Sometimes, making TV is all about throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks, which is presumably how Fox came up with the idea to have Terrence Howard host a special haunted house-themed prank show a few days before Memorial Day. The basic setup is that Terrence Howard fans will be told they won a competition for a “VIP experience” at the Empire star’s remote New Orleans estate, but they’ll actually be taking part in an elaborate series of spooky pranks in front of hidden cameras.
That comes from TV Guide, which already dug in to how weird this all is, but it really can’t be overstated just how weird this all is. For starters, is Terrence Howard a famous prankster like George Clooney? Does he actually live on a remote New Orleans estate? Why is Fox airing a show about a haunted house in May? Why is the show called Terrence Howard’s Fright Club, even though the show itself has nothing to do with Fight Club or clubs in general? (Not to ruin the magic of TV, but the obvious answer there is that someone came up with the name first and then they built a show around it.)
Anyway, Terrence Howard’s Fright Club, which is not based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk, will premiere on Fox on May 24.