Scare Tactics
So, Scare Tactics is half-way through it's slot (it's two half-hour shows in an hour-long slot), and I'm amused. It's the latest in the Reality TV curse that we're all living under right now; a sort of cross between Fear Factor and Candid Camera. People nominate their friends to be scared, basically, in really weird/freaky situations. Some of the stuff is just plain strange rather than scary, such as the little girl who appears to be psychic in a talk with a guy in a restaurant, but her mother says she's a deaf-mutr and has never spoken - but she's just warned the guy his house is going to catch fire that night. Some of them are sicker though, such as the girl who volunteers to help test a new 'revolutionary' tanning lotion - only to see the girl who went in before her turn red, blister and have her hair fall out. Oh, and all this is after she's used the lotion herself.
The reason I was interested to see this show is because I originally read about it in the Fortean Times last month. Apparently a woman has sued the producers of the show after being involved with one of their stunts. She was told she had won an invite to a party in the desert, but on the way the car stalled and she watched her two companions (who were in on the joke) be 'killed' by an 'alien predator'. She claimed she was traumatised by the experience.
Personally I think the show has every potential to go too far with these sort of tricks (right now, some poor sod is being told his car has a body in the trunk and he's about to be arrested) and it was pretty likely to get sued by someone at some point, despite it's newness. It's also good for showing people who their friends are - after all, how much time would you want to spend with someone after they set you up to think you're being arrested for murder?
Then again, if someone set me up for something like the 'alien killer' or 'zombie ressurection' that a poor guy recently arrived from Korea and working in a cemetary got set up for, I'd enjoy it. And get the producers into a whole lot of trouble when I killed their actor...
It's bad that I enjoy the show, isn't it?
The reason I was interested to see this show is because I originally read about it in the Fortean Times last month. Apparently a woman has sued the producers of the show after being involved with one of their stunts. She was told she had won an invite to a party in the desert, but on the way the car stalled and she watched her two companions (who were in on the joke) be 'killed' by an 'alien predator'. She claimed she was traumatised by the experience.
Personally I think the show has every potential to go too far with these sort of tricks (right now, some poor sod is being told his car has a body in the trunk and he's about to be arrested) and it was pretty likely to get sued by someone at some point, despite it's newness. It's also good for showing people who their friends are - after all, how much time would you want to spend with someone after they set you up to think you're being arrested for murder?
Then again, if someone set me up for something like the 'alien killer' or 'zombie ressurection' that a poor guy recently arrived from Korea and working in a cemetary got set up for, I'd enjoy it. And get the producers into a whole lot of trouble when I killed their actor...
It's bad that I enjoy the show, isn't it?