Jordan Peele and Monkeypaw Productions are rebooting the hidden camera prank show Scare Tactics for USA Network, Variety have revealed today.
According to Scare Tactics’ official description, the comedy-horror show debuts this fall with Elan Gale (Midnight Mass) serving as show runner.
Variety elaborates that Scare Tactics:
“will turn unsuspecting individuals into the main characters of their very own horror movies. This heart-pounding show offers a cinematic approach to the hidden camera concept. Set up by their friends and family, these unwitting participants are put in hilariously twisted scenarios with fully immersive stories that blur the lines of reality, horror and comedy. As they navigate one unreal decision after another, audiences will laugh, jump and be left breathless for more.”
The original Scare Tactics aired on Syfy between 2003 and 2013, running for five seasons with hosts Stephen Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and the late Shannen Doherty. Hilarious pranks on the show saw unsuspecting victims fall foul of zombie grandmas, UFO abductions and Big Foot attacks.
Original series producer Scott Hallock is back on board to executive produce, alongside Peele, Rosenfeld and Jamal Watson executive producing for Monkeypaw.
In a statement, Hallock spoke of his excitement for bringing Peele et al on for the show’s reboot:
“Reimagining ‘Scare Tactics’ with Jordan, Monkeypaw and UTAS has been a dream come true […] Fans have been asking us to bring ‘Scare Tactics’ back for years, and working with this team was an amazing opportunity. There’s no one better at horror and comedy than Jordan and Monkeypaw.”
Monkeypaw Productions’ president Win Rosenfeld adds:
“We’re so grateful at Monkeypaw to help reimagine one of our all-time favorite hidden-camera shows. Working with showrunner Elan Gale, one of the most creative and mischievous minds in unscripted television, and Scott Hallock, the brilliant creator of the original ‘Scare Tactics,’ has been an absolute blast […] It’s cathartic and hilarious to watch people get a little scared, and the scenarios we cooked up for this season are really wild. We can’t wait to share a little light-hearted schadenfreude with audiences soon.”
Given Peele’s incredible and varied horror output so far (Get Out, Us and Nope), we can only imagine what kind of nasty and hilarious tricks he’s got up his sleeve to terrorize the general public with. Look forward to more updates as we get them.
