NBC Factors ‘Fear’ Into Theme Parks

Apparently fear is not a factor when it comes to melding a TV reality show with a theme park attraction.

An audience-participation show based on the NBC series “Fear Factor” will open in May at the Universal Studios theme parks in Universal City and Orlando, Fla., the company said.

The “Fear Factor Live” show is an example of the kind of corporate synergy that NBC sought with its $14-billion purchase last year of the film, television and theme park assets of Vivendi Universal. The deal combined those properties with the television network, a unit of General Electric Co., to form NBC Universal.

“We’ve always looked at ‘Fear Factor’ as kind of a theme park ride on television,” NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker said. “It made sense to extend that brand into the theme parks.”

The attraction will pit theme park guests against one another in extreme stunts that will replicate the physical and culinary challenges seen on the TV series, the company said.

The exact nature of the stunts has not been disclosed, although participants could be hung from harnesses and challenged to eat unappetizing concoctions, the company said. But contestants will not eat live bugs, as they do on TV.

So far, NBC has no plans to turn other shows into theme park attractions, although all options remain open.

“If this one works, maybe someone will be saying, ‘You’re fired!’ at a theme park,” Zucker joked, referring to the Donald Trump show “The Apprentice.”