Memo to Fox and Mark Burnett: It's not the crime -- it's the cover-up.
Richard Nixon discovered that during Watergate. Ditto Ronald Reagan with Iran-Contra and Bill Clinton with Monica.
Now -- with some folks determined to turn the never-aired "Out Little Genius" into The Quiz Show Scandals Redux -- complete, full and possibly embarrassing disclosure may be needed to prevent some potentially stupid actions from morphing into an all-out PR nightmare.
On Saturday, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times reported that the FCC was looking into a complaint from a parent whose child was almost a contestant on the show. The parent contends the child was highly coached before the production, and that parents were given the chance to help select questions for their child.
The FCC complaint ups the tension level in a matter that already ought to be behind us.
After all, it's not as if Fox and Burnett didn't try to be at least somewhat transparent about all this. Last month, just days before "OLG" was set to premiere, the network (at Burnett's behest) pulled the show from its lineup.
Instead of offering up some lame excuse about creative concerns or scheduling issues, everyone involved 'fessed up that something fishy had gone on.
“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 at the time, via a prepared statement. "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.”
A few days later, Fox reality chief Mike Darnell tried to further explain things, telling TheWrap that "there was certain information that was related in a way Mark [Burnett] found worrisome. It was not egregious. But Mark felt like this was his show and he wanted to be beyond reproach. Like my mother would say, a little Jewish phrase here, kina hora to him."
So it's not exactly shocking to discover that, if the parent of one potential "OLG" contestant is to be believed, producers on the show may have over-coached the possible contestant.
Per the New York Times' characterization of the letter, "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."
Well, right. That's sort of what Burnett and Fox had hinted had happened last month -- though both parties were maddeningly vague about just what went wrong.
And that's the problem.
Yes, Burnett and Fox were candid about admitting something fishy might have happened. They also tried to do the right thing by pulling the show and deciding the eight episodes already shot would be shelved. They even agreed to pay winnings to the kids who emerged victorious on the shelved episodes -- even though, in the past, some producers have (at least temporarily) refused to pay winnings when a show is canceled before it airs.
