Picture Jeff Foxworthy at the head of a classroom, mediating between a not-so-swift adult and five smarty-pants kids. That's the premise of Fox's trivia game show, "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" premiering at 8:30 tonight on KDVR-Channel 31.
"I'm still trying to make the class laugh, only now I'm gettin' paid for it," Foxworthy told a telephone press conference. The point is, the adults have forgotten more than the kids know. "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
" could be another Fox phenomenon, a hit thanks to its time slot. You don't need smarts to recognize it has the best lead-in in TV history in "American Idol," which regularly draws 30 million fans. The show airs tonight, Wednesday and Thursday, following "Idol.
" And how smart is Mark Burnett ("Survivor," "The Apprentice") to realize it's popular to make fun of dumb grown-ups? Dumb is the new cute. Witness the flood of idiotic infotainment masquerading as news.
"Maybe we're dumbing up as a culture," Foxworthy ventured. Maybe the fact that Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears have been vying for attention in split-screens on cable's "news" networks lends credence to that theory. Maybe the fact that it's getting harder to find actual news about the war in progress supports the idea.
Here's a little quiz relating to current events. Answers to the five questions below. Broward County Circuit Court Judge Larry "it's all about me" Seidlin, the sobbing clown who heard the battle over custody of Anna Nicole Smith's body, likes his face time.
Several times last week Seidlin indulged in one of his soliloquies (his play for 15 minutes of fame rivals Judge Ito in the O.J. Simpson case).
Anna Nicole was "a complicated person," Seidlin said. He likened her to a character out of Shakespeare, Ophelia perhaps, "a character who has a great, complicated personality. She just needed more or better handlers.
" Q. In Shakespeare's "Hamlet," who was Ophelia's handler? It's bizarre: The split-screen battle between Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears (back in rehab, but why?
CNN demanded) illustrates the lack of actual news coverage on the cable networks in deference to celebrity trash. Who stole the news? The question arises as Yahoo News confirms it's next venture is a singing news anchor, in a new segment to be titled "Odd News Underground.
" The singing anchor is the latest idea from Yahoo News since last year's "The Hot Zone With Kevin Sites," an action/adventure gimmick that follows the correspondent's travels to war-torn areas around the globe. Q. Was Newton Minow talking about karaoke bars when he spoke of a "vast wasteland"?
Smith died Feb. 8 in a Florida hotel of unknown causes. She married Texas oil tycoon J.
Howard Marshall II in 1994 when he was 89 and she was 26, and had been fighting his family over his estimated $500 million fortune since his death in 1995. Q. With 63 years age difference between Smith and her husband, if a train leaves the station going 90 miles an hour, how long would it have taken Anna Nicole to spend $500 million?
Let us pray that the inevitable TV movies about her life may be bogged down for years in conflicting legal claims. Before his blubbering pronouncement, Seidlin had set a deadline to determine what was to be done with Smith's body. The Broward County chief medical examiner warned that a decision had to be made before Smith's body became too decomposed for a public viewing.
"I've got a gun to my head," Seidlin said. Q. When speaking about a rapidly decomposing body in a case where the cause of death is unknown, is it appropriate to use the metaphoric expression "gun to my head"?
Finally, the debate concerning where Britney will go to do her unavoidable tell-all interview is ramping up as the network morning shows battle for the prize sit-down. Q.Who will score the Britney "get"?
1. Ophelia didn't have handlers. 2.
No, he was talking about television. 3. We'll never know, it's tied up in court.
4. Not unless you're smarter than a fifth grader. 5.
An Associated Press story gives Matt Lauer 3-to-1 odds. Check out some sample questions from the new show on Fox. Answers are below: 1.
What is the largest South American country by area? 2. Inca civilizations were concentrated on what continent?
3. A heptagon is a shape with how many sides? 4.
Emma has two yardsticks. She also has a 12-inch ruler. She laid them end-to-end in a line.
How many feet long is the line? 5. True or false, the ostrich is the fastest bird on foot?
6. True or false, Earth's moon gives off its own light? 7.
How long is one regular term for a U.S. representative?
8. True or false? A turtle is an amphibian.
9. In the Northern hemisphere, in what month is the autumnal equinox? 10.
If you have a gross of pencils, how many pencils do you have? Here are the answers to questions from "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?": All contents Copyright 2007 The Denver Post or other copyright holders.
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