The TV show 1000 Ways to Die airs on the cable channel Spike. New episodes air on Monday nights at 10/9C, beginning on March 12, 2012, with the Season 4 premiere.
<span id="Season_1">Season 1
The first two episodes of Season One served as the series' two-episode pilot. They were executive produced and narrated by series creator Thom Beers, and directed, co-written, and produced by Will Raee and co-written by Tom McMahon. Both episodes begin with the following disclaimer:
"The stories you are about to see are true and based on actual events. Names have been changed to protect the identities of the deceased."
"WARNING: The deaths portrayed in this show are real and extremely graphic."
The disclaimer then cuts to a scene of a city at night, followed by images of various manners of death, either from episodes or file footages, while the voice-over reads the monologue, which appears in "comic-book" style (comic font inside yellow boxes, as in a comic book):
"The human body is remarkably resilient..."
"We face 1000 WAYS TO DIE."
(Note: in the following sentence, only the ALL CAPPED words are illustrated in large, red "Sin City"/"comic" font; the rest are only heard) "Every day we fight a new WAR against GERMS, TOXINS, INJURY, ILLNESS, CATASTROPHE and Calamity."
"The fact that we survive at all is a miracle..."
"Because, every day we live..."
The first story begins with the opening screenshot drawn as a comic, which fades to the live action. The narrator gives an account of the story as it unfolds, describing the circumstances leading up to the death and details of the death itself. The story is interspersed with expert testimony from physicians and scientists about the science of the death (what happens to the body, etc.). The story ends with another comic screenshot, over which the "Way to Die # " and the nickname for the death is typed over the image in black and red "True Crimes"/"Sin City"/"comic" font.
Episode 1: Life Will Kill You
Originally aired May 14, 2008.
Episode 2: Hard Lives, Easy Deaths
Originally aired May 21, 2008. Note: This is the first episode not to feature the death of a female.
Shot months after the pilot, the remaining episodes of the first season were executive produced by Thom Beers who also created the series. Season One was written and directed by Tom McMahon. The third episode also debuted a new narrator, actor Ron Perlman, instead of Beers, who previously narrated the pilot episodes.
The episodes in the rest of Season One, while maintaining the "tongue-in-cheek" story-telling aspect of the first two shows, vary in formatting compared to the pilot. The "comic-book" styling is completely gone, as are the trivia bits between segments. Each episode opens with a voice-over by the narrator giving brief summaries of upcoming deaths, accompanied by clips. This fades to a more ominous version of the previous disclaimer: white wording on black background, while a deeper, echoing voice-over reads:
"WARNING: The deaths portrayed in this show are real and extremely graphic."
"Do not attempt to try ANY of the actions depicted."
"Names have been changed to protect the identities of the deceased."
"YOU WILL DIE!" (the word "DIE" reverberates ominously).
The disclaimer then cuts to animation depicting human figures encountering various deaths, while the voice-over reads (Note: only the ALL CAPPED words are illustrated):
"Death...is everywhere. Most of us try to avoid it, others can't get out of its way. Every day we fight a new war against GERMS, TOXINS, INJURY, ILLNESS, and CATASTROPHE."
"There's a lot of ways to wind up dead. The fact that we survive at all is a miracle, because every day we live, we face.... 1000 WAYS TO DIE."
This introduction cuts to a screenshot of the "victim", framed by gray grainy film art, and information appears as being typed out onto screen: "DATE" and "LOCATION". The stories are played out as in the "Pilot Season", but end as they began, with a different screenshot of the "victim" (this time, they are usually dead), again framed in grainy film art, over which the "Way to Die # " and the nickname for the death typed over the image in yellow and red text in the "True Crimes"/"Sin City"/"comic" font. Two stories are shown in this manner, then an outro to the commercial says, "Coming up:" followed by brief, clever descriptions of upcoming deaths. This is usually repeated twice. After the last commercial break, the real-life story is shown, followed immediately by the end credits, which appear as white spray-painted bold letters on a grainy film background, backed by heavy metal music.
Episode 3: Unforced Errors
Originally aired February 8, 2009.
Episode 4: Death Over Easy
Originally aired February 8, 2009.
Title reference: A play on the saying "eggs over easy".
Episode 5: Dead and Deader
Originally aired February 15, 2009. Note: This is the second episode not to feature the death of a female.
Title reference: Spoofs the 1994 movie title Dumb and Dumber.
Episode 6: Death Gets Busy
Originally aired February 22, 2009.
Episode 7: The Lighter Side of Death
Originally aired March 1, 2009.
Episode 8: The Good, The Bad, and the Dead
Originally aired March 8, 2009.
Title reference: A spoof of the 1966 movie title The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Episode 9: Death Be Not Stupid
Originally aired March 15, 2009.
Title reference: A spoof of the poem Death Be Not Proud by John Donne.
Episode 10: Cure for the Common Death
Originally aired March 22, 2009.
Title reference: Play-on words to the saying "Cure for the Common Cold".
Episode 11: Death: A User's Manual
Originally aired March 29, 2009.
Episode 12: I See Dead People (And They're Cracking Me Up)
Originally aired April 5, 2009. Note: This is the third episode not to feature the death of a female.
Title reference: Popular quote from the 1999 movie The Sixth Sense.
Escaped Deaths
This season featured a list of segments in which the survivors tell the tale of how they evaded death.
References
