# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/61 "2003-04-06T16:23:56Z")
Nice to know only my **close** friends could do this to me. Better still to know that they won’t because I carry a knife. This is just an accident waiting to happen. Someone’s gonna get hurt bad. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/62 "2003-04-06T16:32:03Z")
Let see, so the producers will screen the particpiants thoroughly, ah? Guess they won’t ‘star’ marines, martial artists, ex-commando or people of that sort on shows. MAYBE, **maybe** they rather pick (on?) young ladies, youths, overweight housewives, the meek librarian at the counter, the nerd in the high school or your causal Joe just because they are likely to be _harmless_? ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/63 "2003-04-06T16:57:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bafaa \* > \*\*II didn’t get the impression that there were any pets involved but in any case the actual victims did not know anyone or any pet that was missing. \*\* I thought “Chelsea” was a dog. \*\* > [@](#): > > Also the 2 victims never left the camper so they were never in any real physical danger.\*\* I repeat. If I were the victim, even in the scenario the way it was describe, I _would_ be in danger (albiet not physical) because I would be facing a murder rap…especially given the scenario you’ve described: Some creep has murdered two people and I’ve just seen him bloody a third and now he’s trying to get in to get me? I’d certainly have a reasonable expectation that my life would be in danger at that point. I’m not trying to sound macho here, but Colorado (and 35+) other states have concealed carry laws. I don’t see how the producers can possibly know if someone is armed or not and given that every scenario I’ve heard described is designed to make one think one’s life is in immediate danger… C’mon. Let’s be honest here. This is nothing like Fear Factor, where the victims have given consent in advance, or Candid Camera where people were pranked by (frankly, fairly lame) gags like being served rubber scrambled eggs. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/64 "2003-04-06T17:23:52Z")
I saw it, and although I have to admit I found some of it amusing, especially when the girl was screaming at Bigfoot outside the window, it’s just too cold-blooded. Especially when they tricked that guy into thinking he shot a person with that “plasma” weapon. Making someone think they might have killed or mortally another person, even for a moment, is going too far in my book. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/65 "2003-04-06T17:46:01Z")
Put me in with the “not funny” crowd. And any time there is a lawsuit over a stupid idea, I AM happy – it dissuades future stupid ideas. It seems to me some of the apologists for the producers are just restating over and over the argument that they are “smart enough to take precautions” but have not produced evidence that points to the specific procedures. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/66 "2003-04-06T17:53:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LostCause \* > \*\*Let see, so the producers will screen the particpiants thoroughly, ah? Guess they won’t ‘star’ marines, martial artists, ex-commando or people of that sort on shows. > > MAYBE, **maybe** they rather pick (on?) young ladies, youths, overweight housewives, the meek librarian at the counter, the nerd in the high school or your causal Joe just because they are likely to be _harmless_? \*\* I don’t see how vicious bullying makes for better entertainment than criminal stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/67 "2003-04-06T18:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Death \* > \*\*I don’t see how vicious bullying makes for better entertainment than criminal stupidity. \*\* Which is why I am not supporting it either, in case you have misunderstood me. Because it might be those people who are getting ‘on’ the show and it’s just what you have said. Vicious bullying. Of course, everything’s IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![CadburyAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@CadburyAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CadburyAngel)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/68 "2003-04-06T20:33:13Z")
Disgusting. Add me to the list of people who will a.) do my damndest to kick the ass of someone who is attacking me\* and b.) not apologize for it once they explain that it’s a “joke.” - I specifically say “attacking me” rather than “seeming to attack me.” Just because the attacker hasn’t actually broken my jaw yet, I’m suppose to hold back? Not bloody likely. Not to mention the very real possibility that somebody will be so involved in defending themselves that they won’t hear people shouting, “it’s a joke! It’s a joke!” and will do their attacker some serious harm. And I completely disagree that people should be in some way “punished” for reacting as though they are actually being attacked by the swamp thing or whatever. If a person is being approached by something that has (apparently) done some lethal damage, they’re not going to think, “Hmm, this creature doesn’t exist. I must be having an elaborate hallucination, or I am possibly the victim of a prank.” They’re going to deal with the situation based on the facts that they have been presented, and take the DNA samples to the lab for analysis AFTERWARD. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/69 "2003-04-06T21:47:11Z")
You know it. Rather get bailed out then ID’d in the morgue. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/70 "2003-04-06T23:47:09Z")
If I had been the ‘victim’ in the car with the guy stabbing the driver, he would have lost an eye. Like _that_. A thumb to the eye is the quickest way I know to stop someone who is using deadly force against someone else. Then I would have got to go through life knowing I had blinded someone because of a _joke_. And the poor actor who’s just trying to do a job would have lost an eye. This show is a disaster waiting to happen. People who panic are not in control of themselves. When they run, they don’t look where they are going. When they fight back, they pull no punches. Someone turning an ankle while trying to run away is probably the _least_ of the potential disasters waiting for this show. It’s also highly immoral to traumatize people and film them without their consent. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/71 "2003-04-07T02:24:19Z")
