FCC Probes Fox's Little Genius

The Federal Communications Commission is investigating Fox game show Our Little Geniusto find out whether producers gave potential contestants answers to questions prior to taping episodes, according to The New York Times.

Our Little Genius flunks out before airing

A parent of one of the children participating on the quiz show sent a letter to the commission, reports The Times. The letter alleges that a few days prior to taping, a staff member of the program's production team reviewed a list of potential topics and gave specific answers to at least four questions the child did not know the answers to or was unsure about.

Our Little Genius, which put up intelligent children to compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars for their families,was pulled from Fox's schedule at the beginning of January at executive producer Mark Burnett's request.

"I recently discovered that there was an issue with how some information was relayed to contestants during the pre-production of Our Little Genius," Burnett said in a statement. "As a result, I am not comfortable delivering the episodes without re-shooting them."

According to the Communications Act of 1934, it is illegal for anyone to give, with the intent to deceive the viewing or listening public, assistance that will affect the outcome of a "purportedly bona fide contest of intellectual knowledge or intellectual skill."