “True or false, smarty pants? A fancy word for actor derives from the name of Thespis. If you said true, you’re right. Actors are often referred to as thespians.”
• [05:44] Producer: “Yippers. The first Oscars wasn’t even a show. More of a dinner party, really.”
• [08:31] Producer: “Winning all four awards, aka an EGOT, is considered a great achievement. Only 21 people have done it in competitive categories with one person, one Robert Lopez, winning all four awards at least twice.”
• [09:28] Producer: “A recent study noted that a list tracking all cultural prizes and awards was over 2000 pages long and that new awards were being added at a rate of one every six hours.”
• [14:47] Producer: “Wasn’t it said that Alfred Nobel didn’t want his legacy to be defined by inventing dynamite, so he donated part of his endowment to create the Nobel Prizes, which honor achievements that benefit humankind.”
• [15:23] Trusty Narrator: “Wow, that’s so funny. With all these awards and award shows, I’m surprised there isn’t an award for best award show.”
• [16:02] Chet Nickerson: “This is Chet Nickerson reporting live. An award show has just won an award. It all smells a little fishy to me. Of course, that could also be the excellent tuna fish served at Jet’s Bagels.”

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00 – 01:55: Humorous Smartie Awards introduction; first awards given.
• 03:17 – 04:33: Ancient Greek origins of award shows; etymology of "tragedy" and "thespian."
• 04:55 – 05:44: First Oscars—history, duration, and unique facts.
• 06:04 – 06:39: Culinary award segment; running show jokes.
• 07:15 – 08:21: EGOT explained; major awards overview.
• 09:28 – 10:10: Number of awards; math trivia.
• 13:15 – 14:47: Why awards exist; Nobel Prize example.
• 15:16 – 16:18: Meta moments; award shows win awards; episode ends with acknowledgements and fan shout-outs.

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Summary

“Who Smarted?” brings together education and entertainment by exploring the fun (and surprisingly ancient) world of award shows. Through engaging dialogue, funny asides, interactive questions, and recurring inside jokes, kids and parents learn how the very first dramatic competition in ancient Greece set the stage for today's glitzy award ceremonies. The show explains why awards exist, what “EGOT” means, the sheer number of awards out there, and why humans seem compelled to keep creating them (hint: striving for excellence and authority!). With jokes about meat cake, bagels, and farts—as well as clever references to real-life figures and trivia—this episode is a gold winner for fans of humor and learning.

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For use in classrooms, car rides, or family discussions, this summary serves as a handy guide, ensuring you don’t miss a “whiff” of the facts or a single giggle from “Who Smarted?”.

Transcript

[A]

And now it's time for who Smarted? Good evening, smarty pants, and welcome to the first annual Smartie Awards, presented by the Academy of Farts and Sciences. As always, I am the trusty narrator, and I'll be your host for today's ceremony. We've got a great show in store for you as we acknowledge and honor what. What do you think? The Smartie Awards, AKA the Smarties. Acknowledge and honor. Smartypants. Is it your intelligence or smartness? The beloved characters and creators of your favorite podcast, who's Smarted?

[B]

Who wants meat cake?

[A]

Or is it the fruity flavors of the classic candy Smarties? If you said intelligence. Sorry, that's incorrect. Perhaps you were thinking of the Nobel Prize, which awards achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine, literature, and even peace. If you said fruit flavors of the classic candy Smarties, I'm afraid that's also incorrect. But if you said the characters and creators of your favorite podcast, who Smarted? That's right. Which brings us to our first award. Here are the nominees for Reporter of the Year. Chet Nickerson. Chet Nickerson. And Chet Nickerson.

[B]

Ooh, I sure hope I win.

[A]

And the smarty goes to.

[C]

Ooh.

[A]

In an upset. It's Chet Nickerson.

[B]

This is Chet Nickerson reporting live from the Smarties, where I have just won the coveted Reporter of the Year award. I first want to thank the Academy of Farts and Sciences. And, of course, where would I be without my friend, the trusty narrator? I'd also like to thank my breaking news team. Sports, weather, traffic, stock reports, arts, lifestyle. Oh, and the staff at Chet's Bagels, home of the pumpernickerson Bagel.

