Estate of Panic

If you can find this show, watch it. It's got some truly hilarious moments. I want to give more information, but it would all be spoilers.

"Fear Factor" will never go down in the annuals of being a great television series. It will probably never be fondly remembered by anyone twenty years from now, but "Fear Factor" had its good moments from time to time with Joe Rogan actually displaying some empathy towards the contests if the situation called for it. Joe Rogan had a heart if he wanted to show it.

But the British host of "Estate of Panic" lacks any sort of semblance to a real human being as he "pretends" to own a haunted house that dim-witted contests blunder through in an attempt to earn some money. The funny/scary lines that he spouts out are neither funny nor scary. (Count Floyd from SCTV almost seems like a real person compared to whoever it is Steve Valentine is trying to portray.) The stunts the contests go through are neither interesting nor horrific.

I guess the big tip-off should be that the show's writers couldn't even bother coming up with a name for the host of the show and he is merely listed as "Estate Host." At least, the silent butler in the haunted estate has a name, but he adds absolutely nothing to the show and he probably would have been better off being nameless in this mess of a show.

This is a show that was broadcast on Syfy (then called the Sci Fi Channel) for six episodes. For some reason, a lot of people really dislike it. But I am a fan of horror movies and a fan of some competition reality shows, so this was right up my alley (this is also why I liked 13: Fear Is Real). Basically, seven people come to a mansion and visit three rooms in the house. These rooms are rigged with various things that are designed to scare them (for example, snakes, floods, electric shocks, etc.). But there is also cash hidden in these rooms. The contestants try to grab as much money as they can. But they shouldn't stay too long because the last person in the room gets locked in and is out of the game. When the remaining contestants have returned, the money is counted, and the one who brought back the least is also out of the game. One of the things I like about this show is that, unlike a lot of other competition reality shows, each episode is self-contained (that is, each episode has a new set of contestants). This show isn't on anymore, but you can watch the episodes on YouTube and Hulu. You can also buy episodes from iTunes. I would definitely check this out.

UPDATE: I recently saw Zondra from Episode 1 in an infomercial. And I recognized her instantly. How much of a coincidence is that?

Though cornball & cheesy it may be, this is not a show I would consider dreadful (see garypage's comment). Being cornball & cheesy is part of what makes this show so fun. I mean the fact that people would do pretty much anything for a few thousand dollars in itself is entertaining. But some of the stuff they have had contestants go through on this show is kinda twisted. So far, I haven't seen anything that I'd be afraid to try; but unlike Fear Factor, where some of the challenges seemed more fun than frightening, I've yet to see an 'obsticle' in this show that I could possibly consider pleasant, let alone fun. No offense to Fear Factor, I really liked that show, but a show about Fear/Panic having 'unpleasant' challenges seems more realistic to me. Long story short, I think it's a good show. But you should watch it at least once to determine for yourself.

I have seen two episodes so far and I really like it. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows on TV. The host (Steve Valentine) is slightly evil and the butler Rupert is the creepy silent type. I like Steve Valentine's insane heartless millionaire performance for this show.

Just when I think I've seen it all, this show surprises me. Even though I know its a game and the rooms are carefully constructed for the show, I can't help but to be impressed with how scary they have made everything. My hat is off to the set designers!

Another big plus for me is that the contestants seem down to earth and real, which is something that appeals to me when watching a reality show.

I look forward to seeing the next episode!