BOO!

http://www.entertainmenttonight.com/television/a14722.htm

'Scare Tactics': Has Reality TV Gone Too Far?

February 26, 2003
Has reality television gone too far? The SCI FI Channel's first reality series, "Scare Tactics," may have crossed the line in its attempt to entertain while scaring unwitting victims on camera. Tonight on ET, see the controversial footage of a mock alien abduction -- and get the details on the lawsuit that followed!

Former "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Charmed" star SHANNEN DOHERTY hosts the half-hour hidden-camera show in which, according to the network's press release, "friends and loved ones" stage elaborate pranks on unwitting victims that are "skillfully designed to tap into their deepest fears." These scenarios include everything from mock alien encounters to ghosts, haunted houses and Bigfoot sightings.

In the debut episode, hidden cameras follow four young friends driving into the remote desert under the pretense of attending a rave. Their car mysteriously breaks down and they are attacked by an alien invader (an actor in a rubber monster suit). Two of the passengers are in on the prank while the other two are frightened and run for their lives.

The show filmed several versions of the same situation with different participants in order to choose the most "frightened" response. But one "unwitting victim" was so distraught by her experience that she is now suing the show and its creators. According to papers filed in L.A. Superior Court, the participant is claiming the prank caused "negligent infliction of emotional distress" and resulted in "severe physical and emotional injuries and damages."

Has this show gone too far? Debuting just days after April Fool's Day, viewers can decide for themselves as "Scare Tactics" airs April 4 at 10 p.m. on the SCI FI Channel.

ARRRRRRR!!!!

• RE: Scare Tactics!,AZ_Leo, 06:06 PM, 03-21-03
  • RE: Scare Tactics!,dabo, 10:59 AM, 04-07-03
• RE: Scare Tactics!,Spidey, 02:49 PM, 04-07-03
  • RE: Scare Tactics!,joannie, 04:06 PM, 04-07-03
• MTV got sued over this,GTmike, 03:30 AM, 04-09-03

I've seen promos for this on SCI FI and it didn't look like horrible. At the time I thought it was really pushing the candid camera thing too far. Unlike in many reality shows these people are NOT choosing to have this happen to them. And it isn't just relatively harmless acts of humiliation. They are using a whole range of special effects from shaking the car to bright lights and loud sounds. From the looks on their faces they are experiencing absolute terror. I don't know about you but in this day and age if I was in the desert at night, car not working, and suddenly I see/hear explosions and some strange shapes coming at me I wouldn't be giggling.

Here's the description from http://www.scifi.com/scaretactics/

About the Show

Scare Tactics, hosted by Shannen Doherty, is a hidden-camera show that turns fears into realities by placing ordinary people in situations inspired by science-fiction and horror films.

Scare Tactics is not like any other hidden-camera show. Every situation is shot as if it's a movie, except that the "actors" are unwitting, real people who have been set up by their friends. These people have no clue that they're about to be taken on haunting thrill-rides that will leave them creeped out, gasping and screaming — nor do they suspect that every moment of their experience is being recorded on film and videotape.

It's in these "movie moments" that real emotions take over, and we watch people react to a reality that has been altered — a Scare Tactics reality so utterly freaky that its victims can't help but lose their cool!

In case you missed the first two eps (aired back-to-back last Friday and repeated sometime over the weekend) bad acting is gonna sink this show. The set-ups for the gags are reasonably TV elaborate, though some of the gags rely on a certain amount of stupidity on the part of the victims (but that's okay). The original Candid Camera, though, employed a cadre of reasonably adept pranksters which this program lacks. They also miss the mark by not repeating some of their gags (admittedly some would be difficult to repeat) with multiple victims. Maybe it will get better. Shannon is a bit annoying repeating the company line about scaring your best buds is great fun etc. What can she do, it's the company line?

ARRRRRRR!!!!

According to papers filed in L.A. Superior Court, the participant is claiming the prank caused "negligent infliction of emotional distress" and resulted in "severe physical and emotional injuries and damages."

Wouldn't this be intentional infliction of emotional distress instead of negligent? I mean, isn't the whole POINT to cause them severe emotional distress?

Sick, sick, sick. I bet the ratings go through the roof.

Not only is this show a lawsuit waiting to happen, but I think it's only a matter of time before a participant becomes seriously injured! One of the pranks involved a "hitchhiker" with a knife and a fake severed head in a bag. When the fake hitchhiker pretended to attack the driver with a knife, the unwitting victim seated in the backseat of the car started clobbering the hitchhiker with his fists! What if the "victim" had a gun or knife of his own, and was so scared that he used it?

What I found weird about this show: after the prank is revealed and the victim is gasping for breath and has just had the $h!t scared out of him or her, they almost all inevitably say, "Wow! That was SO COOL! What a RUSH!!"

This show is definitely an accident waiting to happen. I'll watch again!

LAST EDITED ON 04-09-03 AT 03:31 AM (EST)

MTV has already gotten sued for doing a show where they try to scare people. MTV was doing a prank show that tended to push the line of what was acceptable and what was too far. In the only show that was filmed (but didn't air), a couple walked into their hotel room only to find a corpse in thier room. They freaked out majorly and sued MTV. I guess "Scare Tactic's" loophole is that b/c "loving friends and family" are behind it, then they can do this. Here is the article about the stunt and the lawsuit from E! Online:

MTV Sued over Corpse Joke

by Mark Armstrong
Jun 12, 2002, 3:15 PM PT

Well, what do you expect from a show titled Harassment?

A Washington, D.C., couple has filed an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against MTV and the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino after they were purportedly caught in a hidden-camera stunt for a new TV show--one that apparently thought it would be pretty funny to place a fake mutilated corpse in a hotel room.

Needless to say, hilarity did not ensue.

James and Laurie Ryan are seeking $10 million in damages, claiming they were the unwitting victims of a new MTV show titled Harassment, coproduced and hosted by That '70s Show's Ashton Kutcher.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the pair thought they were going to be spending a vacation at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas in January. But instead, they arrived at a hotel room equipped with hidden cameras and were horrified to discover what appeared to be a bloody, mutilated corpse in the bathroom.

The pair reportedly tried to leave the room but were stopped by two actors dressed as security guards, who kept them inside the room until Kutcher could emerge and finally let them in on the "joke."

Kutcher's publicist had no comment on the alleged stunt, nor did MTV. Hard Rock Hotel president Don Marrandino told the Review-Journal he had not seen a copy of the complaint and could not comment.

The lawsuit, which seeks damages for invasion of privacy, fraud and emotional distress, was first filed in Los Angeles Superior Court April 19, but the case has since been moved to federal court in Washington, D.C.

The show has never aired on MTV, but Kutcher previously described the show as a sort of "guerrilla Candid Camera" that would poke fun at older people.

This, of course, isn't the first time an MTV show has decided not to let good taste get in the way of a joke. The network created cultural sensations out of gross-out shows like Jackass and The Tom Green Show.

Last April, two 14-year-old girls sued the network after they were the victims of a Jackass-style prank in which they were showered with human feces. The stunt, filmed during a winter break special at California's Big Bear ski resort, led MTV to apologize for the incident and vow to never air the footage.

Also last year, an 86-year-old woman filed a lawsuit against MTV and another one of its funnyguys, Andy D*ick, claiming she suffered emotional distress during the taping of D*ick's eponymous show for the network.

edited so that Andy D*ick's name wouldn't appear as Andy ####