Indeed, reality television has been just as vicious toward as it has been supportive of would-be performers and professionals. Nonethe- less, aspiration reality programming remains a juggernaut brand that continues to draw fire, praise, and every emotion in between from fans, critics, and former contestants alike. FEAR-BASED REALITY MTV launched the first fear-based reality series of the modern unscripted programming boom--conveniently titled Fear--in 2000. This commercially and critically successful show featured a group of five or more contestants spending the weekend in an alleg- edly "haunted" locality while enduring a succession of fear-related challenges. Although Fear lasted only two seasons, it was not cancelled in response to dwindling viewership. Rather, the exorbitant cost of pro- ducing each episode was ultimately responsible for Fear's untimely Reality