Folks kicked up a (rightful) stink when Netflix announced that Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo will be hosting a TV show called Prank Encounters, which the premise involved messing with unemployed people and making them think they’re getting a paycheck only for Gaten to come in and yell “it’s just a prank, bro!”
Well the first trailer for Prank Encounters is here – and it’s even worse than what the initial premise sounded on paper. Just imagine that aforementioned cruel prank premise combined with dodgy horror and supernatural-themed pranks, all of which is intercut with Gaten Matarazzo coming in and blurting out his version of “you’ve been punk’d!”
Not only was all the “pranking unemployed people” stuff a bit uncomfortable and more than a bit tone-deaf, but the actual pranks are just bad and unoriginal. There’s nothing really entertaining or exciting about a teddy bear that moves or recreating the infamous chest-bursting scene from Alien.
And while we’re on the topic of unoriginal, Prank Encounters is basically a rip-off of the 2003 hidden camera prank show Scare Tactics that just happens to be hosted by a Stranger Things star with a warped definition of humour.
Having withheld judgement on Pranked Encounters until some footage has come out, we can confidently say that the show is unnecessary, not particularly funny and dumb to the point of being mean.
After all the controversy that forced Netflix to issue out a hasty apology clarifying that the (unemployed) participants were in fact paid for their time and everyone had a jolly experience filming the series, I certainly hope everyone was well compensated for partaking in this dumpster fire of a “prank” show.
If Gaten Matarazzo’s dodgy prank show is still on your binge list, the eight-episode season of Pranked Encounters will drop on Netflix starting October 25th.