Fox bringing back Jeff Foxworthy's 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'
By Rodney Ho
With "MasterChef Junior" doing so well, Fox is deciding to bring back the family-friendly show from the late 2000s: "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" with Alpharetta's own Jeff Foxworthy as host yet again.
The show, featuring adults attempting to answer elementary school-level trivial questions against actual fifth graders, debuted in 2007 on Fox and did well for the network for three seasons. It then spent two more years in syndication.
Two people won $1 million, including Kathy Cox, former school superintendent of Georgia.
Foxworthy's charm with both the contestants and the kids made the show work. He has since parlayed that show's success into other game show gigs, including "The Great American Bible Challenge" on GSN and the short-lived CBS 2013 summer show "The American Baking Competition," which was shot in Georgia.
Simon Andreae, Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, Fox Broadcasting Company, said in a press release: "All of the core components of the classic format will be there, but we are also adding new twists that make it fresher and more fun for viewers."
The network has not yet announced a return date but presumably it will be mid season.
Variety said Fox chose to bring the show back to fill a void left by the disaster that was the "social experiment" show "Utopia," which it just cancelled this past Monday after nine low-rated weeks.
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
