Fear Itself (TV series)
Fear Itself is an American horror-suspense anthology television series. It debuted on NBC on June 5, 2008,[1] but was pulled from the air after late July 2008 with five episodes remaining unaired. On March 13, 2009, it was confirmed that the series had been canceled and would not return to NBC.[2]
| Fear Itself | |
|---|---|
 Fear Itself intertitle | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Mick Garris |
| Theme music composer | Serj Tankian |
| Opening theme | "Lie Lie Lie" by Serj Tankian |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Andrew Deane |
| Producers |
|
| Production locations | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Running time | 42 mins |
| Production companies |
|
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | June 5 – July 31, 2008 |
Production and development
Its title is derived from the famous Franklin D. Roosevelt quote, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."[3] The anthology was born out of Masters of Horror and shares several of the same creative elements. It features self-contained horror/thriller stories directed by the biggest horror directors working in features today, both shows were created by Mick Garris, and both shows are produced by Industry Entertainment's Andrew Deane, Adam Goldworm, and Ben Browning. Stuart Gordon, Brad Anderson, John Landis, Ernest Dickerson, and Rob Schmidt all directed at least one episode of each series.
The series was filmed in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with some additional filming taking place in the city of St. Albert and the town of Devon, Alberta.[4][5] Guest stars included Eric Roberts, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh, Josie Davis, Briana Evigan, Jesse Plemons, Elisabeth Moss, and Cory Monteith. The song in the opening credits is titled "Lie Lie Lie" by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian from his first solo album Elect the Dead.
Broadcast
The show aired Thursday nights at 10/9c. It was put on hiatus for the duration of the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the promise of a return once the event was over, but no further episodes were aired. While NBC failed to comment on the fate of the series once the Olympics ended, its time-slot was thereafter filled with re-runs of other NBC shows, and "Fear Itself" did not appear on the NBC Fall 2008 schedule.
In the UK, the show started airing on 5* from Friday 4 May 2012. In Australia, the show commenced screening in August 2012 on the FX channel, available on the Foxtel platform.
Home media
The complete series was released on DVD on September 15, 2009.
Episodes
The episodes are run in a different order on the DVD and within online streaming sites.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Sacrifice" | Breck Eisner | Mick Garris & Del Howison | June 5, 2008 | 5.29 | |
| Four criminals take refuge inside an isolated, snow-covered fort, and encounter three sisters with a hidden secret who are harbouring a monster. Starring Jeffrey Pierce, Jesse Plemons, and Rachel Miner | ||||||
| 2 | "Spooked" | Brad Anderson | Mick Garris & Matt Venne | June 12, 2008 | 4.89 | |
| During a stakeout, a private investigator (Eric Roberts) comes face-to-face with the demons of his past. | ||||||
| 3 | "Family Man" | Ronny Yu | Daniel Knauf | June 19, 2008 | 4.66 | |
| After a car accident, a loving father (Colin Ferguson) and an infamous serial killer (Clifton Collins Jr.) swap bodies. | ||||||
| 4 | "In Sickness and in Health" | John Landis | Victor Salva | June 26, 2008 | 4.47 | |
| A bride (Maggie Lawson) receives an ominous note that claims her groom (James Roday) is actually a serial killer. Marshall Bell and William B. Davis also star. | ||||||
| 5 | "Eater" | Stuart Gordon | Richard Chizmar & Johnathon Schaech | July 3, 2008 | 4.74 | |
| A rookie cop (Elisabeth Moss) is assigned to guard a cannibalistic serial killer nicknamed "Eater" (Stephen R. Hart) along with two other officers, but it becomes clear "Eater" is more than a mere serial killer. Also starring Russell Hornsby, Stephen Lee, and Pablo Schreiber. | ||||||
| 6 | "New Year's Day" | Darren Lynn Bousman | Steve Niles & Ben Sokolowski | July 17, 2008 | 2.93 | |
| A young woman (Briana Evigan) awakens in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. | ||||||
| 7 | "Community" | Mary Harron | Kelly Kennemer | July 24, 2008 | 3.21 | |
| A young couple move into a gated community, and discover that the community hides a dark secret. Starring Brandon Routh, Shiri Appleby, and John Billingsley. | ||||||
| 8 | "Skin & Bones" | Larry Fessenden | Drew McWeeny & Rebecca Swan | July 31, 2008 | 3.87 | |
| A missing rancher (Doug Jones) returns to his family, but they realize that he is no longer the man they knew. Also starring John Pyper-Ferguson, Molly Hagan, and Gordon Tootosin. | ||||||
| 9 | "Something with Bite" | Ernest Dickerson | Max Landis | Unaired | N/A | |
| After being bitten by a werewolf brought into his clinic, a veterinarian (Wendell Pierce) begins to transform into a werewolf himself. To make matters worse, another werewolf is on a killing spree, and the veterinarian is the top suspect. | ||||||
| 10 | "Chance" | John Dahl[6] | Story by : Lem Dobbs Teleplay by : Lem Dobbs & Rick Dahl | Unaired | N/A | |
| Chance Miller (Ethan Embry) is a down-on-his-luck guy whose luck goes even worse when he finds himself dealing with his evil doppelganger | ||||||
| 11 | "The Spirit Box" | Rob Schmidt | Joe Gangemi | Unaired | N/A | |
| Emily D'Angelo is a dead schoolgirl who speaks to her classmates from beyond the grave. She reveals that she was murdered and she wants her friends help to seek revenge. Starring josie Davis ، Anna Kendrick | ||||||
| 12 | "Echoes" | Rupert Wainwright | Sean Hood | Unaired | N/A | |
| A friendly man (Aaron Stanford) discovers that he was a sadistic murderer in a previous life. | ||||||
| 13 | "The Circle" | Eduardo Rodríguez | Richard Chizmar & Johnathon Schaech | Unaired | N/A | |
| A writer (Johnathon Schaech) stays at a small town to break his writer’s block, but his story begins to happen to him and his wife in reality. | ||||||
References
- NBC Lights Up Summer With A Burst Of Original Program Premieres As Part Of 'NBC'S All-American Summer'
- 2008 - 2009 Cancelled Shows: NBC Cancels 10 Television Series Archived March 17, 2009, at archive.today
- Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. "First Inaugural Address". Wikisource. Retrieved 2003-03-02.
- "NBC to film series in St. Albert". CTV News. March 7, 2008. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
- "Made in Canada: Alberta". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. September 3, 2009. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
With its vast oil sands and natural gas reserves, the province last year offered hard cash to Lionsgate to shoot the NBC anthology series "Fear Itself" in Edmonton when oil was at $140 a barrel.
- 'Psych,' 'FNL' Actors Join 'Fear Itself'