Game Show NewsNet

Episode 4.9 (Or: "Nightmares for Everyone!") - October 25

Welcome to Halloooooooweeeeeeeeen. This is the scaaaaaaaaaarrryyyyyyy Fear Factor. Oooooooooooo. Can't you feeeeeeeeeeeeeel the fffeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaar.

Okay - maybe I am over-embellishing, but let's see the people who have to deal with this themed show -

Lidia Bruckbauer (Houston, Promotions) can deal with this show because she's had to deal with the terror of... bikini contests. Good luck, Lidia. Keith Coleman (Medford, NJ) says he's small and he looks only 16, but he has a big heart and a mental game to go with it. I thought the self-esteemed version of Fear Factor was last month. Michael Davis (New Orleans, Model) has gone through many competitions of athletic ability and says that this will be just another competition. You've never been in a bikini competition, have you, Michael? Tiffany Bryan (Dallas, Sales Manager) is doing this to not let her friends or anyone down - and she will step it up when it's go time. I wonder is this blonde is related from Kristen from the last episode. Jennavecia Russo (Las Vegas, Waitress) says that she will win this competition because she is crazy and will do anything. Well, that will definitely be helpful here. John Jenkinson (Hollywood, CA, Unemployed), who looks like Jim Carrey gone freakishly wrong, says that the key to winning is based on the two P's - psychology and polyester. He's going to use psychology to get into their heads, and then polyester to get into their beds. Well, now we know why John is unemployed.

CHALLENGE 1: Joe welcomes them by saying that this is the most screwed up stunt that they have ever done. Well, that's reassuring. All they have to do is carry bolts from one edge of the platform to the other. The two slowest people are eliminated, while the fastest person will decide the order for the second stunt.

The catch? Everything is going to be charged with 2 MILLION VOLTS of electricity. As a reference point, an electric chair has 2,000 volts of electricity going through it, so they'll feel like they've been electrocuted 1,000 times. Never say that Fear Factor isn't educational.

Needless to say, do not try this at home.

John, who wants to stay between 1978-1982 fashion-wise, goes first. John says that he's not nervous at all, and you can tell that Joe, who's trying to get any sort of emotional character reaction from John and is getting squat, doesn't like him. What gets him even more grossed out - John and Jennavascia actually switched bottoms before the show started, so John is wearing Jennavascia's gym shorts and Jennavascia is wearing John's short jeans. Well, I guess he did get into her pants, so to speak. Could the bed be that far behind?

John has now worn the special safety equipment, and he is feeling himself up with it. Nice. He yells, "Come to me, Obi Wan!" and he runs around and does his thing. He gets 9 rods/bolts in 58 seconds, and that seems good enough. John rambles on about the stunt and Joe, staring blankly at him, now wants a real human to go into the stunt. John starts to ramble on more and Joe thankfully cuts him off.

Tiffany is doing this to alleviate the costs of breast cancer treatment for her mom, adding that after this stunt, they could both be bald. Uhhh...ok. She screams after getting hit - and she is being dainty about it... perhaps too dainty as she only gets 8 in 54.1 seconds. That puts John in the lead, while Tiffany complains about her feet burning.

Keith's parents flew in his older sister to baby-sit him, as they don't trust the 21 year old in L.A. His strategy is to run as fast as he can - and it works, as he gets 10 of them in 56 seconds. That gets him into the second round, as Tiffany and John stare in worry.

Jennavascia says that she doesn't work out, but she looks good. She is moving fairly slowly, though, and is even daintier than Tiffany. That, the fact that she isn't running will and the fact that she is wearing John's tight shorts all combine to a time of 8 in 55.7 seconds. Joe's nightmare continues to unfold as John makes it into the second round.

Lidia is nervous about the stunt, because she got shocked out when she was a little kid. The shocking affected her aim, as she misses the first 2 and doesn't get one in until 25 seconds into it. She only gets 6 of them in, and with only one more person left to go, she gets eliminated. She feels like she let everyone down - but she tried her best.

