Fear Factor was an American stunt/dare game show that first aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 and was initially hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The show was adapted by Endemol USA from the original Dutch series titled Now or Neverland.
For the first five seasons, the contestants consisted regularly of three men and three women pitted against each other in a variety of three stunts for a grand prize, usually of $50,000. In the sixth season, the show's format was modified to feature four competing teams of two people who have a pre-existing relationship with one another.
Fear Factor was cancelled by NBC in 2006 after six seasons (142 episodes excluding specials with highlights); NBC would briefly revive the series for a nine-episode run in 2011. In 2017, MTV revived the series with rapper and actor Ludacris assuming the host role; this incarnation ran two seasons (thirty-three episodes) before being cancelled in 2018. The show has since spawned many spin-offs, creating its own media franchise.
History
Original series (2001–2006) As NBC's answer to the CBS television series Survivor, the show was initially a hit for the network in the summer of 2001 and built strong ratings and popularity in the following seasons. Joe Rogan, then known for his role on the sitcom NewsRadio (1995–1999) and as a commentator for Ultimate Fighting Championship, was hired as the host. According to a 2015 interview with Art Bell, Rogan expected Fear Factor to be cancelled after a few episodes due to objections to some of the content and further stated that he took the job mainly to obtain observations and anecdotes for his stand-up comedy career. The series had a runaway success during the first few seasons, but after the series' fourth season (2003–2004), the popularity and ratings began to decline. By the time the series was in its sixth season, the ratings were in steep decline as a result of content concerns and a growing loss of viewer interest, coupled with the series facing tough competition with other TV shows in the same time slot. As a result, the series was only averaging a 2.6 in the ratings. Later that year, Fear Factor faced tough competition with the TV ratings champion, Fox's talent series American Idol on Tuesday nights and the ratings declined even further and continued to trend further downward during this period. Despite much publicity concerning an improved format and better stunts for season six, the series' ratings continued to drop and consequently, NBC put the struggling program on hiatus for the remainder of the season to make room for the sitcom Joey, the Friends spin-off that was itself removed from the NBC lineup a few weeks later. After a continuous and steep drop in the series' ratings, it was officially cancelled by NBC in May 2006 after six seasons (Joey was cancelled in April) and the network began airing the remainder of the season on June 13, 2006, with the remaining episodes to be aired throughout the summer, with its last episode airing on September 12, 2006. Over its six seasons, Fear Factor earned NBC a reported $600 million in advertising revenue. Currently only the first season has been released on DVD; in early 2009 a box set release containing the entire series on DVD was planned. The project was put on hold for an unknown reason in March 2010. On June 5, 2010, it was announced that the project was cancelled because of the low sales of the first season DVD.
Syndication
In 2004, Fear Factor became the first network reality show to be syndicated. In the fall of that year, NBCUniversal Television Distribution put it into barter syndication and it aired on Fox, The WB and UPN affiliates and on the cable channel FX. However, as of fall 2006, Fear Factor had left local syndication due to lack of sales of NBCUniversal and was not renewed for another season next fall since NBC canceled Fear Factor after six seasons due to low ratings. In addition to FX, reruns of Fear Factor have aired in syndication on Chiller, MTV2 and TBD, with TBD airing a Fear Factor marathon the weekend of May 15–16, 2021. The series also has a YouTube channel, where previously unaired footage is shown.