Business Unit News
Our Little Genius Will Not Air on FOX as Previously Announced
Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010 – 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).
Contact:
Jason Clark
310-369-4517
jason.clark@fox.com