Less than a week before its scheduled debut, Our Little Genius has beeb removed from the FOX schedule. Hosted by Kevin Pollak, Genius features academically accomplished kids ages 6-12 answering tough questions for the chance to win hundreds of thousands of dollars. The first eight episodes have been yanked by producer Mark Burnett, who says he recently discovered “an issue” with how some information was relayed to the show’s young contestants that has led to his request that the network not air those episodes.
“I believe my series must always be beyond reproach, so I have requested that Fox not air these episodes,” Burnett, best known as the creator of Survivor and The Apprentice, said in a statement Thursday.
Mark Burnett Prods. will pay to reshoot the episodes, and will also pay the winnings to the contestants who took part in the original eight episodes.
“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,” Fox said in a statement. “We agree there can be no question about the integrity of our shows.”
Our Little Genius was set to premiere after Wednesday’s edition of American Idol. FOX will instead air a repeat of the 450th episode of The Simpsons.