In SCI FI’s new reality game show, Estate of Panic, contestants enter an estate searching for money, and confronting their darkest fears.  Hosted by Steve Valentine (Crossing Jordan) the show is executive produced by Richard Hall (the son of game show icon Monty Hall).  The show did very well in last weeks premiere episode drawing in over 1.3 million viewers, and giving SCI FI the distinction of being the #2 cable entertainment network for the night in the 18-34 and 25 to 54 demographics. 

Host, Steve Valentine and EP Richard Hall recently answered questions about what viewers can expect from the new SCI FI series.

Question>  Why do you think people deserve to be scared about winning money?

Steve Valentine:  Well, you know, I think part of this is that - I think part of this show is it’s fun, you know. It is extreme and it’s fun. And people like to be challenged.  But I also think that part of this show is just to see how far people will go in order to win money. And on our show, they go pretty far. I mean, I know, there’s nothing that they won’t do in order to get the cash. And the thing of the show is it’s right out there. I mean a lot of it’s hidden in the room but a lot of the cash is just sitting there. And it’s tricky because it looks easy. And the great thing about - also about, you know, doing the first season is your contestants have - they have no frame of reference so they have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen when they walk into each of these rooms.  

Question> With your background, do you think it was only natural, that it was only a matter of time given the fact that you’re the son of Monty Hall that you would get into this kind of business? That’s almost as - you had natural influences at play here.

Richard Hall:  Maybe. You know, the competitive reality genre is sort of the game show taken to locations. And actually, you know, I started on The Amazing Race and have been working in competitive reality since. You know, it - yeah, it gave me more to talk about with my dad, you know, and his colleagues from the sets. But, you know, it’s a competitive show. It has all these elements. The money was certainly part of it. But I think that this was more of a show about the people and, you know, dealing with the unknown which is a little bit different from that other genre.

Question>   Steve, how did you get mixed up with this crazy show? What drew you into it?

Steve Valentine:  Well they, it’s always this long process of - they came to me and they’re like - they were explaining the show and I went in and had a couple of meetings on it. And it just became - when I saw what Sci-Fi wanted to do with this, I knew it was going to be an extreme reality show and I knew that when it comes to Sci-Fi it’s not going to be normal, you know.  And it’s rather theatrical. I was actually calling it theatrical reality. All the competitions and all - everything that everyone gets thrown into, that’s all very real. But it’s encompassed with this kind of theatricality and weirdness that you kind of would expect from someone like Sci-Fi. It just seemed so different to me that it was very attractive for me to get involved in. And, you know, I’ve been involved in all forms of entertainment ever since I was a kid from doing standup and magic in Vegas, and DJ-ing throughout Europe in my teens, and all kinds of stuff. So for me, I love to perform. This was a chance to get in touch with the sadistic side of my personality, I think, and do it on camera which can be quite thrilling. But when they described what the show was like, when they told me what they were planning to do -- and it’s such an ambitious show -- I thought this is something I really want to be part of.

Question>:  What do you think it says about people that they will subject themselves to these things, just for the chance to get some cash?

Steve Valentine:  I think it says that people are up for a challenge. I think it says that people are willing to do more and more extreme things - not just to win cash, but for experience. I mean this was an experience for the contestants. It was a chance for them to go through stuff they probably will never go through again in the rest of their lives, and stories for their grandchildren, you know.  I think it’s - like Rich said, it’s more than just the money because it’s this chance to prove yourself. And I would talk to the contestants sometimes off camera and we would talk about the game show and we would talk about the competitions and everything, you know. And for them, you know, the reason - the main reason most of them said they were doing it was for the challenge.

Richard Hall:  And if I may add to that, also a lot of people want to face and overcome their fears.

Steve Valentine:  Yeah.

Richard Hall:  And since they knew this was a show that they would have to do something and they didn’t know what it was going to be until it was happening to them, that was another point for them is that they didn’t know what was coming. They didn’t know exactly what fear they’d have to overcome or if it even was one of their own. But they were very keen on giving that a try.  And for that reason, they found the experienc, win or lose -- to be rewarding for them.

Steve Valentine:  Yeah.

Question>    So these people are seeing this as a positive thing, taking on challenges, not demeaning themselves for a little bit of cash?

Richard Hall:  I would say absolutely not the latter.

