Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark? three-part limited series event reimagined the ‘90s kids’ cult classic, and saw the return of the Midnight Society.
Across the three hour-long episodes, Are You Afraid of the Dark? followed members of an entirely new Midnight Society, who told a terrifying tale of the Carnival of Doom and its evil ringmaster Mr. Tophat, only to witness the shocking story come frightfully to life, taking them on a adventure beyond their wildest nightmares.
In Part One, "Submitted For Approval", tormented by nightmares, the new girl in school feels and out of place until a mysterious group invites her to join. All she has to do is tell a truly terrifying story.
In Part Two, "Opening Night", when a friend's disappearance seems to be linked to Rachel's story, the Midnight Society decides to attend the Carnival of Doom. Is it the same carnival from her nightmares? How?
In Part Three, "Destroy All Tophats", with her friends' lives at stake, Rachel decides to take charge and end Mr. Tophat's reign of terror. Will the story have a happy ending, or is the Midnight Society doomed?
The new members of the Midnight Society are: Rachel, played by Lyliana Wray (Top Gun: Maverick); Gavin, played by Sam Ashe Arnold (Best.Worst.Weekend.Ever.); Akiko, played by Miya Cech (Rim of the World, Always Be My Maybe); Graham, played by Jeremy Taylor (IT: Chapter Two, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween); and Louise, played by Tamara Smart (Artemis Fowl, The Worst Witch). The Carnival of Doom’s ringmaster, Mr. Tophat, is played by Rafael Casal (Blindspotting).
Are You Afraid of the Dark? is produced by ACE Entertainment (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Perfect Date) with ACE founder Matt Kaplan and Spencer Berman serving as executive producers. The series is written by BenDavid Grabinski (Skiptrace, Happily) and directed by Dean Israelite (Power Rangers movie, Project Almanac), both of whom are also executive producers. Chris Foss is also an executive producer.
One of the Nickelodeon’s most iconic series from the ‘90s, the original Are You Afraid of the Dark? delivered riveting stories of horror to young audiences, all from a kid’s perspective. Are You Afraid of the Dark? is owned by DHX and was created by D.J. MacHale and Ned Kandel, who are also executive producers on the project.
Are You Afraid of the Dark? made its world premiere on Nickelodeon in the U.S. on Friday, Oct. 11, at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT), as part of the network's Halloween programming highlights.
All three parts of Are You Afraid of the Dark? ranked as the most co-viewed show on broadcast and TV each week, with 33% of Adults 18-49 watching with a Kid 6-11. It was the number-one live-action series on cable TV in all kids’ demos (2-11, 6-11 and tweens 9-14). And with an industry standard of shows targeting 6-11-year-olds experiencing roughly 20% lifts in L3 time shifted ratings compared to Live Same Day, Are You Afraid of the Dark? scored 35% lifts among Kids 6-11 and 36% overall with the Kids 2-11 demo in L3 versus LSD.
The Directors Guild of America will announce the winners of the 72nd Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, January 25, 2020 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. For more information about the awards, visit https://www.dga.org.
Below is the show's official DGA Awards 2020 nomination in full:
DEAN ISRAELITE
Are You Afraid of the Dark?, “Part One: Submitted for Your Approval” (Nickelodeon)
Mr. Israelite’s Directorial Team:
- First Assistant Director: Pete Whyte
Congratulations and good luck to Dean, Nickelodeon, and to everyone who worked on Are You Afraid of the Dark?!
More Nick: Netflix and Nickelodeon Form Multi-Year Output Deal to Produce Original Animated Films and Series!
Originally published: Monday, January 6, 2020.
H/T: Variety.
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