Baby Ruthless author and friend-of-GONY wrote to alert me to his defense of Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?, penned as a belated reaction to my calling the Jeff Foxworthy show a “cultural low point” while bitching about an even stupider show.

It’s a good read if you are a fan of the genre. I concur with most of the arguments, which mostly revolve around the show’s questions and rules. My complaints would concern pretty much everything else: the gimmicky premise, the mediocre host, the “cute” kids, the plodding pace, the low content-to-hype ratio, the fact that the show is impossible to watch without encountering spoilers of the very program you are watching, etc. Typical Fox game/reality fare.

All that said, it was probably a cheap shot to call Fifth Grader a “low point,” as it’s a family-friendly show that rewards knowledge (although it also draws much of its humor from contestants’ supposed lack of knowledge, so it’s a mixed bag). Moment of Truth is a far worse program, although I do think the show’s host, Mark L. Walberg, is a great emcee on other shows.