FOX Announces Premiere Dates For "Fifth Grader" & "Boom!" For Summer Schedule

On Monday, FOX announced the premiere dates for their Summer series of programming including the revival of Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? and the network's recent acquisition of Boom! from Keshet DCP. Fifth Grader returns Tuesday, May 26 at 8:00pm EDT to test adult contestants to see how much general knowledge they have retained from their yesteryears in elementary school for big money with Jeff Foxworthy returning as the show's host. The revival promises "new twists" to make he game more interesting and exciting. Boom!, hosted by Tom Papa, makes its American debut Thursday, June 25 at 8:00pm EDT and has teams of three contestants defuse slime-filled bombs by cutting the wires leading to the correct answers and avoiding the wrong wires that could quickly "blow" their chances of winning the game. (See what I did there?)

The renewal of Fifth Grader was a surprising one, to say the least, especially since the show was cancelled twice within a two-year period. This move by FOX, in a sense, shows how desperate the network is to garner more viewers especially since they have not been doing so well in the unscripted series department with the fairly recent cancellations of The X Factor, Utopia, and Riot. Even though shows like Empire and American Idol have helped keep them in pace with the original "Big Three" networks among the key primetime demo, FOX often sees itself in behind the pack in total viewers compared to ABC, CBS, and NBC except on the nights when the aforementioned shows are airing.

With this being said, I believe Fifth Grader will be successful during the summertime because it has proven to be a smash hit over seven years ago and Boom! will more than likely receive average ratings for its first time out. I will make sure to keep you updated on the gameplay format for both shows as soon as the news arrives. For the time being, click here to check out the basic rules for Boom!.

Sources: Deadline, TV By The Numbers, TV Series Finale