‘Fear Itself’ Concludes Run on FEARNet
NBC ordered 13 episodes of the horror anthology series Fear Itself, but aired only eight of the episodes last summer. Ben Silverman, Co-Chairmen, NBC Entertainment told iF Magazine in late July, “No we’re not taking it off.” But that is exactly what they did with five episodes shot and unseen.
FEARNet has announced that the aired epsidoes wil be available on their website and their VOD service.
One of the episodes already available is "Eater," directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator). This installment stars Samantha Moss (Mad Men) as a rookie cop who must spend her first night in the precinct watching over a serial killer, coined "The Eater". When her fellow cops start acting bizarre, she quickly learns that no one is who they seem.
The ratings were lackluster, trailing behind CBS’ Swingtown, which is why Silverman admitted the series was on the “bubble” regarding a second season. Obviously, the bubble burst.
“We’re really happy with the numbers,” Silverman said at the press tour. “On a relative basis it did better than Studio 60 last year at one-quarter of the cost and that was a big reason we put it on. It was a marketing vehicle for motion picture studios, in the summer, when they’re desperately looking for platforms to reach their consumers and Thursday nights have always been the home of the big movie marketers. That’s why we put that show in there. Also by being produced in Canada, by letting the DVD rights go to our partner, we’re able to get that show at 1/8th the price we pay for a show like Heroes.”