In October on the Syfy Digital Press tour we were introduced to a new type of game show,
one played in total darkness. Called Total Blackout and hosted by Jaleel White this show is like Fear Factor meets a power failure.
At the panel for Total Blackout several reporters and one brave actor, Colin Ferguson (Eureka) took turns going into the Blackout room and hilarity ensued. The object of the game during the panel was to have the people in the room identify what they were touching but that wasn’t the entertaining part; their reactions were the true entertainment.
Here is the transcript from that day and don’t forget to tune into the premiere of Total Blackout tonight at 10pm on Syfy.
-October 2011-
(Telephone app is played.)
MARK STERN: Is that the most random sound effect you’ve ever
heard? All right. Sorry. I carried it too far — too far. All
right. Here we are, the final panel. It is — it is going to be
quite a doozy. Let me tell you. We are really excited about it.
I’m a little nervous, actually. My heart is are going. This is
going to be like we are live here, and we are not exactly sure
what’s going to happen. It’s going to be really something.
So this is the one that we had people signing up for last night
at the luau, and we are all sequestered. They are now
sequestered, right, Dana? Right? I can’t talk about this?
Okay. I am going to take that as a yes. So four of your fellow
journalists are now sequestered of the 10 who signed up. Plus,
we decided to throw in Mr. Colin Ferguson just for a laugh. So
we thought, you know — this is a show that, the minute we saw
it, we loved, and it just — it’s fun. It’s visceral. And we
can now announce what it is, which is, it’s a show called “Total
Blackout.” It’s actually a European format. And we are also
announcing that we have a host for “Total Blackout,”
Jaleel White. That is news. Wait. I actually have news.
(Telephone app played of a cowbell ringing.)
So I don’t know. It’s getting towards the end of the day. Cut
me a break, please. This is a competition in which people have
to — the contestants’ own imaginations are their own worst
enemies. It is a series of timed competitions that, as you’ll
see, occur in complete and utter darkness. They cannot see a
single thing. The show is an absolute laugh, a riot, scary as
well, and we are very, very excited to have it come to our air.
So I think, without further adieu, let me bring up the creator
and the executive producer of the show, Henrik Nielsen and, as I
just announced our host of the show, Jaleel White.
(Applause.)
JALEEL WHITE: What’s up? It’s good to see you.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Nice to see you.
MARK STERN: Nice seeing you.
MARK STERN: So we are doing a demonstration of this?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yes.
MARK STERN: We actually set up — before we do it, I just had a
couple of quick questions I’m going to ask you. So, across the
hall, you’ve probably seen this blacked-out area. They’ve taken
a room, and we’ve completely blacked it out so that there’s no
light at all. We covered the exit signs and even the little
lights for the light switches. When they turn the lights out in
this room, you cannot see a thing. Believe me. We tried it last
night. And there are three tanks in that room that have various
things in them, and the four journalists and Colin Ferguson are
going to progress through and see what’s in each tank. And it’s
all going to be awesome.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yes.
MARK STERN: So, Henrik, let’s start with you. What gave you the
idea to do this twisted show?
HENRIK NIELSEN: I think this is based on some of the best times
in my childhood and some of the worst times in my childhood. The
Henrik Nielsen
best times is when I pretended I had a spider I was chasing four sisters with, and obviously, I had no spider because I hate spiders. And they knew that, but they were still terrified. And the look on their faces was priceless. The worst time in my life was probably when we — at the country house in Sweden, when my
mom would come in and say goodnight, and I knew there was a spider in the room, and she would shut off the light. And my
face would have been a laugh as well because I was terrified.
So it’s a combination of both. It’s really — once people are in
the dark and can’t see anything, the faces — they forget the
camera is there. So, also, they become very naturally responsive
to the environment thing, and I think you’ll see that in a moment
that that is very true, that that’s the part of the comedy of the
show is how you actually express yourself in the dark because you
don’t know.
MARK STERN: And, Jaleel, what — you hose this show. It’s a
pretty crazy show.
JALEEL WHITE: Do you know what? The show is unique, you know.
