GSN Renews ‘American Bible Challenge’ For Third Season

GSN has handed a third season to one of its highest-rated properties, “The American Bible Challenge” ordering 9 hour long shows which will premiere next year.

“We are proud of the breakthrough success of this atypical series,” said Amy Introcaso-Davis, EVP at GSN. “‘The American Bible Challenge’ is GSN’s flagship show that appeals to everyone in the family.”

“Bible Challenge” is responsible for delivering GSN’s highest ratings in its 18-year history, with 1.7 million viewers during its Aug. 23, 2012 series premiere.

'The American Bible Challenge' Teams With YouVersion's Bible App

Producers of "The American Bible Challenge" TV game show have teamed up with the popular Bible App by YouVersion to provide polling data, study and reference for teams for the show's second season.

Hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, the GSN show features three teams being tested for their Bible knowledge and winning money for their favorite charities.

YouVersion draws upon its vast community to provide the polling data for a new show challenge focused on Bible interpretation. In this segment, contestants are asked to correctly estimate how people responded to questions about Bible passages or what they would do in similar situations. As well, when the teams prepare for their intense final round, they'll rely on the Bible App for study and reference. The Bible App offers over 400 versions of the Bible in more than 200 languages.

Additionally, YouVersion's Bible App is the official app host of the entire daily line-up of the show's new "American Bible Challenge Bible Study." This devotional features prominent figures such as Max Lucado, Randy Frazee and Karen Kingsbury as they share their favorite passages – along with what God's Word has meant in their lives. "The American Bible Challenge Bible Study" will cover topics such as love, forgiveness, prayer, acceptance, character, anxiety, courage and the Bible itself. The curriculum for "The American Bible Challenge Bible Study" was written in conjunction with American Bible Society.

With the Bible App by YouVersion users can access tools like bookmarks, notes, highlights, hundreds of reading plans, and more. Everything a user adds is automatically synced across any device you use. Content can be accessed online at bible.com.

Providing an entertaining mix of pop culture and questions about the best-selling book of all time, the show pits teams who are playing for charity against one another in tournament play, with a finale that awards $100,000 to the charity of the championship team. "The American Bible Challenge" premiered on Aug. 23, 2012, to critical acclaim and record-setting ratings. The premiere garnered GSN's highest delivery in its 18-year history with 1.7 million total viewers for its series premiere and over 13 million total viewers during its run.

The Bible App by YouVersion – among the first 200 apps offered as part of Apple's app store – is recognized by Appsfire as the #3 and #9 Best App of All Time for iPad and iPhone, respectively. For three years in a row, the app has been ranked in the top 100 free apps on Apple's "Best of" list.

Pastor Bobby Gruenewald came up with the idea of using technology to make the Bible more accessible while waiting in an airport security line. Before his plane departed, he'd already registered the domain name. When Apple's app store launched in July 2008, Gruenewald hoped for 80,000 downloads in the first six months – a number surpassed in the first weekend. To date, readers have clocked over 45 billion minutes of Bible-reading time. Today, the Bible App has 20+ full-time employees along with several hundred volunteers providing support for virtually every mobile device.

YouVersion is a ministry of LifeChurch.tv, a multi-site church based in Oklahoma. Meeting in 15 different physical locations and globally online, the church is devoted to helping people around the world become fully devoted followers of Christ.

American Bible Challenge Season 2 Premiere Down Slightly

The American Bible Challenge last night premiered at 1.152 million viewers. This is not as big as the 1.73 million viewers from the first season, but was the second highest-rated GSN show.

So why not as high as last time around? Likely because there was not as much promotion as last summer. Jeff Foxworthy appeared on late-night talk shows, news programs as well as other advertisements from the network in the first season.

Kirk Franklin Joins American Bible Challenge

Kirk Franklin will join GSN‘s The American Bible Challenge as musical co-host for the second season of the network’s breakout  studio-based game, in which contestants compete based on their knowledge of the Bible. Franklin, along with musical director Kris Pooley, will lead a choir that will be featured on the show. Season 2 of American Bible Challenge, hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, will premiere March 21. “The show is a fresh and fun approach to celebrating the Word of God, and being able to provide an element of praise, worship and honor is both exciting and humbling,” Franklin said. The series premiere last season delivered 1.7 million viewers, a record for GSN.

Comedy for a Cause Fundraiser to Feature Jeff Foxworthy and Henry Cho

"Comedy for a Cause," the theme of this year's Rocketown fundraiser, to be held at the popular Nashville-based youth outreach facility on Oct. 9, will feature an all-mobile bidding auction sponsored by Kroger and powered by MobileSmartBid. Among those items up for grabs are Atlanta Braves and Chicago Bears sports packages as well as a unique NYC/Carnegie Hall weekend that includes hotel accommodations for two and the opportunity to sing onstage with Michael W. Smith.

An annual event to help raise funds for the venue which serves at-risk youth, the 2012 benefit is chaired by last year's featured performer, comedian Jeff Foxworthy, and his wife Gregg. Coined "Comedy for a Cause," the evening will include performances by comics Jeff Allen and Henry Cho. All are invited to bid either at the event or remotely via their mobile phone on items including a VIP treatment in Miami, four tickets to a Chicago Bears game, and Atlanta Braves game tickets directly behind home plate complete with field passes. Auction items will be updated frequently at www.michaelwsmith.com or www.rocketown-auction.com, and the bidding goes live the week of Oct. 9.