[A]

All right, Chet, that music means it's time to clear the stage. We have more words to get to.

[B]

Breaking news. Chet Nickerson is being ushered off the stage.

[A]

Smarty pants, have you ever wondered what the first awards show was? Or how many awards shows there are? And why do we give out awards in the first place? And of course, which show would get the award for most important award show? Get ready to award yourself with another whiff of science in history on who smarted.

[B]

Who's smarted? Who's smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science or history? Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun, but who's smarted?

[C]

Commercial. We're back in two minutes.

[A]

Congrats, Chet.

[B]

Breaking news. Chet Nickerson is still in shock and disbelief from winning the Smarty for reporter of the Year. This is by far one of the happiest days of his life.

[C]

Believe it, kid. Here, take a tissue.

[B]

Thanks. Thanks.

[C]

As for you, trustee, you need to get this award show back on schedule. We're two minutes behind, thanks to Mr. Late. Breaking news here.

[A]

Ah, you must be the producer.

[C]

I'm not just the producer. I'm the eternal producer. I've been producing award shows since the Great Dionysia.

[A]

The Great Dionysia? Who or what is that?

[C]

Are you serious? Why, it's only arguably the first award show ever. The Great Dionysia was an annual festival held in Athens, Greece in honor of the God Dionysus. In 534 BCE, a competition was added for best tragedy, which the writer actor Thespis won.

[A]

Wow. An ancient Greek hyphenate. Was he expected to win?

[C]

Let me put it this way. You didn't need the Oracle of Delphi to predict the outcome. Thespis is credited with inventing tragedy. Some say he even invented acting by using masks to portray different characters on stage. He was a clear favorite.

[A]

True or false, smarty pants? A fancy word for actor derives from the name of Thespis. If you said true, you're right. Actors are often referred to as thespians.

[C]

And the word tragedy derives from the Greek tragos, meaning goat, specifically a male or billy goat. Either you got a goat for winning the drama competition or they sacrificed a goat at the festival. It's so long ago, I can't remember now.

[A]

You've really been producing award shows a long time?

[C]

Ever since the late 6th century BCE

[A]

toots, how old does that make you?

[C]

Old enough not to ask me.

[A]

Point taken. So wait, if the great Dionysia was the first ancient awards show, what was the first modern awards show? Smarty pants. Care to take a guess? Here's a hint.

[C]

And the Oscar goes to. The answer is the Academy Awards. The first Academy Awards ceremony, which later became known as the Oscars, was held in 1929. I can still taste the filet of soul served in the blossom room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

[A]

You attended the first Oscars?

[C]

Attended, doll face? I produced it.

[A]

Smartypants. How long do you think the first Oscars ceremony was? Was it A, 15 minutes, B, 45 minutes, C, 2 hours, or D 6 hours? Considering how long an Oscars ceremony is today, you might be surprised to learn the first Academy awards lasted just 15 minutes.

[C]

Yippers. The first Oscars wasn't even a show. More of a dinner party, really. All the winners were announced three months in advance, Only one winner gave an acceptance speech, and pretty much all the movies were silent. Back in three seconds. All right, Trusty, back on stage, quick.

[A]

Okay, smarty pants, it's now time to honor some of the culinary excellence you've heard on who's smarted? The nominees for smartie chef of the year are. Dude foodie from the mold episode.

[B]

What's up, food fans? I'm dude Foodie and I'm here to feast like a beast.

[A]

Grog the caveman from the cooking episode.

[B]

Ooh, Ooh. Fire Hots Cook meat.

[A]

And the meat cake lady from way too many episodes.

[B]

Who wants meat cake?

[A]

And the winner is. Who wants meat cake?

[B]

Oh, I can't believe I won. Oh, thank you, trustee, and thank you, academy. And thank you, smarty pants. Wow, I wasn't expecting this at all. First, I'd like to thank my agent and my manager and my agent's manager. And of course, meat and cake and onions and hard boiled eggs and ketchup and.