It’s a game show that’s absolute darkness. And, I mean, I’ve
obviously been pop-up guy for 2011, and I just keep kind of
popping up in these different places. So I think this — for me,
personally, I don’t think this is a place where people would
conventionally expect to find me, but as far as the show is
concerned, I really think Henrik and Jack and Jeff really have a
show that people will just naturally watch. And I love to be a
part of any kind of television that people will naturally watch.
I’ve checked out the Norwegian version of this show.
MARK STERN: It’s great, right?
JALEEL WHITE: You can’t help but just laugh as they are going
through it, and it’s real darkness. It’s a game show shot in
night vision. That’s cool.
MARK STERN: Yes. We are very excited about it, and we are going
to show you some footage. This is projection just to give you a
taste of it. We have not started to shoot the show yet, and we
are just designing the set and are building them. This is — a lot of this footage is just their casting tape that they — in
order to find a cast or to sell the American version of the show.
So it is just that raw, and yet I think you’ll see it kind of
speaks to you in a very particular way. So I think we should
probably just watch it.
(Clip shown.)
So yeah. When we showed that to the engineers, it was like,
“Said, we would like to do this show.” So I think unless there’s
something else, I think we should just go for it, right? I think
we have people in the other room to lead us through. You are
going to be on the microphone.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yeah. I will, as much as I can, try to imitate
what we are going to do in the show. They are going to go
through three tanks, the contestants, and they are competing
against one another to identify what’s in the tanks in the
quickest amount of time.
MARK STERN: And they are being held in a —
HENRIK NIELSEN: They have no idea now what’s going on. I didn’t
even brief them as to what kind of game show. So I will do that
now. We’ll make it into — so, Michelle should be ready, I
think.
MARK STERN: Yeah. Okay. Here we go. Let’s see what happens.
(The audience is watching the TV monitors.)
MARK STERN: So they can hear you.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Can you hear me, Michelle? Can we hear
Michelle?
JALEEL WHITE: We can definitely see Michelle.
MARK STERN: Yeah, there’s a snake in there.
(Laughter.)
HENRIK NIELSEN: We can’t hear Michelle. Kevin, would you put
the camera on Dana? Dana, can you hear me?
DANA ORTIZ: Yes.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Okay.
DANA ORTIZ: She’s at the first tank.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Michelle, can you talk to me, please?
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Hello.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Hello, Michelle. Can you put Michelle’s hands
on the table. Then we will start. Thank you.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay.
DANA ORTIZ: Have you got it?
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Uh-huh.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Okay. Michelle, the first question, did you
sign the release form?
(Laughter.)
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Unfortunately, yes.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Good. Good. And just to let you know, there’s
a paramedic in there, and there’s a wrangler. I won’t tell you
why the wrangler is there, but he’s in there.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: I can guess.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Good. In front of you, there’s a tank, and to
your right, there’s two more tanks. And all I want you to do is
tell me what’s in the tanks. Once you’ve guessed the first tank,
you can move on to the next one. Understood?
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: All right. Well, your time starts now.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: What?
HENRIK NIELSEN: You feel your way. Ahead of you, there’s a tank.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Oh, okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: There you go. And please be careful because it
may — it’s a little bit fragile, what’s in there. So don’t be
too rough.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: What? I don’t want to put into a thing of
butter. Okay. I’m putting my hands in the tank. Is something
squishy. It’s an animal of some sort. Is it a frog?
HENRIK NIELSEN: No.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Ooh. It’s not worms. I can’t tell. If
it’s not a frog, is it a turtle?
HENRIK NIELSEN: No. You can lift it up carefully if you’d like.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: I don’t know if I want to touch it. Is it
fish?
HENRIK NIELSEN: No.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Oh, it just moved. What is it? Okay.
It’s moving. I can’t tell what it is, though. It’s —
HENRIK NIELSEN: You are completely right. It’s living.
(Audience sighs.)
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Oh. What?
(Laughter.)
I can’t tell. I’m not an animal person. So — if it’s not a
frog, is it a snake?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yes.
JALEEL WHITE: Get out of there.
(Applause.)
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: That was well done, Michelle. It’s only going
to get worse from now. If you move to your right —
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Wait a second. Huh?
HENRIK NIELSEN: If you move to your right along the table, you
are going to find the second tank.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: I don’t want to touch it if it’s going to
be another snake.
