“Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” student spotted on Silverman show

I figured this was coming soon. I’ve already written about how FOX’s Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? class of students was chosen from a pool of child actors.

Now, it’s confirmed, as one of the kids was spotted on The Sarah Silverman Program this season (Episode 104 to be exact). There goes the careful-crafted PR bubble…

One of the two girls on the game show’s panel, Laura, is listed this way in the FOX site’s bio:

Laura, an 11-year-old 5th grader from Los Angeles, CA, loves all school subjects and consistently gets great grades. She has also proven to be quite the matchmaker; she has successfully helped more than one happy couple find love.

Though, thanks to game show eagle-eye BuzzerBlog, the student has been outed as pro child actor Laura Marano.

Laura Marano plays Young Sarah on the show, and also has guest appearances on Dexter, Without a Trace, and Ghost Whisperer.

More, including a video clip, after the jump…

Here’s the clip of Marano in action, via YouTube (warning: PG-13 language):

Hmmm….wonder what the rest of the cast has been on? The only other details of the class members I could find was about the other girl, Alana Ethridge, whose cached resume included assorted roles in commercials, TV, theater and film. (Kyle Collier, Jacob Hays, and Spencer Martin had nothing listed through Google that I could find.)

Again, no big deal, as we’ve already explained. But this doesn’t change the fact that FOX keeps on publicizing this show as if the cast of kids are actual fifth-graders in interviews with host Jeff Foxworthy. And the show keeps on cruising in the ratings, thanks to its spot next to American Idol.

For more on why this child-actor hiring doesn’t matter and is not illegal, check out the in-depth analysis we did here. And visit here for the full review of the show.