Spike TV Picks Up Series To Die For
Orders 10 Installments Of Beers’ ‘1000 Ways To Die’
By Multi Channel News Staff -- Multichannel News, 7/31/2008 3:25:00 AM MT
Thom Beers, the producer behind the hits Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers, has landed a show about death on Spike TV, officials said Thursday.
The male-targeted network has ordered 10 half-hour episodes of 1000 Ways to Die, which is being touted as a “visually shocking” series that explores the many different and bizarre ways one can meet their maker.
Originally a two-part special, the May premiere of 1000 Ways to Die performed well in its timeslot, averaging a robust 0.9 rating in men 18 to 34 and an average audience of 1 million viewers.
The show from Beers and his Original Productions company -- producers of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch and History’s Ice RoadTruckers and Ax Men -- is scheduled to premiere this fall.
1000 Ways to Die showcases some of the most outrageously true stories about those who succumbed to the grim reaper in the most unorthodox styles. The show will incorporate reenactments interlaced with witness testimonials, fun historical tidbits, scientific expert explanations and vibrant computer-generated effects reminiscent of classic comic books.
Some of the more outlandish cases this season include death from eating a jalapeno pepper, a simple scrape-turned-flesh-eating virus and a case of a man trapped in an avalanche with plenty of food and water, only to succumb to methane poisoning from too much of his own gas.
Playing off the commonly misconceived notion, “that could never happen to me,” 1000 Ways to Die works to dispel that myth in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, highlighting the comedic irony in all the crazy ways people can get themselves killed.
Beers and Philip Segal will serve as executive producers of 1000 Ways to Die.