HENRIK NIELSEN: No, No. I promise you it won’t be a snake.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Is it going to be a viper? A chicken?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Michelle, what the whole game show is about
identifying, and it’s on time.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay. Where’s the other —
HENRIK NIELSEN: Keep going.
JALEEL WHITE: Keep going.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Oh, okay. Okay. I’m scared to put my hand
in here. Whoa, whoa.
(Laughter.)
I wouldn’t put my hand in there. That feels like a chicken or
something.
(Laughter.)
HENRIK NIELSEN: No. That’s incorrect.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Do I have to touch it?
HENRIK NIELSEN: I’m sure you will find out if you touch it.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Be careful.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: I don’t want to put my hand in it. Is
it — it’s weird. I can’t tell. Is it — because it’s not a
frog. It’s not a turtle.
(Laughter.)
Is it — I don’t know. I have no idea.
HENRIK NIELSEN: All right. The last guess, Michelle. Your time
is running out on this one.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay. Is it — it’s not another snake. I
can tell that. It’s furry.
HENRIK NIELSEN: What’s big and furry?
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: A pig? It’s not a bird, is it?
HENRIK NIELSEN: No, it’s not. Your time is out, Michelle. I’ll
tell you when you come out. Will you move to the next tank,
please.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: You are doing well.
JALEEL WHITE: You really are, Michelle. You are doing great.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay.
(Laughter.)
JALEEL WHITE: Take it down.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: I’m not putting my hand in here based on
everybody’s reaction.
HENRIK NIELSEN: No. I wouldn’t, but you have to.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Everyone’s reaction is —
HENRIK NIELSEN: Marvin, will you show us the hand, please.
Okay. Be brave, Michelle. Be brave. There you go. You’ll find
it. It’s more scared of you than you are of it.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: What? I’m scared here.
JALEEL WHITE: Get your hand in there, Michelle.
(Laughter.)
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay. It’s not going to bite, is it,
whatever it is?
HENRIK NIELSEN: There you go, Michelle. You can pick it up.
(Laughter.)
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: What is that?
HENRIK NIELSEN: You have to tell me.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: You see, I’m not up on my animals. Let’s
see. This reminds me of “Flash Gordon.”
HENRIK NIELSEN: “Flash Gordon”?
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: This isn’t a snake. It’s a — oh. I can’t
tell because it’s bare. It is all skin. It’s not a chicken, is
it?
HENRIK NIELSEN: No, it’s not.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Is it a —
HENRIK NIELSEN: Again, I’m sure, if you get a really good touch,
you’ll guess it.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: I’m a hundred percent sure you’ll find out.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Because it’s not a — okay. I’m just going
to grab a handful.
JALEEL WHITE: Grab it. Just grab it, Michelle.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay.
JALEEL WHITE: Oh, yeah.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Oh, yeah, this feels nice.
(Laughter.)
I really can’t tell what it is. It’s not a dog, a shaved dog or
anything.
(Laughter.)
What is this? It’s not a snake. It’s not a chicken. Is it a
pig?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Michelle, your time is up.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: But you did really, really good. Thank you so
much.
JALEEL WHITE: You did great, Michelle.
(Applause.)
HENRIK NIELSEN: I’ll tell you what it is afterwards.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: What is it?
HENRIK NIELSEN: It’s a foot.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: It’s a what?
HENRIK NIELSEN: A foot.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Oh. Whoa. Are you serious?
JALEEL WHITE: I just think we figured out one of your fetishes,
Michelle.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: I need my feet. So —
JALEEL WHITE: And the other one was a teddy bear a teddy bear.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: It can’t can be a teddy bear.
JALEEL WHITE: Very much a teddy bear.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Is it a shaved teddy bear?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Dana, you can take Michelle out. Thank you so
much, Michelle.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: Thank you.
DANA ORTIZ: Henrik, we have Rae.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Hi, Rae.
RAE HANSON: Hi.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Can you hear everything I say?
RAE HANSON: Yes, I can.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Good. You are in a game show called
“Total Blackout.” I guess that doesn’t come as a surprise right
now to you. And there’s the table right in front of you.
RAE HANSON: I see it — feel it.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Right. Now, on that table right in front of
you, there’s a tank, and in it, there’s an item you have to
identify.
