TV Verdict

There’s a specific formula for presenting news, even if it’s entertainment news. Traditionally, the only difference between entertainment news and regular news was that the anchors don’t sit behind a desk to read the prompter. Some news anchors still shuffle note cards or papers along with reading from the prompter mounted above the cameras. There’s also an image tied to the news hovering over the anchors shoulder and sometimes, there would be a cut to a video or to another anchor reporting from some location. This formula successfully disseminates the information but it’s a bit worn, isn’t it? This is basically the way news has been presented on TV since there was TV. It’s time for a change for a new and more entertaining way to share the news. FearNet thinks they have the new formula. All they have to do is sprinkle in horror news (What other kind would a network like FEARNET cover?), a scantily clad host, and a maniacal killer, ghost, or some other spooky villain to chase the host while she shares the news. Actress Ginger Marie Rogers must not only read the news ,but she must do it while being chased by a killer or haunted by a ghost, quite a challenging task, to say the least.

The setup up is very horror classic. For example, one episode features the host sharing information about the new Resident Evil film among other headlines while being terrorized by an evil little ghost girl looking for her tooth fairy money. The episode is broken into segments. She comes on, shares some news, gets scared, runs to safety, shares some news, and gets scared again. In this same episode ,she and a creepy stuffed bear take turns sharing one bit of news getting the information out and making the whole thing creepy at the same time. There’s not much true narrative in the episode really. It’s really more about scenarios and style. The episodes homage the tropes of the horror genre and bring on the horror news at the same time. The smallest bit of narrative has to do with the subtitle of the series “The Last Girl” which refers to a classic horror movie element where the last person alive in a group is a female and she must face off against the killer. It’s possible that this subtitle could change in future seasons of the show to bring in some new element to the proceedings. The show ends up being tons of fun and by the end of it, you’ll know about the films and TV shows that you care about without having to watch something like Access Hollywood or Entertainment Tonight. This is this generation’s version of those shows.

So, this kind of show wouldn’t really work for serious news but for entertainment news and lighter hearted fair, this is a really unique way to get that information. The one tool of the old formula that this series really needs to find a unique way to embrace is extra video and images. When the host is talking about the Resident Evil film, there’s no image of Mila Jovavich or of art from the movie. Lower thirds wouldn’t work for this show but what about having the host find an old newspaper clipping with a picture of the cast of the film? Sure, it has nothing to do with the evil kid that’s chasing her, but neither does anything she’s saying. There is a quick shot of Twilight in the episode on the TV when the host talks about Twilight ticket sales so the producers are on the right track but they need to offer some sort of video/photo to go with each story. The horror elements of the show are really well done which can make the news a bit tough to focus on and since the horror element does take up so much time there are usually only four stories per episodes. So the show does sacrifice the ability to share substantial amounts of information in order to make create a more entertaining experience. Even with my complaints, I have to say that overall, I’m enjoying this new series. It’s highly stylized featuring good sets and special fx, and the news is presented in a fast paced headline based style that really works. Hopefully this series will continue to evolve and add more multimedia elements in some really fun and clever ways. This web series is available at www.fearnet.com, on Comcast On Demand in the FearNet section, and even on YouTube by searching for Fear News.