[A]

Okay, thanks, meat cake lady. Keep on cooking with gas. Okay, stick around because we have more show coming your way.

[C]

And that's a commercial break.

[A]

Phew. This hosting gig isn't easy. Ms. Producer, may I ask, how many awards shows have you produced?

[C]

All of them.

[B]

All of them.

[A]

How many awards shows are there?

[C]

It depends how you look at it.

[A]

Well, how would you look at it?

[C]

EGOT.

[A]

EGOT. EGOT. EGot. Smartypants. Do you know what an EGOT is? Is it A, a type of bird, B, an acronym, or C, the sound you make after eating too much meat cake?

[B]

Egot.

[A]

If you said an acronym, you're right. But first, what's an acronym? Oh, an acronym is an abbreviation meaning made up of the initials of other words and pronounced as a single word. In this case, EGOT is an acronym that stands for the four major award shows. Do you know what they are, smarty pants? To help you, look at the four letters that make up the word egot. There's an E, a G, an O and a T. Call them out if you know them. And in case you're not sure, EGOT

[C]

stands for the Emmys, which awards achievement in television. The Grammys, which celebrates music, the Oscars, which judges film, and the Tonys, which honors theater. They're known as the four major award shows.

[A]

Cool question. True or false, smarty pants? Nobody has ever won all four awards. The answer is false.

[C]

Winning all four awards, aka an EGOT, is considered a great achievement. Only 21 people have done it in competitive categories with one person, one Robert Lopez, winning all four awards at least twice. He's won two Oscars, three Tonys, three Grammys, and four Emmys.

[A]

Wow. I guess you could say he's won all the awards there are to win.

[C]

Nah, not even close. A lot more awards than just Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys. There's a Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, the Critics Choice, the People's Choice, the Kids Choice, bafta, the Country Music Awards, the SBC, Heisman Trophy, the Razzies.

[A]

Razzies. Razzies. Razzies.

[C]

Yeah, you don't want to win that. That's for the worst movies and the worst acting performances.

[A]

Nope, definitely don't want a Razzie. I will say that is a lot of awards to give out.

[C]

Oh yeah, you could easily have a different awards show every day of the year. Whoa.

[A]

Whoa is right.

[C]

If you think that's whoa, get a lot of this. A recent study noted that a list tracking all cultural prizes and awards was over 2000 pages long and that new awards were being added at a rate of one every six hours.

[A]

Hold on, Smartypants. If one award is being added every six hours, how many new awards are created each day? If you said four and with four

[C]

new awards being added each day, how many does that make in a year?

[A]

Hang on, this isn't mysteries about true histories. Please don't make me do more math on the spot.

[C]

Fine. Four awards times 365 days equals 1460 awards.

[A]

That's crazy. Why? Why do there need to be so many awards?

[C]

Beats me, but it sure keeps me employed.

[A]

What do you think, smarty pants? Why do people feel the need to give out so many awards? The answer, or at least a theory, right after this quick break and a word from our sponsors. Spring is here and if you're a homeschool family trying to finish the year strong, I want to tell you about ixl. It's the award winning online learning platform that fits seamlessly into your homeschool routine covering math, language arts, science and social studies from Pre K through 12th grade. What I love most about IXL is how it adapts to each child's pace. Whether your kid needs to reinforce foundational skills before an assessment or push ahead into new material, IXL meets them exactly where they are with no pressure and real encouragement built right in. Kids earn rewards, see their own progress, and actually feel good about learning. And for parents, the real time progress tracking is a game changer. You always know exactly where your child stands. Plus, it makes learning fun. And you know I love that over 15 million students use IXL and it's proven to improve achievement in all 50 states. So make an impact on your child's learning. Who Smarted Listeners get an exclusive 20% [e-mail] smarted that's ixl.com smarted for your 20% off. As the trusty narrator, I've taken the smarty pants on countless adventures. I'll do anything for the fans, but off mic, I prefer to keep my adventures in the safe space of my own backyard. However, even a homebody like me can't avoid the unexpected chaos that comes with family life. Take last week, for example. My niece was staying with me when she came down with a nasty cold in the middle of the night. I couldn't leave her alone to get medicine. And that's when I remembered Doordash is there for you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it. With a few taps on my phone, I I had cough syrup and tissues delivered right to my door. Doordash saved the night, and my niece was back to her energetic self in no time. Oh, and did I order a little ice cream for myself. Yes, I did, and Doordash brought it right to my door. So while I may not be the biggest fan of real life adventures, I'm grateful that Doordash is always there to help me navigate life's little emergencies. When life happens, get a little order delivered with Doordash Order now. Now back to who Smarted and the award for best guest appearance, my old friend Dino Hunter and lunch thief, Robert Maroon. Fortunately, Robert couldn't be here tonight, as he is on a fossil hunt in Tanzania.

