A new Fox game show premiering Wednesday
night is a throwback to the long-held network-television belief that the lighter the fare, the better it will play in the summer.
The show’s very title,
“Nation’s Dumbest,” signals that watching this show will be about as taxing as dozing in a backyard hammock on a summer afternoon.
The show
has celebrities (using the term loosely) competing not to win the title of “Nation’s Dumbest.”
The title of the show creates the
opportunity for cheeky wordplay on the part of a TV blogger, such as the headline above.
Whether this show actually emerges as the summer’s
“dumbest” show remains to be seen. The TV Blog was unable to obtain any screeners in time to write this blog.
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On the show, the contestants
are called upon to “relive the highs and humiliations of school life -- from pop quizzes and report cards to recess and parent teacher conferences -- all while trying to stay out of last
place,” Fox says.
“Each week, the ‘smartest’ celebrity ‘graduates’,” says Fox, “narrowing the field until a
high-stakes final exam determines who will be left standing with a distinction no one wants -- the title of The Nation’s Dumbest.
The TV Blog
believes that adding the word “celebrity” at the end of the title -- as in “Nation’s Dumbest Celebrity” -- would be more accurate that just “Nation’s
Dumbest,” since the “Dumbest” participants are celebrities (sort of).
The contestants on “Nation’s Dumbest” are Hilaria Baldwin, wife of
Alec Baldwin; Carmen Electra; actor Anthony Michael Hall; “Napoleon Dynamite” actor Jon Feder; Dr. Drew Pinsky; and “Jackass” star Steve-O (pictured above).
Rounding out the list are Ice-T of “Law & Order: SVU”; former child star JoJo Siwa; Chase Hudson, whom Fox describes as a musician and actor; one-time
presidential candidate Andrew Yang; singer Elle King; and former NFL quarterback Matt Leinart.
Of this group, who will emerge as “Dumbest”? And for all of them,
will appearing on this show emerge as the “Dumbest” idea ever?