Tracy Morgan and Scott Hallock talk Scare Tactics
Tracy Morgan is a busy man. Along with his role on the NBC comedy 30 Rock, now entering its third season, Tracy is also taking on the reigns of host of the SciFi Channel program Scare Tactics, also in its third season. Premiering on July 9th, Scare Tactics is a hidden-camera, reality-comedy hybrid that allows friends and loved ones to set up unsuspecting victims into a series of horror hoaxes that are staged with movie-style special effects and makeup.
Earlier this week, Tracy, who is the third host of the program after Shannen Doherty and Stephen Baldwin hosted the first two seasons, joined Tactics’ Executive Producer Scott Hallock on a conference call to talk about this upcoming season.
How did Tracy get involved with the series?: Tracy has been a fan of Scare Tactics since the show began. He sites his favorite episode of the series as one involving a wood chipper because it was one of the most honest reactions someone would have to that particular horror. Tracy said that once the reveal was made to the victim it was like watching him breathe in a gulp of fresh air.
Tracy was excited when the producers of Scare Tactics asked him to host the show … it allowed him to do his own rendition of Rod Sterling. As host, Tracy gets to watch others be pranked rather than having others prank on him. And, because the victims don’t see the pranks coming it makes Tactics funny.
How did the show’s premise come about?: According to Scott Hallock, Scare Tactics came about while he was working on the NBC hidden-camera series Spy TV. The concept they came up with was similar to Spy, but infused with horror. As Hallock put it, he wanted to have a show that featured four mini-horror movie segments, complete with special effects and makeup.
Why mix horror and comedy?: Comedy and horror are really close, said Hallock, which made them a perfect match for the show. The program doesn’t go for the meanness factor when it comes to pranking the victims. When things are getting a bit too serious the reveal is made to lighten things up a bit.
How do they maximize safety on the show so no one really gets hurt?: “We take safety really seriously on our sets,” said Hallock. “When the bit is at its height is when we do the reveal.” The Tactics’ producer added that they sweep the area for anything that could be used as a weapon prior to the beginning of the prank. If it looks like the victim is ready to fight, then the reveal is made immediately.
Has anyone not signed the release form to air their segment?: It is very rare that someone decides not to sign the waiver, said Hallock. This season everyone signed the release notices. The only time that someone didn’t sign a release notice was when they were running for office and feared that airing their segment on the show would hurt his chances in the polls.
What makes a good victim: According to Hallock, a good victim is one who is expressive, who will react, get involved in the story and say what is on their mind. Also entertaining are those who take the leadership roles during these scary moments. As an example of a good victim, Hallock mentioned the victim from the this season’s premiere of Scare Tactics. “It was the greatest reaction I have ever seen,” said the show’s producer.
The crew for Scare Tactics: Hallock mentioned that Scare Tactics has one of the larger staffs for a reality-based program. More than 60 people. This doesn’t include the makeup and special effects personnel that are hired for many of the segments. The amount of people are integral in making Scare Tactics the big, cinematic show it is, said Hallock.
Have there been any complicated bits or bits that haven’t gotten on the air?: Hallock said the most complicated bit was the season three premiere “Satan’s Baby.” That’s because you needed the victim to believe that someone was giving birth to a 28-inch spawn of Satan. Hallock and his team have been very lucky that they have had little resistance to their ideas for the show. If anything, ideas have been pulled back if Hallock and his team didn’t think they would work out. Despite that luck, the show is still a bit of a hassle for the network’s legal department. Said Hallock, “The legal department…that’s another story. This is a very scary show for lawyers.”
Do family members ever contribute to prank ideas?: The writers will pass ideas to the family and friends to see if it will work for the victim. They will also take suggestions from friends and family as well. However, they won’t take an idea that will be harmful to the victim. In the example Hallock gave, if the victim is deathly afraid of spiders, they will not put him or her in a room full of them.
Last but not least…
What should Tracy’s prank be if he was a victim on Scare Tactics: The IRS coming to his house to collect taxes.
Pamela Anderson Won’t Do It Doggy Style
Pamela Anderson had a somewhat ruff time filming Superhero Movie.
The blond bombshell apparently wasn’t too pleased when she found out that she had a scene with a dog in the flick.
I’m told she refused to act opposite the canine, because PETA doesn’t support using real animals in moviemaking. “Pam left the set and went for a walk,” a source reports. “She needed a time out. She was that upset.”
In the scene, Anderson’s Invisible Girl superhero character calls for her Invisible Dog. The four-legged friend becomes visible just as it jumps into her arms.
Director Craig Mazin got around the hiccup by splicing together some shots of Anderson and some of a running dog that were filmed when Anderson wasn't around.
But in the end, it was all for nothing!
