# Scare Tactics: I'm SO glad they're getting sued **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654 "2003-03-23T23:57:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Azure\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@Azure\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azure_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/1 "2003-03-23T23:57:01Z")
If you’ve been watching the SciFi channel at all in the last few days, you’ve doubtless seen one of the billions of commercials for [Scare Tactics](http://www.scifi.com/scaretactics/theshow/), the new show where they scare unwitting victims half to death. Before it even premieres, they already have a [lawsuit](http://www.etonline.com/television/a14722.htm) filed against them. I have to say, I am very happy about this. What kind of idiot sets up their friends to be frightened so badly? What if they have a heart condition? The whole idea is just incredibly stupid and mean. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/2 "2003-03-24T00:08:25Z")
It IS mean. I’ve never thought practical jokes in which the victim is terribly frightened to be funny in any way whatsoever. I guess cruelty has never amused me. Any “friend” who did such a thing to me would never hear from me again, except through my attorney. There’s a difference, of course, in shows in which the people willingly go into “haunted” houses. They’re expecting to be scared. Scaring the hell out of an unwitting victim is just sadistic. ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/3 "2003-03-24T00:25:50Z")
I gotta say though, the scariest part is going to be seeing Shanon Doherty in every episode . . . ---
**Author:** ![deborak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@deborak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deborak)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/4 "2003-03-24T00:29:23Z")
I think there was a _Twilight Zone_ episode where a man is arrested and scared by police officers who I believe accuse him of murder. He freaks, they drive him “downtown” and lead him into a room where all of his friends are gathered. The “arrest” was a joke for his surprise birthday party. The episode ends with him keeling over from a heart attack due to the shock. This is just a profoundly bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![JustPlainBryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@JustPlainBryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustPlainBryan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/5 "2003-03-24T01:24:47Z")
I am **so** on board with watching this show on a regular basis. I have been clamouring for this show since I first saw the commercial previews. Then again, I have no problems with being scared out of my wits unknowingly for fun and profit. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/6 "2003-03-24T01:32:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by deborak \* > \*\*This is just a profoundly bad idea. \*\* No sh\*t, it’s a bad idea. They’re getting their reality series ideas from [old episodes of _The Simpsons_](http://www.thesimpsons.com/episode_guide/1321.htm), fercryinoutloud. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/7 "2003-03-24T01:36:48Z")
Hey, I have a great idea. Let’s have a show where a masked in truder breaks into a woman’s home, holds a knife to her throat and rapes her. But then it turns out the “intruder” is really her husband, playing a “joke” on her. Because we know it’s not a “real” rape, her screams of terror will be entertaining and amusing. Wait, I have a better idea. Let’s tell all the people involved in making this show that we want them to particpate in a reality TV “Mock” execution, and then really shoot them. Now that would be funny. ---
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/8 "2003-03-24T01:49:02Z")
Shades of _The Game_ with Sean Penn and Michael Douglas. I really liked that movie. Not sure I would like it if a friend did it to me though. Not sure I’d go so far as decry it as outrageous and sue, either. ---
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/9 "2003-03-24T01:52:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by betenoir \* > \*\*Hey, I have a great idea. Let’s have a show where a masked in truder breaks into a woman’s home, holds a knife to her throat and rapes her. > > But then it turns out the “intruder” is really her husband, playing a “joke” on her. > > Because we know it’s not a “real” rape, her screams of terror will be entertaining and amusing. > \*\* Now come on, when you have you ever seen a straight up intruder-rape scene in a science fiction flick? Now, you put an alien mask on that husband and you’ve got yourself a show. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/10 "2003-03-24T02:36:34Z")