Steve Valentine:  Yeah, I would say there was - there’s nothing about the show that was demeaning to me. It was about challenging and facing your fears. And it was quite admirable actually what - I mean there was one girl who was terrified of tight spaces and ended up going into these crawl spaces underneath the house.And really - you know, she was like I’m here, I’m going to do this. I’ve got this far and that was pretty impressive because I wouldn’t have done it. As the host of the show, I can say to people now you got to go do this. But no, I don’t - I didn’t do any of the competitions.

Question>  What is it for both of you that would really test your mind strength to keep it together in these very tense, you know, situations where you have to keep your focus and go forward? What would really be a challenge for both of you?

Richard Hall:  Oh, of the things in the show? My goodness. I think for me it would be the fear of some low grade pain which I won’t define just because it’s - it could come at any time.

Steve Valentine:  Yeah. For me it was 90% of what we put the people through. It was tight spaces, for me one of the most terrifying things.

Question>    What about sticking your hands in these key boxes? You know, you can’t really see what you’re sticking your hands in because Mark Stern showed us the storyboards at the Stanley Hotel and that, you know, people are sticking their hands in these boxes not knowing what’s in there. It could be a tarantula or some horrible...

Steve Valentine:  Oh yeah, kind of like that scene from Roman Holiday where he sticks his hand in the mouth of the gargoyle and you don’t know what’s going to happen. It is terrifying. There’s a certain amount of - I think for the contestants especially, one of the scariest moments was whenever they walked into a new room they did not know what to expect. And the fear of the unknown is, I think, one of the biggest fears. It’s one of the biggest - I’m a control freak so I like to be in control of everything in my life.  So I think that the fear of the unknown is a biggie.

Richard Hall:  Yeah, and they were completely - you know, first they walk into a room without knowing anything. But secondly, they find out in short order what control they don’t have, you know, over their - you know, the next few minutes of their life. And...

Steve Valentine:  And they’ve all made the mistake of letting us know in some way or another what it is they’re afraid of.

Question>  Richard, who is in charge of wrangling all of the vermin?

Richard Hall:  We have, you know, a wrangler company that works in particular with all of the odd, you know, mammal, insects, reptile requests that we would need. And it’s, you know, it’s a regular business that’s - you can find it lots of places. And we certainly relied on them quite a bit and had our - had some fun making sure we didn’t lose any.

Richard Hall:  And tried to keep track of them all and return them.

Question>  So you’re filming this in Argentina so you’re dealing with a company down there, I assume.

Richard Hall:  Argentina has a very robust Fear Factor - international Fear Factor production wing and so they’re used to this sort of thing. And the kind of production support they could give us was, you know, was terrific.

Question>  Who vets though, what’s harmful and what’s not harmful? There’s so many different kinds of insects and snakes, and what have you. And do you take it - the advice from the people that are handling them or - I mean does your insurance company get involved?  I mean do they - I mean what kind of limitations do you have or, you know, I’m just curious to know how you decide to use one particular species over another in your filming?

Richard Hall:  Right, right. Well first of all, all of the animal selections are vetted by the corporations either in the mall or the Sci-Fi Network. You know, everything is discussed in advance.  And if there are any questions about any of the animals we have to do further diligence to make sure that we’re not getting the yellow spotted spiders that - biting ability as opposed to the black ones.  And then the wrangler companies themselves always have to demonstrate for us that any creature that they’re bringing in is harmless or it looks scary, but is actually harmless.  In some cases that’s - you know, you might - even though something might be able to bite, you know, there’s nothing in the bite.   So I think a lot of the fear with these animals is there’s so many different kinds of things that you think are dangerous that it’s easy to use one that’s not, you know, particularly dangerous but can be scary nonetheless. And I think there’s certain iconic animals that are just scary.  Even if they’re 100% harmless.

Steve Valentine:  Yeah. I actually was able to face a fear while I was there of holding a bunch of tarantulas, and that was a biggie for me. And the worst thing is when they lift them off your arm because they grip, so it feels like they’re biting you for a second because they grip onto your arm.  But yeah, that was a big moment for me because if they - you know what, if the contestants are dealing with them when it comes to the - I’m going to give it a go, yes.

Question>  How much input did you actually have on the booby-traps that are in each and every room? Like did you get to decide on any of them yourself or were you just as surprised as the contestants?

