“Fifth Grader” Looks for a New Class

11 May

Posted by Alex Davis as Casting, FOX, Fifth Grader?

Are you a parent of a SAG card holding child who can’t get work? FOX has a deal for you then! The school year is over so the old class of FOX’s depressing show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, which evidently few are, is out and a new group is needed. Last season they refused anyone who did not have a SAG card, and be expecting the same treatment here. If we’re wrong, though, please tell us. FOX hasn’t listed it, but it’s not beyond them to lie about this show. After all, they openly said the kids don’t receive assistance with the questions before or after the show even though the credits say otherwise. Want to help dumbass adults win money? Please click here and good luck.

FYI, we got the overnight ratings, and we’re in the 5.0-6.0 range, which is the same as 1 VS 100. Major victory for all of us hard quiz show fans. NBC’s upfront announcements will be on Monday, so be expecting to hear something about Deal or No Deal and 1 VS 100 and all of NBC’s misery then. Don’t be expecting to hear about Identity, though, which doesn’t upset me that much.

12 Responses

Intelligentfan777
1
May 11th, 2007 at 3:42 pm

Ok. I think it is about time for the record be set straight, once and for all!

The one thing that really irks me about the game show fandom is that we sometimes tend to get so entangled in one topic or another that we completely lose touch with reality. The real truth is that, as a whole, we are a VERY Intelligent society that has the best agencies and institutions that make our lives, and the world better! Scientific breakthroughs, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and scholarly achievement is what makes us the best society in the world! I cannot friggin believe that a person, especially a game show fan, would look at one T.V. show, which is merely an entertaining anomaly, and think any different.

“Fifth Grader” is just that, an entertaining anomaly, nothing more, nothing less. And here’s some more proof, The game show industry as a whole is SMART, and is still going in a very intelligent direction. Look at all the great shows we have now, and the new shows that could potentially be big hits down the road reflect that for the most part, the game show genre is still headed in a very knowledgeable direction. Also, think about this, did you see a recent episode of the J! College Championship? The set is creatively decorated with books and a smart college style atmosphere. One of the books titles on the end of a contestant lectern read “Are you shorter than a Fifth Grader?” What I’m trying to say is that the game show producers and the most brilliant minds in the genre are very aware of “Fifth Grader,” but they know better than to take it seriously. We know, and they know, that the genre will continue to head in an intelligent direction and this one show will not sway it in any other way, thank you! The National Vocabulary Championship, a new show, has been introduced and looks like it can set a new precedent for intelligent competition on T.V. Heck, Shows like Jeopardy, Millionaire, Wheel, and hosts of other past, present, and future game shows should reflect this. Oh, and BTW, these shows have been around for years and years, “Fifth Grader” has only been around for a few months. I seriously doubt it will last as long as the established brands we know and love today.

Why, all of a sudden, you forget ALL of this (including you Alex) is beyond me!

“Fifth Grader” does not really reflect anything related to what’s really going on in the world, neither do a lot of T.V. shows now, and throughout T.V. history.

That’s the REAL TRUTH!

It pains me to see some people overreact to something like this. This show is what it is……that’s all, and that’s it! I urge you to heed my words, because I just feel some of you are reacting to something that isn’t worth your time. Enough is enough!
JohnGoodman
2
May 11th, 2007 at 5:17 pm

I won’t be sad to see “Identity” go. That show was friggin’ boring. The only thing that would have made it worse is if Donny Osmond hosted.
Brandon
3
May 11th, 2007 at 5:21 pm

You seem to be the only one overreacting here. Alex’s post, from what I’m seeing, was more tongue-in-cheek than anything, and I didn’t see any fanboy-ish implications from what he said. Your third paragraph about how brilliant game show writers are is not only an overreaction, but has nothing to do with anything, and is quite melodramatic if you ask me.