Throw a party for the guys who produce this show. After averyone arrives, have a bunch of guys dressed in Arabic clothing and carrying realistic-looking (but fake) guns break in and take them all hostage. Our “terrorists” will be actual arabic-speaking men and women who will do stuff like read from the Koran and hang banners with Muslim Fundie slogans on them. Eventually we’ll reveal the whole thing to be a joke, and inform them that they are the subject of the latest episode of _Scare Tactics._ Want to bet that would be the last we ever saw of that show? ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/11 "2003-03-24T02:54:02Z")
I read the link to the lawsuit, and laughed. I was imagining being one of the two people in the desert attacked by a “monster” in a rubber suit. It’s funny to me, because I’ve imagined what I would do in other similar scenarios (hey, sometimes it’s hard for me to sleep) and decided long ago that I would fight like a cornered animal. I had an odd mental picture of me charging the “alien,” screaming “You won’t get ME alive!” The guy in that rubber suit would be lucky if I didn’t break any of his limbs. 'Course, then _I’d_ get sued. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/12 "2003-03-24T03:03:54Z")
Something else ocurred to me about the episode I mentioned above. What if one of the two people not in on the joke had produced a gun nobody knew about and emptied it into the guy playing the “monster”? I mean, put people into situations where they feel genuinely frightened and threatened, and they can become very dangerous. This show is a disaster waiting to happen. What TV exec okayed this? ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/13 "2003-03-24T03:20:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by betenoir \* > \*\*Hey, I have a great idea. Let’s have a show where a masked in truder breaks into a woman’s home, holds a knife to her throat and rapes her. > > But then it turns out the “intruder” is really her husband, playing a “joke” on her. > > Because we know it’s not a “real” rape, her screams of terror will be entertaining and amusing. > \*\* Stop giving FOX ideas. Stop it right now, or humanity is doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Riboflavin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Riboflavin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riboflavin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/14 "2003-03-24T03:29:18Z")
I’m surpised Scare Tactics has only gotten a civil lawsuit, from what I’ve read about what they do they could very easily be facing criminal charges or end up on the wrong end of justifiable homicide. _sigh_ why can’t the Sci-Fi channel just do good science fiction instead of a plethora of horror, pesudoscience, and just-plain-scary concept shows (Tremors the series? Huh?)? Just give me B5, Stargate SG-1, Farscape, Dune, and leave the Reality TV to Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/15 "2003-03-24T03:48:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by betenoir \* > \*\*Hey, I have a great idea. Let’s have a show where a masked in truder breaks into a woman’s home, holds a knife to her throat and rapes her. > > But then it turns out the “intruder” is really her husband, playing a “joke” on her. > > Because we know it’s not a “real” rape, her screams of terror will be entertaining and amusing. > \*\* That actually is a real rape. Sexual intercouse without permission is rape husband or not. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/16 "2003-03-24T04:05:18Z")
A show like this is the natural following from a network that cancels Farscape, the best show on television. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/17 "2003-03-24T04:23:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Riboflavin \* > \*\*Just give me B5, Stargate SG-1… \*\* I read that as B **S** , and I was thinking “Isn’t that what we’re here complaining about?” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/18 "2003-03-24T04:49:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Riboflavin \* > \*\* why can’t the Sci-Fi channel just do good science fiction instead of a plethora of horror, pesudoscience, and just-plain-scary concept shows (Tremors the series? Huh?)? \*\* 's funny. I thought Tremors **was** Sci-fi. _Anxiously looking forward to the premire of “Tremors-the Series” Friday night._ ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/19 "2003-03-24T04:58:59Z")
I’m with **Lizard** on this subject. Truly terrified people tend to go one of two ways–vegetable or killing machine. Someone is going to get hospitalized as a result of this $#!\*. Regrettably, it probably won’t be any of the morons who green-lighted it. On the bright side, I think B5 is restarting in about a week, so I don’t have to shell out for the DVD collection yet. I’m also sorta looking forward to Tremors; I don’t know how it’ll hold up in a series, but I found Burt funny as hell in the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/20 "2003-03-24T06:09:31Z")
Is it possible that this isn’t a reality show, after all? I can see a network staging these things, and then cooking up a lawsuit to make it look authentic. For that matter, I’ve suspected for a while that most “reality” shows are at least partially scripted. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654.md?page=2)