Fox orders child genius game show from Mark Burnett

Fox has ordered a new game show from Mark Burnett that puts child geniuses to the test.

In "Our Little Genius," ultra-smart kids aged 6-12 get a chance to prove their expertise for a shot at winning hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

"It's shining a bright warm light on kids that due to their genius get ridiculed by their peer group and here we give them a chance to shine," Burnett said.  

The young contestants will answer a series of questions on their most-knowledgeable subject. Their parents will watch from an isolated area and can opt to end the contest at any time and walk away with however much money their child has earned. Parents also get to observe a panel of grown-up experts trying to answer each question before their child is asked, giving them a sense of the question's difficulty.

Like pre-cursor "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader," the new series will premiere out of "American Idol." The show will be paired with "Idol" for at least four episodes sometime next year.

"Here we go again," said Fox entertainment president Mike Darnell. "It's family friendly, which does really well with 'Idol.' We're only in rehearsal stages and it's already unbelievably entertaining."

The show has received a series order from "5th Grader" producers Mark Burnett Productions in association with Zoo Productions.

With "5th Grader" now in syndication after shooting 167 episodes for Fox and "Our Little Genius" on deck, the former series seems less-than-likely to return to the network.

Burnett, Barry Poznick and John Stevens serve as executive producers. Host and premiere date will be announced at a later date.