I’m really getting tired of folks giving hell because someone makes an opinion that they disagree with. It’s his blog, and he’s entitled to say what he wants. Just because he blogs about the shows doesn’t mean he has to like the ones on TV. Personally, I feel a lot of them are pretty bad.
Mike
4
May 11th, 2007 at 7:39 pm

Just because Jeopardy!’s producers altered the name of a TV show on one of their books does not mean the show is good or intelligent. 5th Grader insults my intelligence because their high-end questions ($175,000 to $500,000; and even the million dollar questions) are $4000 or $8000 questions on Millionaire, or $400-$800 first round Jeopardy! clues. (Millionaire gives 4 choices, which makes it simpler than supplying the answer with no help.) I could go on about the kids getting the answers in advance, the similarities to other shows (cheats, a money ladder with a safety net, is the material grade-appropriate, etc.), and how truly stupid some of the contestants are.
Greg
5
May 12th, 2007 at 8:57 am

You need an SAG card? Why don’t they get real kids on this show? Why don’t they already have real kids on this show? This is beginning to sound like a 21st-century version of “It Pays to Be Ignorant”.
Ben
6
May 13th, 2007 at 1:16 pm

Wow…put misinformation out there and watch the world bite.

Nowhere in the application does it require the child to be a member of SAG (which isn’t even the Guild to which the show is signed) or AFTRA (to which it is). And yet because of the cynics out there, the assumption is that it’s a requirement to be on the show.

Reality check: the kids on the show are members of the union (AFTRA)…they have to be, and it’s more to do with protecting them while the show is in production. The only question is were they before they applied. Looking at IMDB (admittedly not favorite site for accuracy), the three boys have no other “credits” prior to “5th Grader” while Alana and Laura do (and nothing is on there about the new girl).
Greg
7
May 13th, 2007 at 2:07 pm

In other words, you have to be a 5th grader from the Hollywood area and become a member of AFTRA in order to get on the show as one of the kids. Right? Because if we’re using actors, that’s pathetic.
Jamal
8
May 14th, 2007 at 2:22 am

It’s not misinformation. Do a little research. When they were in search of this current crop of 5th graders they held open auditions and were really only interested in kids that already had their cards. They made a big show of holding open auditions but never had any intention of hiring any kid that didn’t already have their card. It was a hidden requirement that wasn’t disclosed and a lot of kids and parents wasted their time when they had no shot. Once the kids get the job of course they have to join the union. The point is NO KID WHO DIDN’T ALREADY HAVE A CARD made it to the current class.

They did it once. They could do it again. This is Fox we’re talking about here. And you forgot Jacob. He’s a host on some Disney Channel show.
Greg
9
May 14th, 2007 at 6:18 am

Would this Jacob guy be “Mike” of “Mike’s Super Short Show”? The only things this show has going for it are (1) the fact that Jeff Foxworthy looks a lot more intelligent wearing glasses, and (2) Mark Burnett is producing the show.
Ben
10
May 14th, 2007 at 5:28 pm

- It’s not misinformation. Do a little research. When they were in search of this current crop of 5th graders they held open auditions and [b] were really only interested in kids that already had their cards.[/b]
- Once the kids get the job of course they have to join the union.
And you wonder why I used the term misinformation? So which is it, that they were required, or that some kids who didn’t have them got them after they were selected. One denies an entire group, and one allows for the possibility that it WASN’T a requirement, but both can’t co-exist in your explanation.
Point me in the direction of the info that says definitively, and not from any parent who’s ticked because their kid wasn’t picked, that the card was a necessity. Furthermore, point me in the direction that it had to be a SAG card, because that would be a waste of time for FOX to worry about it, given they’d STILL have to pay for the kids’ AFTRA cards.
The point about Jacob: Did he do that before or after Fifth Grader? I’m not familiar with the Disney Channel stuff.
Intelligentfan777
11
May 14th, 2007 at 7:45 pm

Hey Mikw, Read it again….

I didn’t say “5th Grader” was good or anything, I said that it qAwas a smart indication that they are aware of the show, but they don’t take it seriously, and they shouldn’t. Believe you me, they probably feel the same way about it as we do, and most game show producers in general, they know that game shows are still headed in a very smart direction.

Oh, and Brandon, yes everyone has their opinion….. but I did not overreact my friend….

…I just told the Truth!
kay keith
12
May 15th, 2007 at 7:49 pm

MY SON AND I ENJOY WATCHING THE SHOW