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Netflix's new prank show with Stranger Things' Gaten Matarazzo is getting backlash
17 June 2019, 15:07
The Demogorgon don't look so bad now, huh?
If you thought prank shows ended with Ashton Kutcher's iconic Punk'd in 2007, then you're wrong. Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo (who plays Dustin Henderson on the hit series) is bringing back the hidden-camera genre with new Netflix show Prank Encounters, which will launch later this year.
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At just 16-years-old, the teenage actor will host and executive produce the new eight-episode Netflix series, which will target people looking for work.
"Each episode of this terrifying and hilarious prank show takes two complete strangers who each think they’re starting their first day at a new job," a Netflix press release states. "It's business as usual until their paths collide and these part-time jobs turn into full-time nightmares."
There's no word on if the people on the show will be paid, or how exactly they’ve been chosen to take part, but capitalising off of people's misfortune whilst they're trying to better themselves in the job market? Sounds pretty icky...
Although there's no trailer and Prank Encounters is still in its production stage, people have called the premise of the show "cruel".
nothing funnier than thinking you've finally landed a job and eluded unemployment, poverty, and possible homelessness, only to discover you inhabit a cruel hellscape ruled by that kid from Stranger Things https://t.co/cDuSuc3LPx
— priscilla page (@BBW_BFF) June 14, 2019
I don't blame 15 year olds for thinking bad ideas are good ideas, that's their job. Its pretty much axiomatic, its why we don't let them live on their own or vote or operate heavy machinery.
— Liddle Lamzy Dive (@saucissonsec) June 15, 2019
I do blame EVERY SINGLE ADULT INCLUDING HIS PARENTS who are making this happen.
I hope this announcement is a prank
— gerard whey (@UnburntWitch) June 15, 2019
Way cool! 🤙 This will be a great companion piece to my new Netflix show where I fuck with people seeking medical care. Wait til you see the looks on their desperate, American faces when they find out I'm not a doctor! 😜
— ☮️(((Michael Welch)))💙 (@MichaelWelchAct) June 15, 2019
So after the pranked job seeker finds out it was a prank, the second half of the show is them beating those involved with a wrench, right? That'd be relatable
— Reboot. (@Just_Reboot) June 14, 2019
As someone who had crippling depression when I was out of work for five months after being unceremoniously dropped by a company I had been with for 12 years, someone playing a joke like this would have broken me, and I guarantee there are people who this might drive to self-harm.
— Alexander Kern (@Kern9811) June 14, 2019
Prank shows shouldn’t exist in the first place, but this is one of the worst plausible premises I can think of.
— A L F A (@_Vyzos) June 14, 2019
Can you imagine if these people turned down other jobs because they got hired for this position.
— Bryan Ferrier (@Jcartertha2) June 15, 2019
In response to the backlash, a Netflix spokesperson told PopBuzz: "The pranks in Prank Encounters are spooky, supernatural, and over the top, and everyone had a great time. All participants came in with the expectation this was a one-day, hourly gig and everyone got paid for their time."
