Truth or Scare Press Release

From Discovery Channel - October 9th, 2001

Special thanks to the lovely Discovery Channel employee who sent over the pictures and press release.

NEW DISCOVERY KIDS SERIES, TRUTH OR SCARE, MAKES A SPECIAL DEBUT APPEARANCE ON THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL ON OCTOBER 25 - Hosted by Michelle Trachtenberg of UPN's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", series will also have a special Halloween Scare-a-thon airing on October 31 on Discovery Kids-

Ghosts and goblins beware! The Discovery Channel is scaring up a pre-Halloween treat this year with a special presentation of a new Discovery Kids series TRUTH OR SCARE hosted and narrated by Michelle Trachtenberg who plays "Dawn" on UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

This hair-raising new series takes a closer look at otherworldly phenomena from visions of ghosts to meetings with mysterious creatures to messages from the dead and even encounters with UFOs. Four half-hour episodes will premiere on the Discovery Channel on Thursday, October 25 airing back-to-back from 8-10 PM (ET/PT) as part of a special Discovery Kids presentation on the network. TRUTH OR SCARE will then air on Discovery Kids on Wednesday, October 31 with an all-day and night TRUTH-OR-SCARE-A-THON beginning at Noon. Starting on November 2, TRUTH OR SCARE will air regularly on Discovery Kids on Fridays from 8-8:30 PM and 11-11:30 PM as well as on Saturday and Sunday from 11:30-Noon and 8:30-9 PM.

Each eerie episode combines science, folklore, and pop culture to explore haunted houses, mythical beasts, and ancient legends around the globe. Host Michelle Trachtenberg will guide kids through each program providing interesting new information such as the fact that the deadly medieval hysteria over werewolves and witches may have been spawned by the hallucinogens contained in moldy rye bread. Trachtenberg also reveals that famous author Bram Stoker's Dracula character was based on a real Romanian Count named "Vlad the Impaler" who impaled his enemies on a wooden stake, and then ate his dinner nearby.

TRUTH OR SCARE will also explore the curse of King Tut's tomb, chase down UFOs, track the legendary Big Foot, and wander the halls of ghostly estates. The series will go behind the scenes to tell the tales of believers and skeptics alike. And, despite our enduring fascination with many of these legends, TRUTH OR SCARE will reveal that many of these myths have logical explanations that are rooted in fact. Still, the series will leave kids wondering, is this Truth...or Scare?

The four episodes premiering on the Discovery Channel on October 25 include Dracula, Wolfman: The Myth and the Science, The Curse of Tutankhamen and Bigfoot .

TRUTH OR SCARE is produced by 44 Blue Productions. Rasha Drachkovitch is executive producer. For Discovery Kids Jim Rapsas is executive producer and Kathy Martin is associate producer.

Discovery Channel is one of the United States' two largest cable television networks, serving 85.2 million households across the nation with the finest in informative entertainment. Discovery Networks, a division of Discovery Communications, Inc., operates and manages Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Science Channel, Discovery Home & Leisure Channel, Discovery Civilization Channel, Discovery Wings Channel, and Discovery en Español. The unit also markets and distributes BBC America. Discovery Kids lets kids explore the real world. The 24-hour digital channel offers programs that focus on Discovery Channel's signature areas of science, adventure-exploration and natural history.