Our Little Genius
| Our Little Genius | |
|---|---|
 Our Little Genius logo. | |
| Created by | Mark Burnett |
| Presented by | Kevin Pollak |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 (all unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Mark Burnett Barry Poznick John Stevens |
| Production location | Los Angeles Center Studios |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | Mark Burnett Productions Zoo Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | January 13, 2010 |
Our Little Genius is an unaired game show that was created by Mark Burnett, and was originally scheduled to premiere January 13, 2010 on Fox. Hosted by Kevin Pollak, the series was to feature children answering questions on expert subjects to win money for their families, with their parents able to ask experts for advice.
A week ahead of its scheduled premiere, Fox pulled Our Little Genius from its schedule, with Burnett stating that he had concerns over the integrity of the program, as contestants had received more information than they should have. A complaint to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the following month, as well as accounts in 2021 by a former contestant, suggested that the producers of Our Little Genius had provided contestants with information regarding specific questions they were being asked during their game, and were allowing contestants who lost on the early levels of the game to try again from the beginning with new questions.
The show would be shelved indefinitely and never made it to air.
Gameplay
Child prodigies aged between 6 and 12 years old are asked increasingly difficult questions within subjects of their expertise, with correct answers rewarding money for the child's family. Based on the difficulty of the next question, the parents and a panel of experts determine whether they will move on, or if they will walk away with their current winnings.[1]
Cancellation
On January 7, 2010, one week before its scheduled premiere, the show's creator, Mark Burnett, announced that he had asked Fox to postpone the premiere of Our Little Genius due to concerns about its integrity. Burnett said that issues with how information was relayed to contestants were serious enough that he felt compelled to reshoot the episodes. Fox supported Burnett's decision, and added that all contestants would keep their winnings.[2] The previously-scheduled American Idol (which had been extended to 75 minutes, with the premiere of Our Little Genius airing for 45 minutes after it)[3] was extended to 90 minutes, and a rerun of The Simpsons episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" filled the rest of the hour.[4][5]
The Los Angeles Times reported that Burnett's main concern was that contestants somehow got more information than they should have prior to taping.[6] An audience report to the website BuzzerBlog suggested that the show had also stopped tape to replace a category that a contestant was not confident with, with a stage manager claiming that there had been a technical error.[7] On February 20, 2010, it was reported that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had recently begun an inquiry into Our Little Genius, based on complaints alleging that the contestants were being coached prior to filming on topics (such as in one case, on the British terms for four specific musical note values they "needed to know"), and that their parents were being given influence over questions.[8][9]
In 2021, The Arizona Republic published accounts from one former contestant, Benjamin Mohler— who was answering questions on palentology. Prior to filming, his father was asked by one of the producers without context to ensure that Benjamin knew about "Harry Seeley" and "1888"—the author and year of publication of the research paper which divided dinosaurs into two clades. Although his father initially suspected that these may have been relating to one of the panelists, they ended up being the answers for one of the questions in the game.[1]
When Mohler answered incorrectly during a question on the four dinosaurs larger than Tyrannosaurus rex, taping abruptly stopped and the stage went dark, with host Pollak believing that it had been a power outage. Mohler stated that in the green room, he was informed that contestants were being guaranteed to win at least $10,000, and that they would reshoot the show. When he returned to the stage, Mohler replayed the game with new questions, but lost on the third question after incorrectly guessing the taxonomy of Smilodon (Felidae).[1]
While this would have been one of the first instances of the FCC having to investigate irregularities in a televised game show since the 1950's quiz show scandals, it was questioned by TheWrap whether the FCC even had jurisdiction, since the offending program did not actually make it to air.[8][9] In 2021, The Arizona Republic found no such record that an inquiry into Our Little Genius was ever performed, likely due to Fox's decision to pull the program, and as of now, Fox still has no plans to ever air the series at all.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "How a boy who loved dinosaurs survived a TV game show scandal (and still loves dinosaurs)". AZCentral. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)(subscription required) - ^ Wyatt, Edward (2010-01-08). "Integrity Concerns Force Fox to Postpone Child Quiz Show". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
- ^ Lewis, Jessica. "'American Idol' Gets Extended Broadcast for Ninth Season Premiere, 1/13". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (7 January 2010). "Fox's Our Little Genius Pulled From Schedule, Will It Return?". Tvbythenumbers.com. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (January 7, 2010). "FOX Pulls "Our Little Genius"". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
- ^ Fernandez, Maria Elena. Fox pulls 'Our Little Genius' before it premieres. Los Angeles Times, 2010-01-07.
- ^ "'Little Genius': Was It Violating FCC Rules?". TheWrap. 2010-01-08. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
- ^ a b Wyatt, Edward (2010-02-20). "F.C.C. Opens an Inquiry for a Game Show on Fox". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
- ^ a b "Time for Fox and Burnett to Come Clean About 'Our Little Genius'". TheWrap. 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2021-06-03.