|
Ranting on the "Top 10" Hosts Dr. Frank Stanton GSN Documentaries Forecasting odds on Bob Barker's replacement Fantasy prime time network game show schedule The return of Name That Tune Tribute to Ralph Story Game Shows on 9-11-01 Survivor Tribal Segregation Tribute to Mike Douglas Chain Reaction/Starface Ken Jennings' Blog Entry Game Show Congress |
February 28, 2007  I received an e-mail this afternoon from a favorite correspondent, always intelligent and thoughtful. She watched the debut of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? last night on Fox. Her reaction: "This show insulted my intelligence....Personally, I give this one week and then it gets canceled." I don't think so.I've looked at the numbers four times. This is not The Rich List. This is not Show Me the Money sliding with every half-hour after the fall finale of Dancing with the Stars. This is not Challenge of the Child Geniuses which, admittedly, was several grades higher on the intelligence scale. Fifth Grader drew the kind of rating which rocked television executive suites in the same fashion as Laverne and Shirley did after its opener in 1976. I went back through some of my best research information. Nearly 27 million people stayed around for this one after American Idol. Not since the much-anticipated and hyped $64,000 Challenge has this kind of crowd shown up for the premiere of a prime time game show. The first All-Star Family Feud attracted 25.6 million in 1978 but that was the first in a series of specials, not a weekly series. Even though the audience grew nightly, none of the original 13 episodes of Millionaire hit 5th Grader's congregation. Fox has experienced huge difficulty in growing hits out of Idol. The Loop and Free Ride are only two examples of lead-out sitcoms targeted at the same Idol demographics which failed miserably to hold onto the songfest's audiences. The network is shrewdly giving 5th Grader a three-night launch as the walkoff show after Idol. We'll see by Thursday night if Tuesday's cannonball numbers were a fluke or if Fox has a new monster on its hands. The toughest challenge will be Thursday as a one-hour edition has to tangle with ABC's Grey's Anatomy and CBS's veteran hit CSI. NBC removed Deal or No Deal from that hour earlier this season, despite its running a respectable third. Host Jeff Foxworthy's humor was, unfortunately, too regional in scope for his former ABC/NBC sitcom to click. Fifth Grader may well be the vehicle which showcases him best on television. Another significant irony is if Foxworthy and Howie Mandel, the two most unlikely choices, become the two most successful prime time game show emcees of the current era. Put it this way: you all know what I think of Mark Burnett's television. I salute him for his success but I believe his style of programming has been almost exclusively destructive to the human spirit from the very moment Rich Hatch plotted his first alliance on Survivor. Until now, Burnett's shows have been a testimony to lying, cheating, betrayal and hate. I didn't think he was capable of producing a show, other than Martha Stewart's overrated gathering, which did not result in a vote-off at the end. If Burnett can give us our next traditional game show hit: welcome to the club. The search for a new host for The Price Is Right continues with three more unlikely choices taking their turns with auditions March 12. Mike Richards of Beauty and the Geek mini-fame; Mario Lopez, who once competed with himself in prime time; and the ubiquitous George Hamilton will do test runs at Television City in Hollywood. At this stage, I wouldn't count anything out of the picture. Richards and Lopez would be dramatic demographic adjustments. Hamilton would largely attract the crowd which watches the show now. Unless you watch The CW, you probably have no idea who Richards is and I would wager that includes the majority of current Price watchers. Lopez is going to have another round of visibility as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars this spring. He once presided over Animal Planet's Pet Star in the same time slot as his America's Most Talented Kid was frequenting NBC. On the other hand, Hamilton has the same qualities John O'Hurley brings to the table, only he's nearly 20 years older than O'Hurley. Hamilton appears to have had fun parodying his own matinee idol image in recent years and may be an interesting choice, though he may draw far too many comparisons to Bob Barker. At 68, he is not the candidate you would expect to be chosen unless CBS is convinced Price is incapable of lowering its average demograhic. In answer to the perpetual question of when CBS will make its decision: I wouldn't expect it before the May sweeps. Not until it gives Barker a prime time tribute will that baton be passed.   Miss Francis' gowns by Bonwit Teller © Copyright 2006 TVgameshows.net. All Rights Reserved. |
 Cheapest Car Insurance to TVgameshows.net |