Jeff Foxworthy was a pretty good student — an "A and B" kind of guy when he was in school.
And yet he always seemed to get attention for something other than his academic achievements.
"I think every single report card I had ... said, 'Talks too much in class,"' Foxworthy said in a teleconference with TV critics.
There's a framed note he got from his high-school principal hanging in his office — a note he got backstage the first time he did his stand-up act at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.
"It said, 'I can't believe I'm shelling out money to hear the same kind of junk I used to try to put a stop to,"' Foxworthy said, "because I was in his office a few times and (he was) just staring at me going, 'What do you think you are, a comedian?'
"Apparently so, Mr. Gibson."
And now Foxworthy is a game-show host. Plus, he's gone back to school at the same time. The comedian is hosting Fox's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader," which premieres tonight at 8:30 on Ch. 13.
The conceit of this show is that grown-ups might not be as smart as kids. Or, at least, that adults can't remember everything they learned in elementary school.
The questions are all at the fifth-grade level — or lower — and if the adult contestants answer enough of them correctly, they can win a million bucks. And if they need help in subjects like geography, math and social studies, they can turn to the five real-life fifth graders who form the show's regular panel of, um, experts.
Foxworthy said they're not "MENSA kids or some brainiacs. They're just above-average fifth-graders, but they're right a lot more than the adults are right."
He said it's not that the adults are dumb, it has more to do with how long it's been since they were in fifth grade.
"If it's a fifth-grade question, (the kids) have seen it in the last few months. Even if it's a second-grade question, they've seen it in the last three years," Foxworthy said. "Whereas the adults haven't seen this stuff — some of them — in 20 or 30 years."
Apparently, however, sometimes the adults are just, well, not so smart when it comes to answering the questions.
"One of them was, 'Name the states that border the Pacific Ocean.' The adult says, 'California, Oregon and Washington,' and locks the answer in," Foxworthy said. "I'm walking around thinking, 'I think Alaska probably touches it, too.'
"The kids just know it."
(Personally, I'm thinking Hawaii probably touches it, too.)
Foxworthy is confident that "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" will appeal to a wide audience.
"It's going to appeal to kids because this is stuff they know. It shows them being smarter than adults at something," he said. "It appeals to adults because they think they can do it. But they can't.
"And it's something they can sit down and watch with their kids."
Foxworthy — arguably one of the funniest stand-ups around — said he wasn't sure if he was cut out to host a show like this.
"But I get to use a lot of stand-up, especially (because) we have a classroom with five kids in it," he said. "It's like me being back in elementary school and my goal is the same — I'm still trying to make the class laugh.
"Only now I'm getting paid for it."
FOXWORTHY IS ONE OF the nicest guys working in television, but even he couldn't resist taking a shot as his former employers at The WB network.
"I'm not really used to being on a network that actually promotes a show that I'm on," he said to open the teleconference. "Usually, they try to keep it a secret."
Aw, he was only kidding. Although he wasn't wrong when he said that the folks at The WB never could figure out what to do with his "Blue Collar TV" series.
"We probably were on the wrong network. We weren't like anything else on there, even though the show was doing well for them," he said.
Not that "Blue Collar TV" was the first show that was sort of out of place at its network. Foxworthy recalled a conversation he had with John Schneider when they were both at The WB. (Schneider used to play Clark Kent's father on "Smallville.")
"He was laughing about that, saying, 'When we were on "Dukes of Hazzard," we were the No. 1 show on the network (CBS) and they were just embarrassed to death to have us at any cocktail party,"' Foxworthy said.
IS COMEDY in the genes? Maybe.
Foxworthy said the younger of his two daughters, 12-year-old Juliane, "has been funny since she was 1 1/2."
"She can imitate the principal and her teachers, and I'm telling her, 'This is not a good idea. Trust me. I've been down this road. This is not a good idea."'
Premieres tonight
"Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" air tonight and Wednesday from 8:30-9 p.m. on Fox Ch. 13. Hourlong episodes are scheduled for four consecutive Thursdays — this Thursday at 8 p.m.; March 8 at 8 p.m.; March. 15 at 7 p.m.; and March 22 at 7 p.m.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com