Fox Cancels Puts the Hold On OUR LITTLE GENIUS Before It Premieres

This just in from Fox….

“Our Little Genius” will not premiere Wednesday, Jan. 13, as previously announced.

Below are statements released today by Mark Burnett and Fox Broadcasting Company.

STATEMENT FROM MARK BURNETT

“I recently discovered that there was an issue with how some information was relayed to contestants during the pre-production of ‘Our Little Genius.’ As a result, I am not comfortable delivering the episodes without re-shooting them. I believe my series must always be beyond reproach, so I have requested that FOX not air these episodes.”

STATEMENT FROM FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY

“Mark Burnett is one of the pre-eminent producers of unscripted programming on television. Even though we were incredibly pleased with the quality of ‘Our Little Genius,’ we respect and appreciate his due diligence and the decision to pull these episodes. We agree there can be no question about the integrity of our shows. While these episodes will not air, the families who participated in the show will receive their winnings, and we are grateful for their participation.”

In lieu of the previously scheduled episodes, FOX will air an encore of the milestone 450th episode of THE SIMPSONS on Wednesday, Jan. 13 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) following a special extended episode of AMERICAN IDOL (8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT). On Tuesday, Jan. 19, FOX will air an encore of the pilot episode of the new action-drama series HUMAN TARGET (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) following AMERICAN IDOL (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

Let the speculation begin? Were the “geniuses” perhaps not so genius after all? Maybe coached? Who knows…who cares. I don’t think we need another show exploiting kids.