'The American Bible Challenge': Jeff Foxworthy Introduces New Game 'The Eye Of The Tebow'

"The American Bible Challenge" was back for a second week, and it brought a new challenge with it, dubbed "The Eye of the Tebow." The premise was simple enough, if certainly difficult for anyone who's not either a hardcore fan of NFL player Tim Tebow, or really knows their Scripture.

Contestants had to fill in the blanks of Bible verses Tebow wore under his eyes during his college football days. They even had a picture to look at to draw inspiration from.

Only, it wasn't a picture of Tim Tebow. It was host Jeff Foxworthy's face instead.

"You know, I never realized Tim Tebow was so good looking. He’s always got that helmet on," Foxworthy said. "That is a handsome man right there."

The audience was loving the show in the studio, as were viewers at home. Broadcasting & Cable reported that 2 million viewers tuned in for last week's series premiere, setting a record for GSN.

GSN'S "The American Bible Challenge" Debuts As the Network's #1 Program of All Time

GSN's highly anticipated original series "The American Bible Challenge" garnered the network's highest delivery in its 17-year history with 2.3 million total viewers for the night and 1.7 million total viewers for its series premiere at 8 pm ET on Thursday, August 23rd.

"The American Bible Challenge" outperformed the previous record by over half a million viewers and solidified itself as a destination program by posting triple digit gains from its strong lead-in across all demos ("Family Feud" hosted by Steve Harvey). The GSN original series ranked among the Top 5 cable networks in total viewers, women 25-54 and viewers 25-54 in its time period.

"The best-selling book of all time is now GSN's most viewed program of all time, which proves that consumers are yearning for fun, family- friendly entertainment," said Amy Introcaso-Davis, EVP, GSN. "We are incredibly proud of this show and are happy that it connected with so many viewers."

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Bible Quiz Show Teams Play to 'Bless Somebody,' Says Host Jeff Foxworthy

After five years hosting the successful “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” television program, Jeff Foxworthy was a hot commodity in game show circles.

The comedian was pitched many, many ideas. Most, he says, were horrible or simply not up his alley.

“American Bible Challenge” (debuting tonight at 8 on GSN for a ten-episode run) didn’t entice him at first, either: “I didn’t want to do a game show about the Bible. I didn’t want to stand in line in Hell because of a game show!”

But when Foxworthy learned the show’s contestants would compete to win cash for selected charities, his stance softened.

The trick, he says, was to “make it fun and interesting, but not be disrespectful to the Bible.”

The pilot episode, which Foxworthy shot this spring in Los Angeles, failed to strike that balance. “It was flat and dry. We went back and retooled it.”

The show’s writers came up with fresher concepts. In one upcoming episode, contestants must decide if a quote came from “The Lord of the Rings” — or the Lord’s book. Playing off the popularity of Facebook, one question category was dubbed “Faithbook.”

Another episode includes a familiar-sounding topic: “Biblical rednecks.” The writers were inspired by Foxworthy, who became known in the 1980s for his “You might be a redneck” jokes.

“One day, I was going through the Bible, finding people with redneck traits. Samson got mad at his neighbor, tied fox tails together, set them on fire and burned the guy’s fields up.

“That’s a Biblical redneck!”

read the rest of the article here.

Are You Smarter than a Third Grade Bible Student?

Maybe it will be like Bible study, only with a little more production value and a lot more Jeff Foxworthy. The Game Show Network is officially launching a Bible-themed show called "American Bible Challenge," and yes, Foxworthy has signed on to host.

GSN says the show will "acknowledge and celebrate the Bible's continuing importance in contemporary life and culture."

GSN programming chief Amy Introcaso-Davis told HLN that the contestants will get on the show by way of their personal journeys of faith, stories that will apparently be shared with the audience. Contestants will be representing "worthy faith-based organizations," although Introcaso-Davis also says any charity could be represented. "(The contestants) will be playing ... for groups or charity organizations. It can be any charity, but anyone who knows the Bible can come out and audition for the show."

Auditions to be the next game-show Bible expert have already started across the country, and Introcaso-Davis says she's surprised at the groups that are coming to try out. "I think what's astonishing to us is how young people are who are really responding to this idea and coming out in droves," she says. "And they really know their Bible."

Foxworthy, a self-proclaimed redneck and current host of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader," says he's excited to see people put their Bible knowledge to the test. "It will be really interesting to find out what people really know, and an opportunity to present the Bible in a fun and entertaining way," he says.

Introcaso-Davis says the show is slated to premiere this summer, and along with Foxworthy and charity-minded contestants, she promises other entertaining tidbits, like a live choir.

Media Bias is No Laughing Matter

Jeff Foxworthy was recently interviewed by Glenn Beck and even a comedian notes the bias in our media:

I've always argued that the media is not an accurate representation of what this country really is. And I think I can say that with some confidence because as a comedian, I have been to all 50 states. I have been to all 50 states many, many times. And I've always argued that most of the media is controlled out of New York and L.A., well, there's 200 million people in between. But their viewpoints aren't often the ones that make the news or the newspapers. And, you know, we've been kind of the quiet majority, but I kind of get a sense now that they're starting to see this little feeling of discontent in that and people are like, no, no, no, you don't speak for us anymore, and I think that's what it's going to take.