Common Sense Media Review
By Jenny Nixon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Stale reboot of hidden-camera prank show has language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Scare Tactics
What's the Story?
SCARE TACTICS is a hidden camera-style prank show where people set up their unsuspecting friends to become unwitting participants in goofy scenarios dreamed up by writers and carried out by improv actors. The results are then broadcast for audiences to laugh at. One guy takes a friend to a fancy chef's choice dinner where he expects to be served unusual meats like alligator or snake, only to find he's been duped into eating (he thinks, anyway) a human being. At the end of each imaginary set-up, the actors reveal to the prankee that they've been had.
Is It Any Good?
Hopes were high that attaching Jordan Peele's name to this would elevate the hidden-camera prank show concept to new levels, but this is a lesser version of the popular Y2K-era show of the same name. That isn't saying much, since the O.G. iteration of Scare Tactics wasn't particularly good either. People seem to have an appetite for prank shows, though, and the best that can be said of this one is that the cast of improv actors is talented and diverse. The show loses its shine in that department when they use little people in some episodes as "scary" or ridiculous visual punchlines. It feels incredibly reductive to see this kind of stuff going on in 2024—like the real joke's on us, the viewers, for tuning in.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the ethics of pranking. Are practical jokes ever OK, as long as nobody gets physically hurt? Would you feel OK pranking a friend, or being pranked yourself?
What do you think appeals to audiences about shows where people are scared or uncomfortable?
TV Details
- Premiere date : October 4, 2024
- Cast : Baron Vaughn , Randy Havens , Molly C. Quinn
- Network : USA
- Genre : Reality TV
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 30, 2024
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