TVSquad

(S01E08) Well, first off I have to give props to the make-up and effects departments. In some prior episodes there have been some pretty awkwardly awful effects scenes ("Eater" when her arm is bitten), but throughout this episode, the make-up on Doug Jones (the Hellboy movies) was just astounding. It's interesting to me that at the NBC website and everywhere I can look, Jones is the only principal listed for this show.

I'll grant that his performance as patriarch Grady was a show-stopper, but John Pyper-Ferguson as his brother and Molly Hagan as his wife are just as integral to the effectiveness of the story and the emotional power that the character back-story provides. In fact, Doug Jones got third billing in the show credits themselves. I guess they just know where the strength of the show lie. And Jones is a proven master at playing the bizarre and/or downright creepy under heavy make-up, as he ultimately does here. With roles like the Silver Surfer (Fantastic Four), Abe Sabien (Hellboy) and El Fauno/The Pale Man (Pan's Labyrinth), Jones is absolutely brilliant at bringing these characters to life.

(S01E07) This tale was penned by newcomer Kelly Kennemer; his only prior writing credit was the acclaimed film Music Within. It was directed by America Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page's Mary Harron. The plot is like Superman and Lois Lane moving into suburban hell to start a family. I know the general plotline of a couple moving into an idyllic community that turns out to be anything but has been done before, but I'm not thinking of any specific examples (I expect you'll fill me in with your comments). The Stepford Wives has the same tone, but obviously there are some distinctive differences. Here, there were some clever moments to be sure, but the suspension of disbelief was even greater for this extended story than in most horror stories.

(S01E06) Steve Niles has become the modern day horror maven of the comic book world. He brought us 30 Days of Night, which is far better in the comic world than on the big screen. Here, he's paired with Darren Bousman, director of the Saw sequels to bring zombies to broadcast television. Right away, then, this had a better chance of me liking it because I've always had a soft spot for zombies and Niles has offered us a pretty different take on the genre.

(S01E05) NBC's website says that writer Richard Chizmar's first big project with his writing partner Jonathan Schaech is an adaptation of Stephen King's From A Buick 8. Then, they say that Jonathan Schaech's first big project with his writing partner Richard Chizmar is an adaptation of Stephen King's Black House. I'm not horribly familiar with either of them, though they've written for Masters of Horror and Heroes, nor the director Stuard Gordon (Re-Animator). Yes, that means I've never seen Re-Animator.

I am familiar with Elisabeth Moss who played the female rookie officer, though more for her work on Mad Men than The West Wing. She's one of those girls who isn't classically beautiful and because of that can play both the pretty girl when done up and the mousy girl when needed. For this installment she is cast in the latter role and put opposite the towering Stephen R. Hart as a serial killer named "The Eater." He doesn't even have to be anything more than his 6'11" in height and he's scary as all hell, but with the teeth and make-up added here, he's downright terrifying.

(S01E04) When I got the chance to review this week's episode of Fear Itself, I was pretty excited. Firstly because I knew it starred James Roday and Maggie Lawson from Psych, and secondly because it was directed by John Landis.

While I admit that Landis' directorial offerings in the theater have been less than stellar in recent years, he still holds a special place in my heart for being the man who brought us Trading Places, The Blues Brothers and Animal House. I was also excited to see how Landis, Roday and Lawson do with a different type of script than the one they worked together on with Psych.

I was hooked almost from the beginning. I almost fell asleep during the setup about the wedding being "too soon' and all the bridesmaid junk, but once Lawson opened the note and the great theme music kicked in I was ready to go.

(S01E03) Nope, this isn't Eureka, and that isn't the friendly Sheriff Carter up there. But it is Eureka's Colin Ferguson, and with Clifton Collins Jr. he has created a truly chilling installment in NBC's increasingly "must see" horror anthology Fear Itself. Well, much of the credit to the success of this episode belongs at the feet of Dan Knauf, who proved himself an absolute master of the macabre with his darkly brilliant HBO series Carnivále. He's also been a writer for Supernatural, so this stuff is clearly old hat for him.

And I'm pleased to say that the "old pro" really came through with "Family Man." Easily the best episode of the young season so far and one of the best stand-alone hours of any anthology series I think I've ever seen. Ferguson, who we've come to know and love for playing the nice guy really shines here. And due to the complexity of the story, both he and Collins get a real chance to flex their acting muscles to brilliant effect. From the chilling scenes at home to the overwhelming drama in the prison, each moment propelled the story forward. The only thing that blows me away is that director Ronny Yu, who does wonderfully here, has Freddy vs. Jason and Bride of Chucky as his horror directing pedigree.

(S01E02) This is what is fun about anthology shows, and why I can never understand why they never do better in the ratings. As much as people bitch about and resist taking a chance on long-form new serialized programs like the '05-'06 trinity of Invasion, Surface and Threshold, you would think they would embrace a series where each episode truly stands alone. With a show like this, your investment into it won't be impacted in any way if the network pulls the plug after only thirteen episodes, or even just four.

And yet, anthology shows tend to struggle even more than heavily serialized fare. In fact, Fear Itself got its ass handed to it by Swingtown in the head-to-head premieres last week. The big question is, with the "not-so-good" nature of the premiere, how many people came back to see this much improved second episode, and how many will stick around for Daniel Knaupf's outstanding episode next week? While last week was a poorly written and acted "monster of the week" boobfest, this time we got a well constructed good old-fashioned haunting.

(S01E01) NBC is touting this as a 13-episode series, but you have to figure that if the ratings were miraculously high, it'd get a second nod next summer, or even January if it finds blockbuster status. However, they're probably being realistic by banking on it as a nice summer distraction. These days, anthology series just don't get the ratings.

While I talked a little bit about the first three episodes in my early look article, I blasted this episode the most of the three I saw, while my fellow TV Squadder Keith felt that the second episode was weaker than this one. I guess it all comes down to a matter of taste. I still think that plunging neckline right there has a lot to do with why this was chosen as the first episode. The NBC marketing machine can trumpet this installment as one featuring sexy sirens seducing four hapless men. Unfortunately, that description is a little misleading. Sure, Mircea Monroe is voluptuous but I only really counted two seduction scenes, and they both featured Monroe. The rest of the girls were too busy cooking stew and whining about their fate.

From The Twilight Zone to Amazing Stories, anthologies have always tried to find a home on television. But where once they were embraced and even lauded, now they struggle to find viewers and usually only eke out a season or so. Last summer brought us Masters of Science Fiction, which itself was a variation on the pay cable Masters of Horror, which proved the more successful of the pair. Horror has always had a special place in our hearts.

And so it is not tremendously surprising that NBC is back in the game, this time with Fear Itself, an hour-long horror anthology. The series premieres Thursday, June 5 at 10pm ET, and I'm going to tell you now to try not to judge it by the first episode. I got a chance to preview the first three episodes, and for me it got better with each installment. Maybe it's a bias against the fairly typical "monster of the week" storytelling that has weakened episodes of such otherwise good shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville and Supernatural.

Hey everyone! This time we've got something a bit different. We have two signed posters from the new horror anthology on NBC, Fear Itself. The posters are signed by episode writers Dan Knauf, Drew McWeeny, Victor Salva, Jonathan Schach and Scott Swan. Fear Itself premieres this Thursday at 10 PM ET on NBC.

To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, June 6 simply telling us if you're planning to watch the show. As always, we'll randomly choose two winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.