June 3, 2011

One of NBC's first reality competitions is making a comeback. The peacock network is planning on a reboot of Fear Factor in the near future. In fact, a casting page is already up at www.fearfactorcasting.com, looking for teams of all sorts - from siblings to ex's - to compete for up to $50,000.

When Fear Factor premiered back in 2001, it was somewhat of a gamble for NBC. At the time, the network was more known for airing scripted programming like Friends and The West Wing rather than shock-value reality shows. But they obviously saw what was going on at other networks - Survivor on CBS for example - and wanted in on the new reality wave.

As it turned out their gamble paid off, as the show was a hit out of the gate and continued its success for a few seasons. However as years passed the show wore out its welcome and was cancelled in 2006 as ratings dropped off.

There is no word on an exact return date for the new version of Fear Factor, but original host Joe Rogan is a likely candidate to resume the hosting duties. 10 new episodes have been ordered so far, with a goal of delivering bigger and scarier stunts but dialing back the extreme factor a notch.

(Source: ew.com)