I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which is an anxiety disorder. I am subject to panic attacks in cases of severe stress. In this type of scenario, I would most likely start hyperventilating and get sick. Also, if someone DOES reveal it to be a joke, chances are, they’re going to get their asses kicked. A joke is supposed to be funny. This is not. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/72 "2003-04-07T03:17:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*You know it. > > Rather get bailed out then ID’d in the morgue. \*\* Reminds me of an incident quoted by (Heinlein? John D. MacDonald?) in which a sheriff learned that a killer was loose and after him. Said sheriff sneaks up and plugged the killer in the back. When reproached for his unsportsmanlike conduct and asked why, the sheriff replies something similar to “Because he’s dead and I’m alive and that’s the way I wanted it to wind up.” This so-called show is reprehensible twaddle for the lowest common denominator, folks so feeble or insecure that they can boster their low self-esteem by feeling superior to the victims. By the way, how on earth did this slip by the channel’s legal department? Production companies usually are paranoid about getting signed releases from everybody and sundry. Hey, the VICTIM hasn’t signed a release here! Yeah, I know. The victim has to sign one before the show airs, and I suppose there are enough sad folks out there who would be so hungry to see themselves on the teevee that they would sign a release. However, they tend to select themselves (J_rr_ Spr_ng_r, anyone?) rather than being set up by former friends. If anything, I think Fenris and others are being too restrained in their condemnation. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/73 "2003-04-07T03:55:04Z")
Add my voice to all the others appalled by this show. But I’d also like to know why this show is on the Sci-Fi Channel. It doesn’t appear to have anything whatsoever to do with science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/74 "2003-04-07T04:01:54Z")
Alien creature from outer space attacking stranded motorists. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/75 "2003-04-07T18:51:49Z")
So they only pick on folks they know are harmless? That doesn’t make sense. _No_ person is harmless. A narcoleptic quadruple-amputee on sedatives isn’t harmless. An out-of-shape housewife is most certainly not harmless. Ever hear those stories about the mother who, in a fit of adrenaline, lifts a car off her baby? Would any of her closest friends suspect her of being capable of that? Of course not! But anyone capable of lifting a car is capable of killing a person. Which is to say, anyone at all. Which is why I still suspect that this is all just a hoax. If it were real, then one of the actors would _already_ have been maimed or killed. Which hasn’t happened yet. ---
**Author:** ![onyxtyghr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ba8739/32.png) [@onyxtyghr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/onyxtyghr)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/76 "2003-04-07T19:09:24Z")
Have any of you people who are bashing this show even seen it yet? You are all making these assumptions on a show you have not even watched. If you ask me, to make any kind of proper judgements on anyone for anything you should have all the facts first. If someone is intelligent enough, they would know this to be true. I have seen the show and have laughed. It is not the soul purpose to harm someone. These are practicle jokes that a “Friend” sets up another “Friend” to fall for. Plus, if you have ever jumped out from around a corner and yelled at a friend to scare them, Then you fall into the same group of people that you all are complaining about. Or, how about halloween? This stuff happens all the time during halloween. Are we going to stop halloween from happening? No. I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/77 "2003-04-07T20:53:42Z")
“Don’t laugh. You could be next.” No thanks, the ads are annoying enough, and not just because they are running endlessly. Those stupid silhouettes running across the bottom of the screen are even worse, interrrupting a show I want to watch, to annoy me about a show that I **know** that I don’t. This show (if legit) is another of those bastard children of _Candid Camera_, a show I always hated, even from childhood. Any prank show that depends upon an unknowing patsy/victim (who has to give their consent **after** the prank in question, obviously) for its humor is just bullying for the sake of cheap laughs. So the producers: screen the potential victims (to root out the dangerous and select the harmless), depend upon deception by the victim’s “friends” (to prey upon the patsy-to-be and lure them into the prank), prepare for **every** contingency to ensure there is **no chance** anyone will get hurt (it must be nice to be able to see into the future), put a person in a situation of implied but fake danger that the person **did not consent to** (until after the fact) all in the name of _entertaining TV viewing_? It’s a good thing the show’s producers aren’t running a thrill-kill cult or a snuff film ring. ---
**Author:** ![Vixenation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/278dde/32.png) [@Vixenation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vixenation)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/78 "2003-04-07T21:00:09Z")
I remember seeing a commercial for this show and wondering how many shows would air before someone got killed or the producers got sued. Apparently none. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/79 "2003-04-07T21:11:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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 … ? Just give me B5, Stargate SG-1, Farscape, Dune, and leave the Reality TV to Fox. \*\* Reality TV is very cheap to produce. Why? No writing staff, and minimal production design (unless you’re building something onsite like “Survivor”). Mostly, it’s a producer who comes up with scenarios, a roaming production crew (camera, sound), and post-production (graphics, editing, music). “Wildest Police Videos” type shows, for example, don’t get very high ratings, but they cost next to nothing to put together. If it gets half the ratings of, say, “Junkyard Wars,” but it costs a tenth as much to put on the air, you get a much higher return on investment percentage-wise. Ever notice that there’s no actual audience shown on Animal Planet’s funny-videos show? It’s just that dorky host in a small room with one camera, one sound guy, and dubbed audience sounds. Cheap, cheap, cheap = cash cow. The two Dune miniseries (serieses?) are some of the highest-rated things Sci-Fi has done, but they also cost an arm and a leg (and a blue-tinged eye). The network won’t make a profit until the second or third airing, plus the home-video release, if even then. John Edward’s reprehensible “Crossing Over,” by contrast, is quite possibly one of the cheapest-to-produce shows currently on the air. Half the budget, I imagine, goes to the central con artist as an appearance fee, the other half to the set and technical production. It’s a license to print money. I expect that’s what’s going on with “Scare Tactics” — if it gets half the viewership of “Farscape,” but it costs a tenth as much to put together, the network, from a business standpoint, must consider it a win. At least, until the lawsuits drive up expenses. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654/80 "2003-04-07T22:33:30Z")
I still don’t see much of a sci-fi angle to this show. And besides that, it looks like it’s simply _Jamie Kennedy Experience_ kicked up a notch. _Jamie Kennedy Experience_ blows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scare-tactics-im-so-glad-theyre-getting-sued/163654.md?page=5)