RAE HANSON: Oh, boy.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And to your right, there’s two more tanks. Now,
the game show is about identifying as many objects as quick as
possible.
RAE HANSON: Hmm. Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: So your time starts now.
RAE HANSON: Okay. A snake?
HENRIK NIELSEN: That’s a little bit fast. Did you — can I hear
it again?
RAE HANSON: A snake.
JALEEL WHITE: She’s right.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Move to your right, please.
RAE HANSON: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: I think you are going to win this. To your
right, on the table, right there —
RAE HANSON: Gotcha.
HENRIK NIELSEN: — you’ll find a tank. Be careful. And it’s
also a little bit fragile.
RAE HANSON: A koala bear? Can I use two hands?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Excuse me?
RAE HANSON: Can I use two hands?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yes.
RAE HANSON: I don’t know. A bear? A teddy bear?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Right. Correct.
(Applause.)
HENRIK NIELSEN: Move to your right. There’s going to be one more item —
RAE HANSON: It’s at the end of the table?
HENRIK NIELSEN: — in a tank.
MARK STERN: Fearless.
RAE HANSON: Is this one fragile?
HENRIK NIELSEN: You are the winner of all “Total Blackout” as
I’ve ever seen.
RAE HANSON: Is it fragile?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Excuse me?
RAE HANSON: Is it fragile like the others? Should I be gentle?
HENRIK NIELSEN: You are quicker.
MARK STERN: Is it fragile?
RAE HANSON: A foot?
(Applause.)
HENRIK NIELSEN: You won.
RAE HANSON: Where many am I going now? To the right?
JALEEL WHITE: You are correct.
RAE HANSON: Okay.
MARK STERN: She can find her way out of the room.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Thank you.
(Applause.)
JALEEL WHITE: Wow.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Kevin, could you put it back in, please.
JALEEL WHITE: She just stuck out her hand.
MARK STERN: There’s no way I would do that.
JALEEL WHITE: She just would climb into the tank.
HENRIK NIELSEN: I’ve done shows where nobody actually puts their
hand in anything.
MARK STERN: These are journalists. You know, they put their
hands in everything.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: I’m sorry if I have more sense than that.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Kevin. Sir, if you can feel the table right in
front of you. Don’t touch the tank now, please. All right. Can
you hear me, Aaron? I can’t hear Aaron. Can we put some sound
on Aaron, please.
JALEEL WHITE: Can Aaron talk? They need to back him away from
the table.
AARON SAGERS: Testing, one, two, three.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Aaron, can you hear me?
AARON SAGERS: I certainly can.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Okay. Kevin, could you help out, please. Thank
you. There’s a loose connection in your sound. We’ll fix it.
Will you test the mike, Aaron. Aaron? Should we take him out in
between? Dana? Thank you.
MARK STERN: How do you like TV?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Hi, Sammi. Can you hear me?
SAMMI TURANO: Hi. I can hear you.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Good. You are in a game show called “Total
Blackout.”
SAMMI TURANO: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And your job — right there. There’s a table
right there.
SAMMI TURANO: Yes.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And now just listen carefully.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: In front of you — if you move a few inches in
front of you, there’s a tank.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Don’t start yet. And your job is to identify
what’s in the tank.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: I warn you a little bit — to be a little bit
careful. It’s fragile, and it moves.
SAMMI TURANO: It’s what?
HENRIK NIELSEN: It’s moving, and it’s fragile.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Okay. Cool. To the right of you, there’s two
more tanks.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And you can start now.
SAMMI TURANO: Am I at the right one?
HENRIK NIELSEN: You are at the right one.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And please tell me what you are thinking and
feeling.
SAMMI TURANO: I think it’s kind of slimy. Is that a turtle?
HENRIK NIELSEN: No.
SAMMI TURANO: It feels like some kind of weird animal, some
tiley thing. Wow, I’m so specific, aren’t I? Oh, I know this
animal. They are making fun of me, aren’t they? I should have
paid attention in science class. Yeah, I got nothing.
HENRIK NIELSEN: You can grab it gently and pull it out if you’d
like.
SAMMI TURANO: I give up. It’s a reptile.
(Laughter.)
Oh, hi, little guy.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Can you guess what it is? Touch it again,
please, gently.
