Television Wednesday, February 19, 2003 . This is a SciScoop post by Drog
Some people just can’t take a joke. Of course, some people carry jokes too far. As Reuters reports, L.A. grade school teacher, crisis counselor and aspiring actress Kara Blanc thought she was being taken to an exclusive Hollywood industry party at a desert resort last March. When the car stalled along the way, her two companions were suddenly attacked by an alien creature.
The alien was, of course an actor in a monster suit, her companions were actors and Blanc was an unwitting victim of the hidden camera show with a science fiction twist Scare Tactics, hosted by Shannen Doherty. Sci-Fi Channel spokeswoman Kat Stein said that the premise of the show is to film “friends setting their friends up with a prank.” Unfortunately, Kara Blanc didn’t think it was so funny. She has sued the Sci-Fi Channel, the producers of “Scare Tactics” and the two actors for scaring her so badly that she had to be hospitalized several times for “physical injuries” and “severe emotional distress.” The suit alleges that the two actors “feigned that they were being seriously physically injured … or killed” and told the terrified Blanc to run into a “dark, desert canyon area” to escape.
Future episodes will feature campers attacked by Big Foot and limousine passengers chased by government agents when they stray into the super-secret U.S. military facility alleged to have captured alien spacecraft, Area 51.
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13 Responses to Woman Sues Sci-Fi Channel After Being Chased By Alien
vanyel
February 19th, 2003 at 3:50 pm
Just when I thought the SciFi channel couldn’t sink any lower than John Edwards, they prove me wrong. I’ve had to put up with glimpses of the ads for this stupid series (before fast forwarding past them), and even that much is painful to watch. I now wish Showtime would take Stargate back so I can stop watching the SciFi channel at all.
Anonymous
February 20th, 2003 at 2:03 pm
Tell the producers how much you dislike the show!
THE IDIOTS THAT THINK THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT CATER
TO THE SIMPLE MINDS AND NOT TO THE THINKERS OF THE WORLD. YET THEY CONTINUE TO TRY TO MAKE DUMB STUFF LOOK FUN. BY THE WAY, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HAD TO EAT A HORSE ANUS?
DualCPU
February 20th, 2003 at 5:26 pm
All I can say is good for her and good for the viewers of the Sci-Fi channel. Except for John Edward, "Scare Tatics" has to be the stupidest idea that Sci-Fi has come up with. After Farscape goes, the only reason I will watch Sci-Fi will be for Stargate and the occasional movie that I want to see.
Of course, I have some hope as a result of this. The Dream Team is going down in flames. It doesn’t show up on Sci-Fi’s schedulebot in March. This could mean Scare Tatics will never air. Tremors is having production problems. If we can just get rid of John Edward, we might have an actual Sci-Fi channel.
Anonymous
February 21st, 2003 at 1:31 pm
I think the show will be pretty cool for those who like this genre. I think she really just makes herself look stupid and shows her lack of a sense of humor. From the articles I’ve read these two men were actually friends of hers. It’s not like they just picked the poor woman up off the street, and if she’s ever so much and said “BOO” to scare someone she really has no room to talk. This sort of prank wouldn’t effect me, I’m sorry it seems to have effected her so badly. She was probably more embarassed than hurt tho. I’ve heard the other people involved in scare tactics pranks were quite pleased with it, I bet they had a good laugh once they realized bigfoot wasn’t real. I guess you never can tell what will set some people off tho. Hopefully the show continues and they have better luck with future “victims”.
Alan Von Fan
February 22nd, 2003 at 1:36 am
Karl Marx claimed that religion was the opiate of the masses; Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) subtly pointed out that television went way beyond the hold religion has. Why is it that a medium that could so enrich the lives of billions is more often used to numb our brains and sell soap powder? For a sinister explanation of just why this is so I hope nobody will mind my quoting Bill Hicks (because I cannot aford to be sued) when he was espousing his theories of “a totalitarian government… controlling our lives”: “Go back to bed, America, your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed America, your goverment is in control. Here, here’s American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up, go back to bed America, here is American Gladiators, here is 56 channels of it! Watch these pituitary retards bang their f***ng skulls together and congratulate you on the living in the land of freedom. Here you go America – you are free to do what we tell you! You are free to do what we tell you!”.