Michael says that he has never been zapped - except by the cops. D'oh! He says that he's kidding and he wants to beat the leprechaun. The main one to beat is Jennavascia, who is clearly on the bubble. Michael starts out awkwardly, but gets 10, which eliminates Jennavascia. He gets it in...55.1 seconds, which also lets him decide the order. Jennavascia is upset because she gets eliminated before having the opportunity to eat cow balls in the second stunt. Wha?

CHALLENGE 2: Well, there are no cow balls to be had in the second stunt, but we do have a witches brew consisting of scorpions and tarantulas. The contestants shoot flaming arrows at a scarecrow. The number of tries it takes to hit the scarecrow determines how much of a portion the contestants have to eat.

Keith has been selected to go first, and he says that she most disgusting he's had to eat is shots of ranch dressing. That's it? Joe - 'You're in a world of hurt, dude.' It takes Keith only two shots to hit the scarecrow, so he gets 2 ladlefuls, which doesn't look that bad. He munches on the brew and tarantula and scorpion - and it's good enough to get to the finals. It probably does taste better with ranch dressing, though.

Next up is... Mike, who selects himself because he's hungry. He's seen how Keith did it and he is confident. His stomach may be disappointed - he only gets one ladleful since he hit it on the first shot. He holds his nose and eats the tarantula first, then the scorpion, then the drink. He has no problem and he moves on.

Mike selects John next, and he says that he's shot a lot of weapons, as he was in the military. Well, that explains a lot there. He hasn't done any work in the cross-bow areas, who he lovingly calls Joe. He also gets it in one shot and he is looking lovingly at the ladleful. Joe says that John is going to eat it like it's nothing, and to not even bother trash talking him. Sure enough, he dances while he's doing it, and he joins the other guys.

Will a woman be joining them? She bets the guys 5 bucks that she will hit the target in 1 or 2 tries - and what she doesn't tell the guys is that her grandfather owns a gun range. She hits it in one shot, and Michael owes her $5. Can she down it? John warns her that it will go right to her hips, but despite John barfing, she gets it down and they all advanced.

CHALLENGE 3: Joe warns them to not let their full bellies affect them on the final stunt, which features a rotating booth. Inside the booth is flies, superworms, redworms and crickets - and they will be dowsed in corn syrup, so the animals will be attracted to you. While in the tumbler, the contestants have to open a set of lucks, which will stop the tumbler. Whoever can get out the quickest wins the $50,000.

Tiffany start it - and she's pretty fast with the first lock. She then loses the keys, and that spells trouble for her as all of the guys have yet to go. She completes it in 1:03, which is good - but I don't think it's going to be good enough.

Michael is the next guy up - and he thinks his height could hurt him as well as help him. It helps him as he grabs the keys before the tumbler starts rotating, but he fumbles around a lot. He fumbles around...too much, and he is a second off in 1:04. He walks off in disgust - and $5 down, as he lost the bet to Tiffany.

Keith is next, and he says he's a happy kid. He's not going to be too happy after this stunt, as he can't even get a key in the lock in 1:03. He gets it done in 1:14 and Tiffany is looking pretty good. Despite that, he is happy that he got that far, and life is good.

Life can be even better for John, who needs to beat a very beatable time set by Tiffany. In a very smart move, he puts the keys in his pants, which shields them from the bugs. He uses that to get the first 2 locks cleared in 45 seconds and stops the clock in 53 seconds. Tiffany, bummed out has to leave, stage-left.

John wins, and NOW he starts letting off some emotion. Joe finally gets a reaction from him, but the look on his face still says that he'd rather be anywhere but congratulating John as John dances in the corn syrup - still wearing Jennavascia's shorts. Well, sometimes shows aren't just a nightmare for the contestants - they can be Hell for the hosts, too.