Scare Tactics
Scare Tactics is an American comedy horror hidden camera television show, produced by Scott Hallock and Kevin Healey. Its first two seasons aired from April 2003 to December 2004. After a hiatus, the show returned for a third season, beginning July 9, 2008. The first season of the show was hosted by Shannen Doherty. Stephen Baldwin took her place in the middle of the second season. At the beginning of the third season, the show was hosted by Tracy Morgan. The fourth season began on October 6, 2009. On July 17, 2017, it was announced that Blumhouse Television was going to produce a new season of the show.[2]
For the 1990s comic book series published by DC Comics, see Scare Tactics (comics).Scare Tactics
United States
5
114
Kevin Healey
Scott Hallock
Jesse Fawcett
23 minutes
Hallock Healey Entertainment
April 4, 2003 –
October 28, 2013[1]
In Europe, the first season of the program aired on MTV Central from 2003 to 2004. The show was also broadcast in Australia on Fox8, in Canada on MTV, in India on AXN, in Russia on MTV Russia (only the first two seasons), in Turkey on Dream TV, in Poland on TV Puls, in Finland on Jim, in South Korea on Q TV, in Sweden initially on TV6, and then on TV11. The program was distributed internationally by Rive Gauche Television.
Format[edit]
Scare Tactics is a hidden camera prank show that puts victims into terrifying situations, usually involving movie-style special effects and makeup that recreates horror movie clichés. The victims, generally four per episode, are set up by friends/family in tandem with producers.
Unlike other hidden camera shows, Scare Tactics was shot and edited in a cinematic style intended to give each piece the look and feel of a scary movie.
There are some instances where the victims are lured into the pranks on the promise of being on a fake reality show called "Fear Antics" which plays off like a show similar to MTV's Jackass but end with dire consequences. In "Fear Antics", the victim is led to believe that they are the prankster, when in fact the joke is on them. Sometimes, the victim of "Fear Antics" will attempt keeping calm and rationally try keeping the situation from getting out of control (from their perspective).
The pranks end when the victim is completely terrified and someone would ask them, "Are you scared?" to which they usually reply in the affirmative. They then get the reply, "You shouldn’t be! You're on Scare Tactics!" or "I'll have to/I'm gonna put you on Scare Tactics!". Alternately, at times when a victim almost ran for their lives, they immediately announced the same thing. Once or twice, a victim realized they were on Scare Tactics. Rarely, a victim will assault an actor playing a psycho in a moment of courage; forcing the crew to end charade.