''Fear Itself'' is an American

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

- suspense anthology

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

. It debuted on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

on June 5, 2008,NBC Lights Up Summer With A Burst Of Original Program Premieres As Part Of 'NBC'S All-American Summer'
/ref> but was pulled from the air after late July 2008, with five episodes remaining unaired by NBC. On March 13, 2009, it was confirmed that the series had been canceled and would not return to NBC.

Production and development

Its title is derived from the famous

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

quote, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The anthology was born out of ''

Masters of Horror ''Masters of Horror'' is an anthology television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network. Origin In 2002, director Mick Garris invited some director friends to an informal dinner at a restaurant in Sherman Oaks, ...

'' 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 Adam Goldworm (born April 1, 1978) is a literary and talent manager at Aperture Entertainment, a boutique management/production company that he founded in March 2009. Biography Adam Goldworm is a film/TV/Theater producer. His company Aperture ...

and Ben Browning. Stuart Gordon, Brad Anderson,

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as '' The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), '' National Lampoon's Animal House'' (19 ...

Ernest Dickerson Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter of film, television, and music videos. As a cinematographer, he is known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee ever since they were c ...

and Rob Schmidt all directed at least one episode of each series. The series was filmed in the city of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

, Alberta, Canada, with some additional filming taking place in the city of St. Albert and the town of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, Alberta. Guest stars included

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

, Anna Kendrick,

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Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...

, and

Cory Monteith Cory Allan Michael Monteith (; May 11, 1982 July 13, 2013) was a Canadian actor and musician who played Finn Hudson on the Fox television series ''Glee''. As an actor based in British Columbia, Monteith had minor roles on television series befor ...

. The song in the opening credits is titled " Lie Lie Lie" by

System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, v ...

frontman

Serj Tankian Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...

, from his first solo album ''

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''.

Broadcast

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. 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.

Home media

The complete series was released on DVD on September 15, 2009.

Episodes

The episodes are run in a different order on the DVD and within online streaming sites.

References

External links

*
Fear Itself Directors, Writers and Stars Announced
{{Masters of Horror 2008 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings 2000s American horror television series 2000s American anthology television series American horror fiction television series NBC original programming Television shows filmed in Edmonton Television series by Lionsgate Television English-language television shows Horror anthologies