Steve Valentine:  I was - actually I was just as surprised as the contestants. Yeah. I mean, I knew before we started each episode what the booby-traps were going to be, you know, and I knew what the rooms were going to be. But that - there’s so many people involved in the design and the building, and the - and as, you know, as Rich was saying, you know, in the vetting process that you don’t want to let the talent get involved.

Question> As a kid were you ever at all one to booby-trap your house, like to scare your family or your friends, or anything like that?

Steve Valentine:  I did - there was a couple of things. I used to put - I used to do a lot of - I used to be a practical joker. So the biggest one, the one that I used to love to do was the little exploding things that you put in cigarettes. Those, you know - but the way to do it and I don’t know if you know this but, you know, usually what most people do is they put the little cigarette banger in the end of the cigarette and then they wait - and then they, you know, somebody lights it and it goes - and it pops. But the way to do it is to wait until the smoker goes to the bathroom and this actually could get people to quit smoking. It’s great.   And what - when they’re in the bathroom you grab their cigarettes and you put one cigarette banker about halfway down and then you put another cigarette banger in the tip.  Then you put it in the box of cigarettes and shake it up. So now the rest of the night everyone at the table knows that one of those cigarettes is going to explode. It builds the tension. And when the - when it does explode the first time, finally it does, what usually happens is that they relight the cigarette and continue smoking it. And then you’ve got the second bang coming.. Yeah, I have kind of a devious sense of humor when it comes to things like that.

Question>  With the set that you’re using, is this an actual mansion that’s been modified or is everything done on film stages and it’s just made to look like a real house?

Richard Hall:  It’s an actual estate and to the extent that we could, we shot as much as possible on the grounds of the estate. There were other times when we had to, you know, move into a studio to replicate the estate.

Steve Valentine:  The scope - because I mean the scope of the challenges are so ambitious and huge that there were times when we really - we would - we couldn’t really destroy that person’s house, you know. So it was - yeah, so we had to move into a studio. But it was - as far as the contestants were concerned, it was a house.

Question>  So was it just a personal house that you rented out for awhile from somebody?

Richard Hall:  Yeah, yes. It’s an estate belonging to - it’s actually a historical estate belonging to a family down there. And they were good humored and generous with what we were doing. But they - it was a fantastic location for us to work with.

 Steve Valentine:  It was the most amazing home. I mean I - you know, you don’t get to full scale of this house until you’re standing right next to it. It’s really magnificent.

Question>  How did you go about finding the contestants? Is this like something you put ads in the paper and get people to come in? And then what were you looking for in terms of the people that you actually chose to be a part?

Richard Hall:  Yeah, the people were cast here in Los Angeles through a casting agency that specializes in reality programs. We were looking for diversity. You know, we wanted people of different age ranges, physical appearance, personality types, backgrounds.  We didn’t want to have like a Fear Factor-type crew of, you know, strong, young, everyone in their twenties, gung ho because the game - the show that we set up doesn’t necessarily go to the strongest or the, you know, or the swiftest. It’s a mind game. And I think we - that proves itself out during the course of the series. So yes, we wanted and got a good cross-section of people from all walks of life.  And of course, we have a lot of very reactive people, very willing to share their inner monologue with the world at any time. And of course, on a show like this that was extremely entertaining.

Question>  What elements of the show really make it a fit for the Sci-Fi Channel?

Steve Valentine:  Yeah, I think it’s theatricality of what we’re doing. You know, the kind of Saw elements, the haunted house element. You know, we’re not just giving people a bunch of challenges. It’s encapsulated with this mythology of the home. And then that really, I think, appeals to the - that Sci-Fi element of story and almost comic book mythology.

Question>  I read somewhere that you guys wanted to get back to having real contestants instead of aspiring actor types. Like how did you avoid those types of people?

Richard Hall:  Again we really were very intent on finding people from all the walks of life, even in southern California. We had a lot of - we had a soccer mom and a grandmother. And one lady with a winery. We had kind of a lunch bucket, you know, category of guys. And we had, you know, younger guys who were just kind of looking for what, you know, what they were going to do after college. I mean it was a - we had a bouncer from a nightclub. We really did try very hard. We had executive people, managers. But for a lot of people, you know, this was - of our cast members, this was as close as they ever got to that sort of glamour. But they really weren’t, you know, taken in with that because they were so intent on wondering what was around the corner for them. So in terms of them being real, they were very real because they had no idea what to expect. And they were always kind of on edge. And I think that’s what made their - you’ll see it in the show.