Now, as nobody has approached me with an offer to join a secretive ruling elite (which surely they would), I can’t say that this is a true appraisal of the situation. Recent trends in scheduling however, such as the excerable example above, make the idea just that much more believable.
Eponymous Zero
February 22nd, 2003 at 5:59 pm
So she as well as being in fear for her own life, she saw her friends apparently “being seriously physically injured … or killed”
If I suffered an assault of this nature… I think I’d say “hahaha, and my lawyer can’t take a joke either”
Imagine you are a passenger on a plane. The pilot makes a serious mistake, and the plane suddenly plummets 4 miles in a screaming vertical dive, before recovering to land normally. You’re physically unharmed, and the airline assures you that you were never in real danger.
But how do you feel? How is the Sci-Fi channel’s show different from this?
Anonymous
February 23rd, 2003 at 6:28 pm
This person could suffer from this for a long time. Have you ever heard of PTSD? Have you ever seen the movie “Let’s Scare Jessica To Death”?
They “told the terrified Blanc to run into a “dark, desert canyon area”. Do these people know how dangerous that course of action is?
Did they forceably move her? If I help an old lady to cross the street, that’s a good deed. If I force an old lady (or anyone else, for that matter) to cross the street, that’s kidnapping. I wonder if she was forceably moved?
morg
February 24th, 2003 at 1:23 pm
If you’re going to do legal reporting, then do it right. Otherwise, your going to screw it up just as bad as Slashdot does. That not only wll do a disservice to law and justice, it will make this site look stupid.
In her lawsuit, Kara Blanc flatly states that she “suffered severe physical and emotional injuries and damages. She was hospitalized several times and has incurred medical costs, lost earnings, and lost earning ability.”
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/karablanc1.html
You say she is suing because she couldn’t take a joke. She says she is suing not because some moronic jerks scared her, but because they did something that injured her, requiring hospitalization.
Ha ha ha. Laugh it up. Pardon me while I go throw up.
Drog
February 24th, 2003 at 8:45 pm
Point well taken. And thanks for the link. In my defence, my second sentence was “Of course, some people carry jokes too far.” In other words, I was trying to be objective about this. Perhaps she really was traumatized and physically hurt and deserves compensation. And perhaps she was angry, humiliated or in need of money and decided to get even. Without having seen the show, it’s difficult to say–just because someone sues does not necessarily mean the suit is justified. People sue all the time after a car accident, claiming back/neck pain or bad dreams, which are impossible to disprove. Some of those claimants are truthful and some of them are not. The lawsuit shown on thesmokinggun.com does not provide any details at all regarding the nature of her physical and emotional injuries. If she twisted her knee or ankle, broke a bone, scraped her hands and knees, why not say so, when you’re going to have to tell the judge eventually anyway? Maybe there’s a legal reason for that, like not giving the defence team any more info than you have to–I don’t know.
From what I’ve read, I think the show was probably in bad taste and showed poor judgement. However, until I actually see the show, I don’t intend to make any conclusions one way or the other.
Anonymous
April 11th, 2003 at 10:08 pm
i love the show!~ i want on the show ! how do you get on ? of course i would be the pranker!
the bandit girl!
Anonymous
April 16th, 2003 at 3:15 pm
IT SURE WAS FUNNY THOUGH!
Anonymous
April 24th, 2003 at 12:50 pm
i think she is just taking the opertunity to make a little money. if you found out that it was all a joke, then how could you take any of it to heart? how could you have sustained any kind of emotional any thing? maybe she sprained her ankle run but i seen the show i don’t see how she could have had any thing wrong with her! nothing happen besides her getting the scare of her life, which by the way i think was hilarious!
Anonymous
May 2nd, 2003 at 10:14 am
I knew this sort of thing would happen sooner or later. I love this show. It’s a total riot. I’ve seen this prank and I cannot see her taking any serious injury. Nothing at all that could possibly warrant hospitalization. If she really did have to go to a hospital for this and seriously suffered “mental anguish” at this, I have to say, what kind of whimps are we breeding in America these days? For God’s sake! And, yes, she is trying for the money. If she was seeking just compensation for medial bills, well, okay. But no… she is throwing in a “loss of earning potential” which is laughable. She wants them to pay her for loosing the potential to make more. This was not a situation that would emotional or physically debilitate someone to the point where their employment would be hurt afterwards. As I said, if she is utterly honest about this lawsuit, then she has my sympathies for being devoid of emotional and physical fortitute.