Is Fox Preparing To Shift "5th Grader" Into Overkill?

[TimK2003]

From Broadcasting & Cable:

Might Fox be using 5th Grader as a patch-all for failed programs in the future, just like how NBC uses Deal???

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' post=\'159323\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 03:16 PM\']
Might Fox be using 5th Grader as a patch-all for failed programs in the future, just like how NBC uses Deal???
[/quote]
Is there any question? Of *course* they will. They would run American Idol seven days a week if they could figure out a way to do it.

[bandit_bobby]

I personally said on my blog today that "5th Grader" should be airing on Fridays at 8 PM during the fall and winter seasons.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'159329\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 06:29 PM\']
I personally said on my blog today that "5th Grader" should be airing on Fridays at 8 PM during the fall and winter seasons.
[/quote]
Your opinion. The show (somehow) performs very well in its current time slot. Why put one of your more successful shows in a slot that gets little-to-no viewers?

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'159331\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 05:48 PM\']
[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'159329\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 06:29 PM\']
I personally said on my blog today that "5th Grader" should be airing on Fridays at 8 PM during the fall and winter seasons.
[/quote]
Your opinion. The show (somehow) performs very well in its current time slot. Why put one of your more successful shows in a slot that gets little-to-no viewers?
[/quote]
I was going to ask the same question, but then I realized I wouldn't get a response.
So I didn't.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'159335\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 04:08 PM\']
I was going to ask the same question, but then I realized I wouldn't get a response.
[/quote]
I was going to ask the same question, but then my scar started throbbing and I suddenly knew what Zach Horan was doing at that exact moment.

/Bobby seems to have a chronic case of Confundo

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'159338\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 08:15 PM\']
[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'159335\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 04:08 PM\']
I was going to ask the same question, but then I realized I wouldn't get a response.
[/quote]
I was going to ask the same question, but then my scar started throbbing and I suddenly knew what Zach Horan was doing at that exact moment.
[/quote]
Well, that's good, because you should strive to be more like him. ;-)

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'159329\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 03:29 PM\']I personally said on my blog today that "5th Grader" should be airing on Fridays at 8 PM during the fall and winter seasons.[/quote]And you also like to play along with Without Prejudice, apparently.

Sniping besides the point, why on God's green earth would you take a show that is doing great business for them, and put it in the slot that killed so very many other shows?

I suspect your silence is my answer.

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'159331\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 03:48 PM\']Your opinion. The show (somehow) performs very well in its current time slot. [/quote]I've been working on this topic for a while, and now seems as good as any time to bring it up.

In terms of watching a show such as Millionaire, once you get to the really big money, the play-along factor starts to dwindle. Personally, I enjoy seeing questions such as asking for the name of the King suppressed the Olympics, declaring them a Pagan festival. Most people are going to look at that question, squint, look again, and flip over to something else.  While I don't like the money that ...Fifth Grader? waves around, it offers material that just about anyone can try to answer.

If the market likes this sort of show (and by extension, Deal or No Deal and Set for Life, then the producers are doing the right thing by their countries in producing them, even if they're done poorly, have no game to speak of, and we would rather watch something else.

[Joe Mello]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'159326\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 06:20 PM\']
[quote name=\'TimK2003\' post=\'159323\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 03:16 PM\']
Might Fox be using 5th Grader as a patch-all for failed programs in the future, just like how NBC uses Deal???[/quote]
Is there any question? Of *course* they will. They would run American Idol seven days a week if they could figure out a way to do it.[/quote]
You mean Idol Rewind?

/Come to think of it, there're probably enough seasons for an All-Stars
//Don't take that seriously, FOX

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'159345\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 09:41 PM\']
In terms of watching a show such as Millionaire, once you get to the really big money, the play-along factor starts to dwindle. Personally, I enjoy seeing questions such as asking for the name of the King suppressed the Olympics, declaring them a Pagan festival. Most people are going to look at that question, squint, look again, and flip over to something else.  While I don't like the money that ...Fifth Grader? waves around, it offers material that just about anyone can try to answer.[/quote]

Supposedly, the whole appeal of "...5th Grader?" is watching the overcaffinated moron struggle over the most basic of classroom material while the little SAG members laugh at him and Mark Thompson mocks him in the bumpers (outside of the occasional "you realize you're risking $50,000 on someone who eats Twinkies?" line from Foxworthy, he really doesn't make fun of the contestants' knowledge or lack of that much).

However, Burnett himself has pointed out that we don't retain all that much of the seemingly more important things that are taught to us in grade school as we get older, while we remember the names of the Brady kids or Spider-Man's enemies.  So the show could also get the viewer rooting for the guy only because we know we wouldn't do much better if we were standing in his shoes.  That gets undercut, though, when most of the contestants they book are the obnoxious, overly demonstrative types that we only want to get to know in the three minutes to play a "TPIR" stage game, if at all, let alone up to an hour.

But perhaps "...5th Grader?"'s secret is that it exploits our own mixed feelings over our intelligence or lack thereof in a society that seems to treat even the most basic intelligence or intellectuality with contempt or outright hostility.  Which is admittedly a rather high-blown statement to make about another one of Mike Darnell's upturned middle fingers to the Fox audience he draws into the tent.

[Ian Wallis]

You mean Idol Rewind?

Or, they could just do a few more on-air "mistakes" again to get more episodes.  About two years ago, there was one night where during the recap at the end of the show, a couple of the phone numbers got screwed up.  Fearing it may influence the outcome of the vote, instead of the normal results show they simply replayed tapes of all the performances, had the viewing audience vote again and had an additional episode the following night announcing the results.

/In reality, I do believe it was an honest mistake, but it gave Fox an extra night of powerhouse ratings...

[weaklink75]

Part of it might be trying to stockpile scripted shows for the likely writer's strike (the contract expires October 31st)...

[NickS]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'159338\' date=\'Aug 1 2007, 07:15 PM\']

but then my scar started throbbing [/quote]

So *that's* what you call it.

/aisle seat
//try the veal
///On-topic -- methinks Twentieth will try and run it enough to make it syndie.  Just a hunch.
////slashie