Why? Because of a joke that Anderson’s character makes that suggests her invisible dogand not her!has been sexually satisfying the superhero professor (Tracy Morgan) she had been sleeping with.
The scene ended up on the cutting room floor because the Motion Picture Association of America’s Ratings Board disapproved of the bestiality crack.
30 Rock Dish: Five Minutes with Tina Fey
J.Go here. Last night at the NBC cocktail party, I rescued Tina Fey from behind a piano, brought her a Diet Coke and interviewed her. I can die now, but before I go, here’s what I picked up about season two of 30 Rock:
The Lemon-Donaghy Romance Begins Five Minutes After Never: Despite their intense chemistry, Tina says there’s no romance—nor any sex—in store for Liz Lemon and her boss, Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin. "No, never gonna happen. They have great chemistry, I think, but in the writers' room we always talk about it as Lou Grant and Mary Tyler Moore, or Han Solo and Princess Leia. Lot of chemistry, never happened."
Paging Mrs. Brady? Kenneth the Page, on the other hand, might get some action this season. "Kenneth the Page will have so many love affairs. Somebody pitched the idea of Kenneth the Page having an affair with Florence Henderson, which I think we should really try to make happen. She’s really funny."
Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down: Tracy Morgan’s real-life ankle bracelet could very well make an appearance this season on 30 Rock. Tina tells me, "Tracy’s been saying that, and I’m like, Okay! We'll see. Don’t have any big plans for it yet, but maybe…" Send your ankle-bracelet story ideas to, uh, 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
Begin at the Beginning: It’s early yet, but the writing staff is hard at work. There are no complete scripts, but according to Tina, "We’ve broken a lot of stories, and then I get in there with the writers next week."
Slice Girls: Says Tina of possible story beats for the coming season, "We've talked about Jenna, Jane Krakowski’s character, coming back from summer hiatus having gained like, 30 pounds, because she spent her summer doing Mystic Pizza: The Musical, and she had to eat two whole pizzas a day. So, we might have her struggling with that as a small arc in the beginning. Jane, of course, is in fantastic shape. I talked to Jane about it last year, and she was totally into it."
TV Press Tour '07: NBC Reveals Bionic Isaiah, Cheap Lights and the Return of Seinfeld
Jen here, reporting from the NBC exec session at TCA.
First Look:
- Isaiah Washington hired to guest on five of the first six Bionic Woman eps.
- Jerry Seinfeld guests on season premiere of 30 Rock as part of his Bee Movie promotion. Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin are totally coming back to 30 Rock, so no worries. (P.S. Do you hear they may be writing Tracy’s real-life ankle bracelet into the show?)
- The Office and Heroes Web products are apparently “huge” for the Peacock.
- TV legend Norman Lear coming out of retirement to TV to shepherd young writer Nina Colman through the telling “the story of a gender battle.“ It’s on the “fast track,” and they’re talking to A-list actors.
- The Apprentice is back. Mixing it up with a celebrities-playing-for-charity twist.
In-Depth Dish from the Dias:
Bionic Management: NBC chair Ben Silverman rationalizes hiring Isaiah Washington: “He’s a wonderful actor and a great performer, and he became available. I started talking to him before he became available. And he told me was available. And I was like, You are? They let you go? I didn’t really understand what went on there.“
Washington’s going to be playing a great character yadda yadda whatever. Silverman is not concerned that a segment of the audience could be alienated by his appearance on the series. Huh. Writers met with Isaiah and adjusted an existing role for him; he plays a quasi-governmental operative who wants Jamie Sommers to embrace and enhance her bionicity. Ben and Isaiah had dinner together; Ben knows him through a mutual friend and admires his charity work in Africa; Ben told me that he would not reconsider the decision if there were to be a backlash against the hiring. And there you have it…
Economical Lights: According to Silverman, Friday Night Lights is cheap enough that even with a “lower ratings base” it is “less expensive than Heroes, for example.” “Austerity” is apparently the order of the day for Friday Night Lights. Feel free to send your financial support to Kyle Chandler via check or money order.
Reality Shows? Per Ben Silverman, the Monday night fantasy/sci fi lineup of Chuck, Heroes and Journeyman is not about fantasy/sci fi. (Heaven forfend!) He says all three of those shows are grounded in character. “Chuck has a bit of the quarter-life [crisis] going on.” He says Heroes showed there is a massive appetite for that kind of fantasy show. Journeyman is a love triangle with an immortality storyline running through it.
NBC’s comedy ratings on Thursday do, in fact, kind of suck, but the all-important young person demographics rock, so they’re cool with that lineup slouching along for a while.
Quote of the Moment
“Peace is something we believe in.” —Silverman
Korbi'll be by later this afternoon with the report from the NBC Comedies panel, in the meantime, tell us how you really feel about this Isaiah thing. Will it affect whether or not you watch Bionic Woman?