FOX: The Head of the Class

By my calculations, FOX is about to something that's never been done - again.

Since the Super Bowl has been played during the February sweeps, the network carrying it has always cruised to an easy sweeps win (A18-49). Not this time.

The launch of ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER (which is by no means 'important television') has been so strong - the strongest series launch for FOX since 1994 - that the net has managed to catch up with CBS.

Sometime about 9PM Central, I think FOX passed them by - not by much, and not until the final day of the sweep, but the math says Rupert wins again.

SMARTER is a whole lot of fluff wrapped around about 5 minutes of entertainment, but unlike DEAL OR NO DEAL, it only runs for 30 minutes. Jeff Foxworthy makes a decent game show host. He knows his show and seems to be having a good time.

The kids are overly precocious child actors and the contestants must have to come in under 80 on an IQ test, but this thing is way more watchable than another round of THE SIMPLE LIFE.

The show's ratings will likely come down to Earth when FOX moves it to Thursdays at 8/7c in April. It will also expand to an hour, making it twice the fluff wrapped around twice the entertainment (10 minutes and hour!)