Fear Itself (TV series)
Fear Itself is an American horror/suspense anthology television series shot in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with some additional shooting in the city of St. Albert and the town of Devon, Alberta. It began airing on June 5, 2008 on NBC.
The show aired Thursday nights at 10/9c. It was put on hiatus for the duration of the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the promise of a return once the event was over, but no further episodes were aired. While NBC failed to comment on the fate of the series once the Olympics ended, its time-slot was thereafter filled with re-runs of other NBC shows, and "Fear Itself" did not appear on the NBC Fall 2008 schedule.
Its title is derived from the famous Franklin D. Roosevelt quote, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The anthology was born out of Masters of Horror and shares several of the same creative elements. It features self-contained horror/thriller stories directed by the biggest horror directors working in features today, both shows were created by Mick Garris, and both shows are produced by Industry Entertainment's Andrew Deane, Adam Goldworm and Ben Browning. Stuart Gordon, Brad Anderson, John Landis and Rob Schmidt all directed at least one episode of each series. Guest stars included Eric Roberts, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh, Briana Evigan, Jesse Plemons, Elisabeth Moss, and Cory Monteith. The song in the opening credits is titled "Lie Lie Lie" by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, from his first solo album Elect the Dead.
On March 13, 2009, it was confirmed that the series had been canceled and would not be returning to NBC.
The complete series was released on DVD on September 15, 2009.
Episodes
The first season includes thirteen episodes.| Episode | Director | Title | Ratings | Air Date | Synopsis |
| 1 | Breck Eisner | "The Sacrifice" | 5.29 | June 5, 2008 | Four criminals take refuge inside an isolated, snow-covered fort, and encounter a trio of sirens. Starring Jeffrey Pierce, Jesse Plemons, and Rachel Miner |
| 2 | Brad Anderson | "Spooked" | 4.89 | June 12, 2008 | During a stakeout, a private investigator comes face-to-face with the demons of his past. |
| 3 | Ronny Yu | "Family Man" | 4.66 | June 19, 2008 | After a car accident, a loving father and an infamous serial killer swap bodies. |
| 4 | John Landis | "In Sickness and in Health" | 4.47 | June 26, 2008 | A bride receives an ominous note that claims her groom is actually a serial killer. Marshall Bell and William B. Davis also star. |
| 5 | Stuart Gordon | "Eater" | 4.74 | July 3, 2008 | A rookie cop is assigned to guard a cannibalistic serial killer nicknamed "Eater" along with two other officers, but it becomes clear "Eater" is more than a mere serial killer. Also starring Russell Hornsby, Stephen Lee, and Pablo Schreiber. |
| 6 | Darren Lynn Bousman | "New Year's Day" | 2.93 | July 17, 2008 | |
| 7 | Mary Harron | "Community" | 3.21 | July 24, 2008 | A young couple move into a gated community, and discover that the community hides a dark secret. Starring Brandon Routh, Shiri Appleby, and John Billingsley. |
| 8 | Larry Fessenden | "Skin & Bones" | 3.87 | July 31, 2008 | A missing rancher returns to his family, but they realize that he is no longer the man they knew. Also starring John Pyper-Ferguson, Molly Hagan, and Gordon Tootosin. |
| 9 | Ernest Dickerson | "Something with Bite" | --- | Unaired | After being bitten by a werewolf brought into his clinic, a veterinarian begins to transform into a werewolf himself. To make matters worse, another werewolf is on a killing spree, and the veterinarian is the top suspect. |
| 10 | John Dahl | "Chance" | --- | Unaired | |
| 11 | Rob Schmidt | "The Spirit Box" | --- | Unaired | |
| 12 | Rupert Wainwright | "Echoes" | --- | Unaired | A man discovers he was a sadistic killer in his past life. |
| 13 | Eduardo Rodríguez | "The Circle" | --- | Unaired | A writer stays at a small town to break his writer’s block, but his story begins to happen to him and his wife in reality. Worse, the darkness outside their cabin seems to be out to get them. |
Broadcast
In the UK, the show started airing on 5* from Friday 4 May 2012. In Australia, the show commenced screening in August 2012 on the FX channel, available on the Foxtel platform.The episodes are run in a different order on the DVD and within online streaming sites.