Breaking: F.C.C. Opens Inquiry on “Our Little Genius”
This is getting just as bad as it can get right now. The F.C.C. has opened an inquiry on the canceled FOX game show Our Little Genius under allegation of rigging the competition. The current allegation is the contestants were given questions before the show happened, which we speculated when the situation first occurred and the show was pulled a week before debut.
A letter dated December 17th was sent to the F.C.C. from a parent of a contestant. The parent raises several complaints about Our Little Genius which are now being investigated. The most damning of them all is the allegation of questions being disclosed before the show. The New York Times states, “The letter alleges that a few days before a planned taping, a member of the program’s production staff reviewed with the contestant and his parents a list of potential topics and gave specific answers to at least four questions that the child either did not know or about which he was unsure.” This claim was also given to us by other sources, so we’ve got multiple people saying the same thing here.
The letter also states answers were given as well. Again, the New York Times article states, “For example, the letter states that when the child said that he didn’t know the British system of naming musical notes, he was told by the production staff member the names of four specific notes that “he needed to know,” including semibreve for whole note, crotchet for quarter note and quaver for eighth note. “He told us that it was very important to know that the hemidemisemiquaver is the British name for the sixty-fourth note,” the letter says.” We were not told this, but given how everything else has matched up there’s no reason to doubt it.
The other allegation is that contestants who missed one of the first four questions were allowed to retry the game with new questions, and this has been confirmed by audience members. Also confirmed by audience members is switching out questions due to what staff calls “technical errors”, and suddenly a question the child knows appears.
So there we are. We’ve got official confirmation from our initial reports that contestants were given questions beforehand, contestants allowed to restart games, questions being switched, and now answers being given. Audience members and second/third reports given directly to us back up everything but the giving away of answers, which we did not know.
This is just about as bad as it gets. This is looking to all be true given the overwhelming evidence. It’s a modern quiz show scandal. It’s career damaging for many, many of which who do not deserve it. A report given to us did confirm that when Mark Burnett, the executive producer, discovered what was going on he, in earnest, pulled the plug on the show. So that part was completely honest, and good on him. But it may be too late, though I certainly hope not. You also have to wonder how much it’ll affect other game/quiz shows. It’s a legitimate scandal in our genre, and we will be following it intensely.
Since the shows never aired, I don't see how anything can come of this: it simply means the producers knew the show wasn't working and could not air under the circumstances. One would have to think that these issues would be known during a testing and pilot filming process though.
My biggest problem here is the slick editing of current game shows (season 1 MD Password anyone?) that allows for too much to happen. Really, where was S&P in all of this?
This is why game shows must get back to the WYSIWYG ways of filming, Millionaire is pretty much doing that and it has lowered production costs as there is much less to do in post production.
Since the shows never aired, I don't see how anything can come of this: it simply means the producers knew the show wasn't working and could not air under the circumstances. One would have to think that these issues would be known during a testing and pilot filming process though.
My biggest problem here is the slick editing of current game shows (season 1 MD Password anyone?) that allows for too much to happen. Really, where was S&P in all of this?
This is why game shows must get back to the WYSIWYG ways of filming, Millionaire is pretty much doing that and it has lowered production costs as there is much less to do in post production.
It's not just ambiguously/poorly-worded questions. It can also be on account of misinformation, due to poor question research.
First of all, the letter sent to the FCC was dated December 17 — long before FOX decided to pull the series.
Secondly, there is actually a game show currently on the air (and has been on since 2004) that, since adopting its current format in 2007, has been ACTIVELY RIGGING its games — and has had no legal problems whatsoever. That show? "WOW: The CatholicTV Challenge", which claims that its purpose is "to convey an understanding of basic Catholic beliefs to viewers both young and old".
Forgot to add — I think Mark Burnett was actively involved in the rigging. That's what this is — straight up-and-down rigging. I honestly don't think that he didn't mandate the switching-out of questions, retrying games, and even the giving-out of answers.
While the FCC investigates this, the company should surrender, UNEDITED, all games ever filmed up to that point for the purposes of confirming the investigation — the moment somebody says "I don't know this", or misses a pre-$10,000 question, we've got a case.
Mark Burnett won't be walking out of this situation without jail time — or, at least, a self-exile to Canada. He'll most certainly be on the blacklist for the better part of the coming decade.
Forgot to add — I think Mark Burnett was actively involved in the rigging. That's what this is — straight up-and-down rigging. I honestly don't think that he didn't mandate the switching-out of questions, retrying games, and even the giving-out of answers.
While the FCC investigates this, the company should surrender, UNEDITED, all games ever filmed up to that point for the purposes of confirming the investigation — the moment somebody says "I don't know this", or misses a pre-$10,000 question, we've got a case.
Mark Burnett won't be walking out of this situation without jail time — or, at least, a self-exile to Canada. He'll most certainly be on the blacklist for the better part of the coming decade.
It won't have an impact. This (waste of taxpayer's money…it never aired for crying out loud) will be little known/thought of outside the game show and media insider realm. No one's going to drop one of the existing shows because of this.
It won't have an impact. This (waste of taxpayer's money…it never aired for crying out loud) will be little known/thought of outside the game show and media insider realm. No one's going to drop one of the existing shows because of this.
Sometimes coincidences happen. The MIllionaire contestant was legitimately brought back because of a flaw with the question on which he lost initially. That's not fixingm rigging or what have you.
Sometimes coincidences happen. The MIllionaire contestant was legitimately brought back because of a flaw with the question on which he lost initially. That's not fixingm rigging or what have you.
