The TVI Rubric · Consumer Guide
What is an IQ Score for TV and film?
A 0–200 rating of intellectual quality, built from three structural dimensions. Published methodology, no studio money, no critic aggregation.
The short answer
TV Intelligentsia's IQ Score is a 0 to 200 rating that evaluates how intellectually valuable a show or film is, built from three weighted dimensions: Cognitive Stimulation (40%), Educational Value (35%), and Craft & Quality (25%). The score is structural — it measures the work itself, not aggregated opinion. The methodology is published and citable.
How the score works
Every title in the TVI database is scored by a credentialed reviewer against the same rubric. Adult titles are scored by Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH, who built the IQ framework. Children's titles are reviewed by Cordelia Witty, EdS., NCSP — a Nationally Certified School Psychologist — who additionally assigns a separate SEL Score (0–50) based on the CASEL framework.
The IQ Score is calculated from three sub-scores, each on a 0–50 scale:
40% Weight
Cognitive Stimulation
How much inference and pattern recognition the work demands. Does it reward attention, or does it resolve its own questions? Shows that demand interpretive work consistently score higher.
35% Weight
Educational Value
Real knowledge transfer across five sub-dimensions: academic content, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, life skills, and knowledge transfer. Does the viewer leave knowing something meaningful they didn't before?
25% Weight
Craft & Quality
The technical apparatus of execution — direction, performance, structural design, the discipline of what to leave out. Craft in service of ideas, not craft as decoration.
IQ = round((Cognitive × 0.4 + Educational × 0.35 + Craft × 0.25) × 4)
The five tiers
Every IQ Score lands in one of five tiers. The tier names are intentional — they describe what the show is doing for the viewer, not whether it's "good." A great Passive-tier show is still passive viewing.
The highest-scoring titles
The current top of the TVI database — Masterclass tier, scored across the full rubric:
See the full top-50 list, or browse by category: sci-fi, crime, documentaries, historical dramas, all Masterclass titles.
The highest-scoring kids titles
Children's content is reviewed by school psychologist Cordelia Witty, EdS., NCSP, on the same IQ rubric — with an additional SEL Score (0–50) based on the CASEL framework. The two scores are reported separately because they measure different things.
See the full kids ranking reviewed by Cordelia, or the best shows for 3-year-olds and most educational toddler shows.
How TVI's IQ Score differs from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb
The fundamental difference: TVI measures what the work is doing. Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb measure what audiences and critics think about the work. Both have value. They are not the same thing, and they often disagree at the margins.
TV Intelligentsia
Structural rubric. Cognitive Stimulation + Educational Value + Craft & Quality, weighted, applied by a credentialed reviewer. Published methodology. No studio money. Independent of consensus.
Rotten Tomatoes
Aggregated critic opinion. Binary thumbs-up/thumbs-down per critic, averaged across hundreds. Known to drift with discourse, favor recency, and be gameable (Bunker 15's $50-per-positive-review program documented in 2023).
IMDb
Aggregated user opinion. 10-point user score with no methodology. Heavily weighted by audience self-selection and review-bombing dynamics.
Common Sense Media
Family-safety focused. Age-appropriateness, content warnings, parental guidance. Excellent for what it does — TVI's children's scoring is the cognitive-and-developmental complement, not a replacement.
Read the full methodology document (PDF, 35 pages, citable) or the press & media page for context on how TVI is positioned in the rating landscape.
What you can do with the IQ Score
Search the database. 1,895 titles ranked across the full rubric. Filter by genre, tier, age, or kids vs. adult.
Compare two shows head-to-head. The comparison tool shows the full breakdown across all three dimensions, side by side.
Track your own watching. My IQ calculates your personal IQ Score based on what you've watched. Updates as you mark new shows.
Find what to watch tonight. Tonight's picks surfaces high-IQ titles matched to your time available and mood.
Get the weekly read. The Intelligentsia Report publishes new scores, deep dives, and methodology notes every Saturday.
Browse the full database
1,895 titles scored on the published rubric. Find what's worth watching tonight, or build a long-term diet of substantive television.
Open the database → Read the methodology