Fear Factor is a stunt-based game show that was adapted from a Dutch program called Now or Neverland. Hosted by Joe Rogan, the game challenges contestants to overcome their fears and tackle increasingly difficult challenges to win a cash prize.
- Host: Joe Rogan
- Executive Producers: David Hurwitz and Matt Kunitz
- Series Premiere: June 11, 2001
- Network: NBC
- Top Prize: $50,000
- Catch Phrase: "Fear is not a factor for you."
Overview
Fear Factor has become a favorite game show because of the challenging, dangerous, and even disgusting stunts that contestants must accomplish in order to move ahead. The overall theme of the game is to face your fears and move past them, providing the backdrop for challenges that most viewers would never dream of attempting.
In most episodes, contestants play in pairs with someone that they know. These pairs are made up of friends, co-workers, family, and romantic partners. Celebrity editions have also proved popular, with fans eager to catch their favorite stars put into uncomfortable situations. When individual contestants compete, the game starts off with three men and three women. When the game is played in pairs, four duos begin each game.
The original run of Fear Factor lasted from 2001 through 2006. In 2011, NBC announced plans to bring the show back.
'Fear Factor' Format
Each episode if Fear Factor is broken up into three rounds. Each round features a different type of stunt, and contestants are eliminated at the end of each one based on performance.
Contestant intros and disclaimers kick off each episode, and contestant commentary is interspersed throughout the show. The overall vibe is slightly dark and fairly serious.
Round One - Physical Stunt
The first Fear Factor stunt is usually a straight-forward yet dangerous physical challenge. Examples of these include:
- Snagging flags from the sides of a speeding dump truck
- Climbing across elevated flag poles to retrieve flags
- Jumping from building to building
- Diving for flags in ice-cold water
- Being dragged by a running horse
These stunts are timed. Contestants with the highest times are eliminated - either one male and one female, or a single pair.
Round Two - Gross Food
The second stunt is the one that Fear Factor has become most well-known for. Contestants are challenged to eat some of the most disgusting items ever seen on television. What kinds of things? See for yourself:
- Raw buffalo testicles
- Animal eyeballs
- Live insects
- Cow brains
- Horse rectum
The second segment isn't always a gross food challenge, however. Often these stunts involve live animals, such as snakes or spiders. Contestants must rest in a confined space occupied by as many of these animals as physically possible. For example, one episode featured contestants laying in a closed coffin inhabited by worms. There are other variations on this second stunt, but they almost always involve a "disgusting" element.
If any contestant is unable to complete this round, he or she is eliminated. Those who complete it are timed, and those with the slowest time are out. In some episodes, no one is eliminated in this round and instead a prize is awarded to the top finishers.
Round Three - Extreme Physical Challenge
The third and final Fear Factor round consists of an extreme sport, obstacle course, or other physically demanding, mentally challenging stunt. The contestant or contestant pair who finishes this round with the best time or score wins the $50,000 prize.
Some examples of final round stunts include:
- Riding a bicycle through an obstacle course made up of elevated planks.
- Standing on top of a car that is swinging 100 feet in the air. As a magnetic arm moves the car, contestants must hit a "stop" button when they feel the car is sitting over a marked "x," causing the car to drop.
- Running on top of barrels spinning at increasing speeds while suspended high in the air.
- Being tied to a platform that was weighted down with a series of weights, and being submerged underwater. The only way to resurface was to untie the weights.
- Speeding down a zip line and letting go to land in a targeted area.
Fear Factor 2011
In June 2011, fans learned that Fear Factor would be making a comeback. Though the show had been off the air for five years, original host Joe Rogan agreed to return.
Fear Factor 2011 premieres December 12th on NBC, from 8-10pm Eastern. The show returns with technologically enhanced challenges and stunts, as well as HD quality.