SAMMI TURANO: Am I getting rated on this? I have no clue, some
kind of lizard. No, it’s not.
HENRIK NIELSEN: All right. Sammi, you can move on to the next
one. It’s a snake.
SAMMI TURANO: Oh, okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Actually, three.
SAMMI TURANO: That’s it?
HENRIK NIELSEN: That’s it, but you have two more tanks. Don’t
forget that.
SAMMI TURANO: Am I at the right one now?
HENRIK NIELSEN: You can move to your right and find the next
tank.
SAMMI TURANO: To my right?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Your right. Thank you. It’s a little bit down
the road.
SAMMI TURANO: Tell me when to stop.
HENRIK NIELSEN: You are almost there.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay. I feel the tank.
HENRIK NIELSEN: There you go.
SAMMI TURANO: Do I have to worry about being bitten or anything?
HENRIK NIELSEN: I can’t tell you.
(Laughter.)
There’s a paramedic in there. So don’t worry.
SAMMI TURANO: There’s a what?
HENRIK NIELSEN: There’s a paramedic in there and a wrangler.
SAMMI TURANO: That felt not like a reptile or an amphibian. Oh,
God. This is — you know, it’s a furry animal. Do I hear a pet?
Does it have four legs? Oh, it feels like a kitty —
HENRIK NIELSEN: You tell me.
JALEEL WHITE: You can use both hands.
SAMMI TURANO: — or a bunny. Oh. Oh.
JALEEL WHITE: We don’t want to bond with it. We want you to
identify it.
(Laughter.)
SAMMI TURANO: I think it’s either a — it feels like a cat.
Yeah.
HENRIK NIELSEN: All right. Sammi, your time is up on this one.
I’m sorry. Would you move further down the tables.
SAMMI TURANO: This is going to on YouTube as, like, the
stupidest person ever?
HENRIK NIELSEN: No. This way.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: This is my least favorite.
SAMMI TURANO: Oh, geez. So am I touching it now?
HENRIK NIELSEN: You just go ahead.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay. Oops.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Do you smell anything?
SAMMI TURANO: Oh, dear God. It’s bringing back memories of when
I worked at the county fair. That guy is not my friend.
HENRIK NIELSEN: You need to make it — just keep it on a bigger
picture. That’s good. Madam?
(Laughter.)
SAMMI TURANO: Please don’t bite me.
(Laughter.)
Oh, sorry.
JALEEL WHITE: Come on. We are voting for you. Get in there.
SAMMI TURANO: I am in.
HENRIK NIELSEN: No. It’s only in the middle.
SAMMI TURANO: Again, you are not my friend. Come on, baby. Be
nice.
(Laughter.)
It feels like a hand. I hear you.
(Laughter.)
Ah.
HENRIK NIELSEN: All right.
SAMMI TURANO: Yes.
HENRIK NIELSEN: I’ll spare you.
SAMMI TURANO: Okay.
JALEEL WHITE: It’s a foot.
SAMMI TURANO: Oh. I was close.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yes, you were close. Thank you, Sammi. You did
good.
(Applause.)
MARK STERN: There he is.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Hi, Colin.
COLIN FERGUSON: What is this?
HENRIK NIELSEN: It’s a game show called “Total Blackout.”
COLIN FERGUSON: Really?
HENRIK NIELSEN: I guess you figured that out. Put your hand on
the table right in front of you.
COLIN FERGUSON: Got it.
HENRIK NIELSEN: I’m just going to tell you the rules. There’s
going to be three tanks, and they’ll all have something in them
that you have to tell me what it is. And the first tank is right
in front of you.
COLIN FERGUSON: All right.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And please be a little bit gentle.
COLIN FERGUSON: What the hell?
HENRIK NIELSEN: You may hurt it. It may hurt you, but we have
paramedics in there. So don’t worry.
COLIN FERGUSON: All right. All right. All right. This is —
how do I — all right. Oh, there was nothing human with that.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Would you make a bigger picture, madam, please.
COLIN FERGUSON: Oh, I’m so unhappy. Oh, no, there’s nothing
here. Oh, it’s going to be crawling around. Okay. What is
this? Okay. Okay. Do I have to touch it any more than this?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Are you touching it at all?
COLIN FERGUSON: Yeah. I’m touching something.
