Review of Fear Factor

This was a more-than-decent attempt to replicate the success (it had 7 seasons!) of the original Fear Factor; technically it is not inferior, and it even retains the same dynamic style since most episodes are directed by the same man (J. Rupert Thomson) who also directed the majority of the original Fear Factor. New host Ludacris is no Joe Rogan, but he can be pretty funny at times. And the show, just like its predecessor, features some of the most badass women in reality television (there are a few weak ones, too, but they only serve as the exceptions that confirm the rule). The main negative of the show for a long while is the excessively spoilery "coming up!" segments before each commercial break, which often give away the winners of the early stunts! You must fast-forward and/or mute these promos if you do not want to get spoiled. But where things REALLY go south is when the show switches to "Celebrity" Fear Factor in its second season. When they invite musicians, that's fine. When they invite reality stars from other shows, that's tolerable. But when they invite Youtube / Instagram "stars" and try to pass them off as "celebrities", they're crossing the line; these people were not only terrible competitors, but some of them could not even form a coherent sentence. The old Fear Factor had celebrity episodes as well, but only once in a while; the basic appeal of the show is watching REGULAR people overcome their fears. I firmly believe it was this "celebrity" turn that led to the show's discontinuation. *** out of 4 as a whole, because it's still damn entertaining.