| Host | |
| Kevin Pollak | |
| Broadcast | |
 FOX Primetime: Unaired (intended to debut 1/13/2010) | |
| Packagers | |
| Mark Burnett Productions Zoo Productions | |
Our Little Genius was a FOX game show that was pulled shortly before its debut due to concerns about the show's integrity.
Gameplay[]
Child contestants would answer questions to win money for their families. Their parents could look to experts for help.
The child faces a maximum of 10 multi-part, open-ended questions. The category for each question is shown beforehand for the child's parents, not the child, to make a decision on whether to continue playing or not. Each question must be fully answered correctly to advance the child towards the grand prize of $500,000. The money ladder went as follows:
| Correct answers | Money won |
|---|---|
| 10 | $500,000 |
| 9 | $350,000 |
| 8 | $250,000 |
| 7 | $175,000 |
| 6 | $100,000 |
| 5 | $50,000 |
| 4 | $25,000 |
| 3 | $10,000 (safety net) |
| 2 | $5,000 |
| 1 | $1,000 |
Questions given are at different higher education levels: “College”, “Masters”, and “Doctorate”. The $500,000 questions were said to be only answered by “some of the most finest minds” in the world.
The parents are situated directly across the child, and directly adjacent to a panel of three experts. The parents have the right to stop the game before any question to take the accumulated winnings, as well as two helps:
- Preview the question themselves.
- Have the experts preview the question and advise the parents on its difficulty.
Press Photos[]
Trivia[]
- The series was cancelled days before its intended premiere because Mark Burnett, the show's creator, was concerned that the show’s integrity had been breached. The Los Angeles Times reported that some contestants knew what questions were to be asked (though not the answers), rather than the topics to be covered. A promo for the show was aired before the pulling.
- Host Kevin Pollak went on to do FOX's short-lived Million Dollar Money Drop (based on the British show The Million Pound Drop [Live]) in the same year.
Promo[]