JALEEL WHITE: Tell us what it is.
COLIN FERGUSON: It feels like snake.
HENRIK NIELSEN: You are correct.
JALEEL WHITE: You are correct.
HENRIK NIELSEN: That’s right.
COLIN FERGUSON: I’m going to leave him alone.
(Laughter.)
JALEEL WHITE: Move down to the right.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Move to the right.
COLIN FERGUSON: Move to the right?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yeah.
COLIN FERGUSON: All right.
HENRIK NIELSEN: There’s going to be another tank.
COLIN FERGUSON: All right. There’s another tank. I’ve got it.
HENRIK NIELSEN: There you go.
COLIN FERGUSON: This is actually significantly more terrifying
than I had anticipated.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And this tank is worse, but —
(Laughter.)
COLIN FERGUSON: Where did you come from? Who raised you? All
right. In here?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yeah. Just go ahead.
COLIN FERGUSON: Ah, for the life of me. All right. It’s furry.
HENRIK NIELSEN: That’s right.
COLIN FERGUSON: It’s furry.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And big.
COLIN FERGUSON: It’s in a cage. It’s not happy. It’s furry.
It’s my hand. It’s a lot of slime. Oh, wow, I’m unhappy. What
is this?
JALEEL WHITE: You can use both hands if you want, Colin.
COLIN FERGUSON: Yeah, I could. I could.
(Laughter.)
All right. No. This is no — I’m going to use the back of my
hand just to get psychological. What is this? Is it a stuffed
animal?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yes.
COLIN FERGUSON: Is it?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yes.
COLIN FERGUSON: Thank God.
(Laughter.)
HENRIK NIELSEN: All right. One more challenge.
COLIN FERGUSON: All right. The next one?
HENRIK NIELSEN: To your right, one more. I think you’ve come in
second place.
COLIN FERGUSON: Yeah. All right. All right.
HENRIK NIELSEN: All right.
COLIN FERGUSON: Go in?
HENRIK NIELSEN: When you are ready.
COLIN FERGUSON: I’m wildly unprepared for this. Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Just keep the big picture.
COLIN FERGUSON: Okay. All right. Hey, buddy. All right.
Okay. It’s moving. It’s moving. Crap. Okay. Okay. All
right. Do you know what? Don’t even take the time.
JALEEL WHITE: It’s a squirmy fellow.
COLIN FERGUSON: Yes. Yes. I’ve got it. All right. All right.
Yeah. Is that a foot?
(Laughter and applause.)
COLIN FERGUSON: Wow.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Colin, thank you.
COLIN FERGUSON: Thank you so much. That was awesome.
MARK STERN: I think we should — I think you can end it there.
I don’t think it gets any better than that. Is there anybody
there, Sally?
SALLY: It’s going to take a few minutes to get Aaron miked up.
So, then, we’ll take questions.
MARK STERN: Take questions?
SALLY: Yeah.
MARK STERN: Okay. Any questions? Sorry. I mean, obviously,
it’s a very rough live version of the show, but you clearly get
the hang — get the sense of it, and, obviously, there’s a great
variety of reactions there.
JALEEL WHITE: Yeah.
MARK STERN: So why don’t we open it up. First of all, thank you
to our fearless contestants.
(Applause.)
JALEEL WHITE: Let’s give an extra hand to our winner, Rae.
SAMMI TURANO: Do I get anything for being an idiot?
MARK STERN: Any we have any questions from the press?
QUESTION: So have you begun filming yet?
HENRIK NIELSEN: No.
JALEEL WHITE: No.
QUESTION: What is actually going to be off limits? Like, do you
know what I’m saying? Like, you used a live snake. What would
you never put in a tank or in a room with people in the dark?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Anything that would be dangerous to the
contestants.
QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Real dangerous. It’s not about fears. It’s
been danger and fear. It’s two different things.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: So what do the winners get?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Huh?
QUESTION: What do the winners get?
MARK STERN: What do the winners get?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Oh, a cash prize.
MARK STERN: We’ve got — let’s not leave Aaron hanging.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Oh. Hi, Aaron.
AARON SAGERS: Can you hear me?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yes.
AARON SAGERS: All right.
