6. Total Blackout
The SyFy network has always kept our terror lust at bay with their wide array of dramas and reality shows. Their recent addition, Total Blackout, is no different. Hosted by everyones favorite next door neighbor, the show takes contestants, either alone or in teams of two, through booby-trapped mazes, taste tests, and touch heavy challenges. The catch? All contestants are shrouded in darkness. Starting with four contestants, each challenge results in an immediate elimination until one victor is left standing. Points awarded for challenges are based around the competitors results, not necessarily the completion of a challenge, which is an interesting tactic. Each elimination is a terrifying game of Russian Roulette, jumping onto a pair of swinging floor doors and hoping that they dont give out, leaving the winners standing. What makes this show torture is the overpowering weapon of our imagination. As a viewer, we can see everything the contestants are touching, putting in their mouths, or walking on. The contestants, however, are completely ignorant and have only the index of images they already have stored away to draw from. There is nothing more dangerous than our imagination, which is what makes this show work. Paired with the fact that pitch black is even darker than closing our eyes at night, it is easy to see the mental anguish as contestants do all they can not to touch what they are meant to be identifying. What makes this show entertaining is the fact that we can see what contestants cannot. When they are reaching out to a stuffed teddy bear with absolutely paralyzing fear, we are laughing hard enough to cry. The show is one huge mind game and the only thing better than plotting your own mind game to play on someone is watching anothers pan out on television. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByKnUukqtB0