Scare Tactics

Call me sick, Call me disgusting, Call me politically incorrect. I don't care. Hidden camera shows are hilarious. Granted some of the stunts performed on the unsuspecting victims in this Sci-Fi channel show are better than others but for the most part a good laugh can be had during each half hour episode. I hear and read that people say shows like this are offensive and mean and cruel. All I can say is good grief how did we become such a dour society that we no longer can laugh at ourselves? It is also odd how people will go to scary movies and haunted houses and ride thrill rides all to be scared and they enjoy it yet when shows like this are produced the shows are labled mean and cruel!

The people complaining about this need to get a sense of humor. Friends playing jokes on each other with the help of a TV show, what's the big deal? I think quite a few of these are really funny.

It's not like they're dangerous or anything. Oh my, there's a bigfoot attacking the car... I think I'll shoot it! Right...

And most of these pranks don't even have a possibility like that. Where's the possibility of getting injured when a little girl pretends to be psychic?

It's not like they can't choose to be shown on tv after they know what has happened. People: Laugh it off, and get a sense of humor!

As everyone has become all too conscious of, "reality" tv is scraping the bottom of the bowl to come up with premises for shows now, however this is one reality show that is entertaining(at least) to watch. Honestly it's despicable, low-down, and often times in poor taste, but it is technically a TRUE reality. The fact that you are seeing people completely scared out of their mind is the only reason to watch it. These people don't have the time to connive into another episode or put on a pretty face for the camera. The poor souls on this show are sometimes so close to hysteria that the producers end the skit prematurely.

When faced with watching elimidate, survivor, or queer eye, I'd have to cast my vote for Scare tactics. If nothing else I would award it with the title of most entertaining reality show.

They keep using the same actors over and over, yet they keep finding marks who have never heard of the show.

Evidence:

* None of the people on this show appear to have heard of the show, even though they're the prime demographic.

* They keep using the same actors and nobody recognizes them.

* A show in March 2004 featured a purported "mob hit" where one of the mobsters was obviously Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore from The Sopranos. However, this so-called victim seemed to have no idea who this person was.

* The three-camera setups and establishing shots.

* The sets that are obviously just that.

* March 2004 episode - Elk, MI and Chenault, OK do not exist.

In fact, I bet the so-called lawsuit filed by the girl who claimed to be injured in the alien abduction stunt was a fake too, filed as a publicity stunt to get attention for the show.

That being said, my favorite bit was the girl who got a job as a receptionist in a "clinic" that was really an S&M shop and when she got lured into the back and asked to help "treat" a customer, she picked up the whip with a positively disturbing degree of enthusiasm. Another Berkeley Experiment, I guess.

Please understand, I am not bashing the show. It would be a great idea if the underlying premise were true: real victims scared out of their wits by a team of pranksters.

But is it real?

The "victims" are indeed actors who are also in on the prank...and thus are never scared or surprised (you can check IMDb and confirm this).

If the victims of each prank were just ordinary people, why then do they not see the three large cameras taking multiple moving shots at different angles in the room in HD (1080p) quality? Why can they not see the boom microphone over their head to capture stereo sound? (a hidden condenser mic wouldn't be capable of capturing broadcast quality sound)

The most amazing facet of this program is how the the die-hard fans cannot differentiate between a scripted, staged production and actual reality.