HENRIK NIELSEN: So this is called “Total Blackout,” and you’ll
find three tanks in front of you. One is a little bit to your
right and then two others down to your right. Your job is to
identify what’s in the tank.
AARON SAGERS: So I reach in?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Be a little bit careful, and be gentle with what
you touch.
AARON SAGERS: Okay.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And tell me what it is.
AARON SAGERS: This feels like a boa constrictor or a snake or
something.
JALEEL WHITE: Yes, you are correct. You are giving it a massage
now. So move down to the right.
(Laughter.)
HENRIK NIELSEN: That’s right.
JALEEL WHITE: He likes them.
AARON SAGERS: Did you not know that I have owned snakes in the
past?
JALEEL WHITE: No.
HENRIK NIELSEN: No, we did not know that.
AARON SAGERS: You see, a fun fact. All right.
HENRIK NIELSEN: If you move to your right, you’ll find the next
tank. To your right.
AARON SAGERS: To my right. Okay. Left. Right. Okay. I’m not
feeling it but — can everybody see me right now?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Oh, yeah.
AARON SAGERS: Okay. So this is Tank 2?
JALEEL WHITE: Yep, there it is.
AARON SAGERS: A teddy bear?
JALEEL WHITE: If you only now how match.com this is right now.
To the right. To the right, the next tank.
AARON SAGERS: Okay. Keep going?
MARK STERN: There’s no self-preservation at all.
AARON SAGERS: I feel like I’m walking like Frankenstein. All
right. Reach in, in this one as well?
JALEEL WHITE: Yes.
AARON SAGERS: This is a body, human. This is a foot.
(Applause.)
JALEEL WHITE: Is that the talent master?
HENRIK NIELSEN: I think Rae got beaten. Thank you, Aaron.
AARON SAGERS: What’s in Door No. 4 here?
MARK STERN: Aaron will not be participating in this series.
HENRIK NIELSEN: No. Obviously, we do not feel he’s a contestant
to this game.
MARK STERN: All right. Other questions?
JALEEL WHITE: Aaron, you did a great job.
QUESTION: I was wondering if you can talk a little bit about
what goes into choosing the contestants, or is it — do you do
psychological profiles or have a team of people interview them?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yeah, they do go through a psychological test.
We don’t want anybody to freak out that much that they can’t
react. I mean, they have to be able to put their hands in. And,
you know, they think it’s fun afterwards. So — but we don’t
want contestants like Aaron, obviously.
JALEEL WHITE: Yes. That would obviously be screened out.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Yeah.
QUESTION: Right.
HENRIK NIELSEN: And, actually, a lot of contestants who have
done the show in many other territories, they have overcome their
fears by this, and they think that they really overcame
themselves and are happy they did it.
QUESTION: I’m curious how Jaleel got involved with this project.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Excuse me?
QUESTION: How Jaleel — how he was chosen to host the show.
JALEEL WHITE: Can I answer that?
MARK STERN: Well, I will tell you, you know, that we went to
looking at a lot of different hosts, and the host of the show is
really key because you want someone who is going to embrace the
fun of it but also be able to, you know, not be too warm and
fuzzy, so really a fine line to balance. And there was no
question that I think Jaleel was really someone that was going to
identify with the contestants when we saw him interact with them.
It was really obvious that he had that kind of mix because you
can overplay it, too, right? It can be too dark. And we
definitely didn’t want it to feel too game show, and obviously, I
know, that’s something that Frementle (ph) and Henry felt very
strongly about, too, so I think kind of a very naturalistic, very
genuine person, and Jaleel, who just really embraced it.
JALEEL WHITE: We are going out for drinks later.
MARK STERN: Yeah, yeah. Awesome.
QUESTION: We got to see how Colin Ferguson reacted. Any plans
already for a possible, like, Syfy celebrity version?
MARK STERN: It’s so much about, like, as you can see, who — how
they act out in the dark. So I think our first step is, like,
let’s get the show working.
JALEEL WHITE: Yes.
MARK STERN: And then we will go from there. But we have talked
about pairs and talked about —
HENRIK NIELSEN: We have couples, episodes with couples. It
works really well when they talk to each other in the room and —
yeah.
AARON SAGERS: Hi.
HENRIK NIELSEN: Mr. Fearless.