No, they don't. The FCC is not actively involved in production, they tell you what you can't do more than what you can do.
No, they don't. The FCC is not actively involved in production, they tell you what you can't do more than what you can do.
Greed's question was actually right, they brought the team back regardless because a lot of people wrote in complaining that it was too hard, that "they too, thought" the answer meant whatever the wrong answer was. It was a bit of a grey area question but the Greed-chosen answer was the best answer and was what the people who originated .com intended.
Greed's question was actually right, they brought the team back regardless because a lot of people wrote in complaining that it was too hard, that "they too, thought" the answer meant whatever the wrong answer was. It was a bit of a grey area question but the Greed-chosen answer was the best answer and was what the people who originated .com intended.
That's ridiculous. Unless Burnett can be proven to have been involved personally, he won't get jail time. That's the way America works, when it works properly, anyway.
That's ridiculous. Unless Burnett can be proven to have been involved personally, he won't get jail time. That's the way America works, when it works properly, anyway.
I'm sure this situation occured years ago, back in the 1950s. And daytime game shows boomed soon after. I guess that's the case today.
I'm sure this situation occured years ago, back in the 1950s. And daytime game shows boomed soon after. I guess that's the case today.
Which would be stupid, as episodes with $1M winners tend to be the highest-rated.
A Catholic organization rigging a game show? Shocking! Well don't take this too hard, but the Catholic Church has done much worse, such as covering up the pedophile priest scandal, supporting the Holocaust, giving misleading information about AIDS in third world countries, and not allowing women the same rights as men. But such cheating is still unacceptable, in any case.
A Catholic organization rigging a game show? Shocking! Well don't take this too hard, but the Catholic Church has done much worse, such as covering up the pedophile priest scandal, supporting the Holocaust, giving misleading information about AIDS in third world countries, and not allowing women the same rights as men. But such cheating is still unacceptable, in any case.
With making any quiz show, sometimes there will always be cases of poorly worded questions, sometimes causing the need to bring back a contestant. Just last week on Millionaire, there were two possible correct answers to a questions about an ignition interlock device on a car. It didn't affect the outcome of the game as the contestant picked the answer the writers had in mind anyway (for the record, the answer on the show was "to keep an intoxicated person from driving"; however the answer of "to keep the car from starting if someone isn't wearing a seat belt" was also correct–the 1973 Datsun B210 had that feature which could easily be bypassed by looping a wire under the driver's seat).
I've seen incorrect answers on Final Jeopardy in the past, and on the Regis edition of Millionaire they had another situation of two correct answers (it didn't affect the game then either).
Point is, on quizzers, they can't be perfect and when they are wrong, and they do the right thing by bringing someone back, it's completely OK.
With making any quiz show, sometimes there will always be cases of poorly worded questions, sometimes causing the need to bring back a contestant. Just last week on Millionaire, there were two possible correct answers to a questions about an ignition interlock device on a car. It didn't affect the outcome of the game as the contestant picked the answer the writers had in mind anyway (for the record, the answer on the show was "to keep an intoxicated person from driving"; however the answer of "to keep the car from starting if someone isn't wearing a seat belt" was also correct–the 1973 Datsun B210 had that feature which could easily be bypassed by looping a wire under the driver's seat).
I've seen incorrect answers on Final Jeopardy in the past, and on the Regis edition of Millionaire they had another situation of two correct answers (it didn't affect the game then either).
Point is, on quizzers, they can't be perfect and when they are wrong, and they do the right thing by bringing someone back, it's completely OK.
Got it. Thanks.
Not necessarily. But it might put him under extra scrutiny, at the very least. Remember, there were once allegations that SURVIVOR wasn't exactly "kosher," when there was talk of the use of body doubles, an assortment of "questionable" post-production tactics, and at least one participant attempted to sue Burnett over alleged tampering with the outcoem of a contest that supposedly resulted in this person being voted off the show…
Not necessarily. But it might put him under extra scrutiny, at the very least. Remember, there were once allegations that SURVIVOR wasn't exactly "kosher," when there was talk of the use of body doubles, an assortment of "questionable" post-production tactics, and at least one participant attempted to sue Burnett over alleged tampering with the outcoem of a contest that supposedly resulted in this person being voted off the show…
Not to mention THE $64, 000 QUESTION, and (the original) TIC TAC DOUGH and DOTTO. But , remember this: at the time there were no laws/rules on the books regarding tampering with the games; sponsors had unprecedented control, since they bankrolled these shows, and the $hi+ finally hit the fan while the hoodwinking was still going on. In this case, the plug was pulled on a show before it aired. However, this doesn't necessarily let OUR LITTLE GENIUS off the hook.
Not to mention THE $64, 000 QUESTION, and (the original) TIC TAC DOUGH and DOTTO. But , remember this: at the time there were no laws/rules on the books regarding tampering with the games; sponsors had unprecedented control, since they bankrolled these shows, and the $hi+ finally hit the fan while the hoodwinking was still going on. In this case, the plug was pulled on a show before it aired. However, this doesn't necessarily let OUR LITTLE GENIUS off the hook.
I suggest you read "Prime Time and Misdemeanors," which is a VERY detailed book on the quiz show scandals of the '50s. If a law was broken, it doesn't matter if the show never aired.
I suggest you read "Prime Time and Misdemeanors," which is a VERY detailed book on the quiz show scandals of the '50s. If a law was broken, it doesn't matter if the show never aired.