[C]

Commercial break.

[A]

Okay, smarty pants. Before the break, we were trying to figure out why the need for so many awards and so many awards shows. If I was to theorize why people give out awards, I'd say it's to define standards of excellence in whatever industry or field you're awarding. For example, one of the main reasons why the Oscars were created was to improve and advance the film industry by establishing a standard of quality.

[C]

I thought they just liked giving out gold statuettes.

[A]

That, too. But the way I see it, giving out awards helps establish an authority on a certain subject.

[C]

What do you mean?

[A]

Well, for instance, imagine you aspire to be an authority on farts in your school.

[C]

Gross.

[A]

But okay, you could create awards for loudest fart, softest fart, longest fart, shortest fart, smelliest fart.

[C]

I got the picture. Also, do they need a producer?

[A]

No, no, that's not a real awards show, and hopefully it never is.

[C]

Gotcha. But I see your point. Awards can symbolize authority on a subject and create a lasting legacy.

[A]

Exactly. Smarty pants. Remember the Nobel Prizes I mentioned in my introduction? Well, they're named after Alfred Nobel, who invented, what was it? A, noble gases, B, the bowling pin, but not bowling ball. Or C, dynamite. If you said dynamite, you're correct.

[C]

Wait a second, I've heard of this. Wasn't it said that Alfred Nobel didn't want his legacy to be defined by inventing dynamite, so he donated part of his endowment to create the Nobel Prizes, for which honor achievements that benefit humankind.

[A]

Exactly. And the Nobel Prize, which includes the Nobel Peace Prize, became his legacy. When you look at it that way, it's perfectly reasonable to give out so many awards. There's just one other thing I'm wondering.

[C]

Yeah, what's that?

[A]

Has an award show ever won an award?

[C]

Why yes. The Oscars telecast has actually won an Emmy.

[A]

Wow, that's so funny. With all these awards and award shows, I'm surprised there isn't an award for best award show.

[C]

Hmm, that's not a bad idea. Call me if you need a producer. Back in three seconds. Quick trusty, on stage. Shoo. Go.

[A]

Now for our final award of the night, best original who's Smarted episode, the nominees are Minecraft Socks, Pickling Unicorns and Award shows. And the winner is. I should have known. Award shows.

[B]

This is Chet Nickerson reporting live. And award show has just won an award. It all smells a little fishy to me. Of course, that could also be the excellent tuna fish served at Jet's bagels. Try some on a Puppert Nickerson bagel today day.

[A]

And the award for most shameless newscaster goes to a triple award winning shout out to Jackson, Charles and Lucas in Dryden, Ontario, Canada. We hear you love listening to who smarted in the car and while getting ready for school and that you find the fun trivia interesting. Well, we find it awesome that you love smarting with us. Keep up the great work, smarty pants. This episode Award Shows was written by Dan Goldenglobes Gold and voiced by Charlotte where's my Tony cone? And Emmy nominated Adam Davis and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh with Love a Grammy Han. Our associate producer is Max critics Joyce Kamowski. The theme song is by Brian independent Spirit Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Cole. This has been an Atomic audio production.