AARON SAGERS: The first question is whose foot was that? And
does anyone have any Purell?
JALEEL WHITE: Rae is giving it to you.
AARON SAGERS: And secondly —
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: And, Aaron, I need it after you.
AARON SAGERS: Okay. Just being on the receiving end, it was
fun. I don’t quite — I didn’t quite get the first part of it,
but just when is this happening? I guess, when is this — when
is this launching? Like, when are we going with this?
MARK STERN: We don’t have an air date yet. We are actually —
and, in fact, we actually delayed the shoot so that Henrik could
be here because you can see, like, his essence. Like, we
couldn’t do this without him.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MARK STERN: So I think the plan is to start shooting in the next
couple of weeks.
QUESTION: Very cool. That’s fun.
QUESTION: Hi, guys. I’ve got a question. So you’re going to
have other contestants doing this kind of thing, but would you
guys ever actually do it yourself?
JALEEL WHITE: No.
HENRIK NIELSEN: No.
JALEEL WHITE: In the pilot, I did a version of it.
QUESTION: All right. Cool. Thanks.
HENRIK NIELSEN: No. I would be a great contestant, but
obviously, I can’t. I’m ruled out.
JALEEL WHITE: Same.
MICHELLE ALEXANDRIA: It’s kind of weird being in there because
we are so used to watching these types of shows, really go deep
into, like, the really nasty, slimy stuff. So when you are
putting your hand in there, it’s hard to imagine it’s a teddy
bear because I could have sworn it moved when I touched it, and
it was breathing. Is that part of the psychology of it, that
people these days really expect it to be worms and —
HENRIK NIELSEN: One of the key elements in the show is that the
viewers know more than the contestants. So when you enter the
room, we will always, as a viewer, know more than you as a
contestant, and that’s where the humor comes in. There’s always
a twist in all of the games, actually. The viewers always know
more than the contestant, and that’s where the comedy comes in.
It’s like when I ran — chased my sisters with a spider. I
didn’t have a spider.
QUESTION: This is for, actually, all three of you. If you had
to do it and they said you didn’t want to, but you had to, what
would you be most afraid of having in there that you wouldn’t
want to be in there?
HENRIK NIELSEN: Well, I can speak for me because I hate spiders.
There’s one game where they have to pick as many fake spiders as
possible. We load it with plastic spiders, but there’s one real
tarantula in there. And that reminds me of my childhood, you
know. One spider is enough to freak me out. So having to touch
a lot of fake spiders, I knew I would be the one to pick the
right one — I mean the real one. That would be — that’s the
worst game for me.
MARK STERN: Jaleel?
JALEEL WHITE: I think there’s got to be a common thread in the
show that there’s going to be something from everyone’s childhood
that they fear, and for me that would — I was going to say I’ll
be random. I prefer not to touch a possum. I just — I’m not
going to go into the stories. It involves taking out the trash
as a kid. I prefer not touching any possums.
MARK STERN: Cockroaches. Big water bugs, no way. No way.
JALEEL WHITE: That’s nothing. I just don’t want the possum.
Bring on the roaches.
MARK STERN: Teddy bears are too terrifying for me.
(Laughter.)
I wouldn’t want it to be a teddy bear. All right. I think we
have time for one more question.
QUESTION: Jaleel.
JALEEL WHITE: Yes.
QUESTION: What are the chances that we can see your “High Top
Fade Out” brother Dule Hill be a guest on the show?
JALEEL WHITE: Well, you know, this is all in the NBC family.
So, obviously, I know the guys want me to get the show rolling.
You know, I — if I have to know the NBC family and how they
operate, at some point, they will make it available for celebrity
contestants. But I’m going to let Henrik and Mark determine
that. But, trust me, I would love to give you Dule Hill. Trust
me. I would love to.
MARK STERN: All right. I think that brings us to the end of our
day. Thank you all. Thank you guys very much. I think —
HENRIK NIELSEN: Thank you.
(Applause.)
MARK STERN: We are going to — I’m going to have them come down
here for five or ten minutes to chat with you, and then we are
done for the day. And then we get to go — at 6:15, we are going
to be meeting in the front to go to the park. So thank you all
for a great day. We really appreciate it.
Tune in tonight at 10pm for Total Blackout…only on Syfy
