Comments on: “Fifth Grader” Goes Syndie in 2009

By: HomerJay

HomerJay — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:50:39 +0000

All of the speculation about Power of 10’s scheduling doesn’t bolster the argument for syndication. If it crashes and burns, as it did, in the face of strong competition, then why would a station manager want it to fill a slot up against, for example, Oprah?

If it only performs well in safe, protected times, that’s all well and good and, as CBS should have learned now with Big Brother, can still be a powerful asset to have…but it doesn’t make for a good syndicated show.

By: devares

devares — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:22:59 +0000

I disagree, Adam. You can’t blame Po10’s scheduling on Drew Carey’s hosting abilities on TPiR, you can, however, blame CBS for putting it up against Deal or No Deal knowing that it would get clobbered in the ratings, because, like Millionaire in the beginning, DoND’s hard to beat in the ratings and Po10 wasn’t established enough to compete. I do, however, agree with 1 vs 100. NBC used to be untouchable in the ’80s, now, it seems like they really don’t really care about their viewers. They cancel good shows (with the exception of Deal), and renew really crappy shows like ER (was good, but should’ve ended 5 years ago).

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:37:08 +0000

Po10 was badly scheduled because of Carey’s lackluster hosting on TPiR. 1v100 is probably canned because of NBC’s urge to be suckers.

By: DB25

DB25 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:38:48 +0000

Not a fan of this show, so I won’t be watching.

By: HomerJay

HomerJay — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:33:06 +0000

I for one love 5th Grader and would be happy to see it in syndication. I see no necessity to lower the prize, as it has not once been given away at night. Only a few people reach the threshold, most of those that do walk away, and the one or two that tried it failed.

I like the trivia of Jeopardy and Millionaire, but 5th Grader is different in that it really digs back into that stuff most of us had to learn, and sometimes wonder why.

It feels fun, it looks different and it requires a bit of brain power compared to Deal.

By: Neville

Neville — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:56:25 +0000

I’m sorry, but I still think that a show called “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” should have the adults competing AGAINST the kids, not using them as help!

Still, a lot can change between now and Fall 2009, so I count no chickens.

By: Travis P

Travis P — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:38:23 +0000

This is where the UK production team didn’t hire any actors and all ninteen children (three groups of five, plus four spares) were auditioned for the roles. Many adverts appeared in drama schools around the country.

The research was done slightly similar here as they all had homework packs to work on each recording night (as both daytime and primetime series was filmed over five weeks). Both versions has done well for Sky One and are continuing recording the eighty five episodes at the moment, which will feature both versions and some celebrity editions. The daytime version do run five days a week at 5pm but it runs for a full hour for a £50,000 top prize. Primetime is £250,000.

By: devares

devares — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:17:08 +0000

It really does sound pretty good. I honestly thought that should’ve been the show’s original intention to go into syndication instead of Fox. Don’t be surprised if half of the stations that pick this up are Fox or My Network TV affiliates. As for Po10 and 1 vs 100, I would love to see them come back. Po10 did bomb because of CBS’ scheduling of the show, then again, ABC did the same with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire right before the syndicated version began, so there’s hope for it. Same could be said with 1 vs 100.

By: Bob H.

Bob H. — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:05:09 +0000

5th Grader for syndication sounds good. If they make the top prize $250,000 or even $500,000 it would be good. As for “Power of 10″, I would love to see that in syndication. Sure, the top prize may be $1,000,000 (not complaining about that) instead of the $10,000,000, but the game itself is great and fun to play along on an afternoon day IMO.

By: James D.

James D. — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:09:22 +0000

IIRC, Jeff Foxworthy admitted in an interview that the original “5th Grader” cast was made up entirely of SAG-carded actors. He said the show was on a quick deadline to get from “green lit” to broadcast, so they went the child actor route to find the “5th Graders.”

Last summer, the show went to several cities to audition children to be “The Class.” IIRC, three of the five were picked from Los Angeles, so it’s possible that at least 1 was SAG-carded before being selected (there’s also a good chance that some parents balked at having their children frequently travel to LA for tapings, forcing the show to stick with LA-area kids).

I believe the show held auditions for a new “Class” earlier this summer in LA and San Diego.

The show is what it is — it doesn’t pretend to be J! or WWTBAM. It’s simply contestants trying to remember what they learned in elementary school. Foxworthy is actually a good match for the format — he interacts well with the contestants and the kids, and he’s very at ease on stage.

I read about the potential of “Power of 10″ for daytime syndication, but not “1 vs. 100″. For some reason, I think if daytime DoND is a hit this fall, then there may be a chance for a “1 vs. 100″ revival in daytime.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:38:04 +0000

I am indifferent about this show going Syndie. I think the premise of the show is really ridiculous and giving away 1 million dollars on those easy questions is really bizarre to me. Jeff Foxworthy tries to make it suspenseful, but really…no. He can do all the walking around and elongating the show if it goes syndie (assuming its only 30 mins) so it might not work.

By: Xavier

Xavier — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:17:35 +0000

Hey Alex, lets be happy that we are now crowded. It was 4 years ago that most of us thought the Game Show was dead. H2 and Pyramid being cancelled, GSN doing their crap with reality shows, and no new Game Shows created for Syndication. 2004 was a bad year for Game Shows.

But now 4 years later, we have dond and Trivial Pursuit and next year we will have AYSTAFG? It’s great to see that Game Shows are back in full force in Syndication. Now we have to hope each is more successful than Temptation and Crosswords.

By: Alex Davis

Alex Davis — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:27:33 +0000

the basic initial issue was that FOX was adamant on saying that these were actual fifth graders and they were not given any information in advance about the material. It was later found out that the students, most of which were actual actors, received material beforehand, some of which may have been used on the show. FOX downright said that no material was given several times and then we found out something like this. It kinda gave the show bad feelings to me.

Now that the show is popular and they’ve had casting sessions, I do believe they are using fifth graders correctly, though.

By: Sam M

Sam M — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:18:30 +0000

John L, is your daughter an actor? Most of the kids on that show are actors, which is the controversy. The kids were on Ellen a while back, and 3 out of 5 of them said they wanted to be an actor when they grew up. Try not to get her hopes up.

By: John L

John L — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:04:30 +0000

What was the controversy with the original cast of Fifth Grader? My daughter (who is now going into 3rd grade) really wants to be on that show. I am not trying to get her hopes up by any means, but I am planning on letting her try out (along with the 50 billion other kids) when the time comes.