Just for the record, you guys know it's all an act, right?

Jeff Foxworthy (the MC) has made a 20-year career out of poking fun at "rednecks" and their exaggerted ignorance on topics any more complicated than NASCAR standings or possum stew.

And Kelly Pickler rose to fame on American Idol despite having only a slightly above-average singing voice, it large part because of her "disarmingly simple" persona - which enamoured her to a couple of judges and the Idol-watching viewers/voters.

So "country hick blonde" meets "wise-cracking quiz-show host", on a show designed to prove that schoolkids know more than adults. Hilarity ensues. And it's apparently the best our networks can offer for entertainment during a Hollywood writers strike.

Which is not to say it isn't sometimes embarrassing to watch my countrymen mangle news stories, geography, and names.