Posted at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 8

Tracy Morgan quakes with excitement to be hosting "Scare Tactics."

Tracy Morgan signed on to host Sci Fi Channel’s hidden-camera show “Scare Tactics” for a simple reason: Scaring people is funny.

“I mean, to see these people and they’re just like genuinely scared,” the “30 Rock” star told a group of reporters recently. “And that is hilarious. I guess it’s because it’s not happening to me.”

Morgan takes over as the show’s host when the new season begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday. He replaces ex-“Beverly Hills 90210” star Shannen Doherty, possibly the scarier of the two stars.

“I don’t know Ms. Doherty, but who could be scarier? I don’t know,” Morgan said. “I’m a pretty funny guy. I’m mostly affiliated with comedy, so I’m not really, you know, a scary guy like that.

“I hope that people laugh more than they get frightened when they see me.”

According to Morgan, the new season includes some shockingly hilarious moments, including his favorite gag, which takes place in the season premiere: A man is convinced that his new boss has tossed someone into a wood chipper.

“I loved the wood-chip episode,” Morgan said. “That guy’s ready to work hard and all of a sudden, all of this stuff erupts and this guy is really shaking and scared. I think that was awesome.”

Another prank in the premiere involves a new temp worker at a medical center being hoodwinked into believing that she has helped deliver “Satan’s baby.” The elaborate set-up involves a lot of makeup, prosthetics and convincing acting on the part of 28-inch-tall actor Gabriel Pimentel, who last season played a “rat monster” in a popular episode.

Although Morgan loves to watch scary tricks, he said he’s never been much of a prankster in his life or on the set of “30 Rock.” But he has seen some pretty scary things, including the reality show “Flavor of Love” and some of the characters he’s created on “Saturday Night Live.”

“I had to play a few women. That was scary,” he said. “I had to put some pantyhose on a few times. When a guy is in panty hose, that is scary. ‘Here, put this lipstick on. Welcome to “Saturday Night Live.” ’ ”

But what is Morgan’s biggest fear? That’s easy.

“Oh, man. If you sent the IRS to my house ... I would be [pretty scared],” he said. “The IRS knocking on my door.”

Morgan and “Scare Tactics” executive producer Scott Hallock had a lost more to say about the new season, their most frightening experiences and why scaring people is funny. Keep reading below.

Q: Why did you sign on for this Tracy? What interested you and what’s going to be different this season from the past?

Tracy Morgan: Well, I’m a fan of “Scare Tactics” and I love the show. I was surprised when they asked me to do it. I was really happy to do it. I was excited. And besides that, I’m a big fan, long-time fan of “The Twilight Zone” so this is my rendition of Rod Serling. I got to be Rod Serling. So I’m just excited to do it, you know.

Q: Scott, how different will this season be?

Scott Hallock: Well first of all it’s a perfect marriage to get Tracy and “Scare Tactics” together. We’ve always considered this a comedy show even though it’s scary. It’s really only scary for the one person in the bit and all the rest of us are in on the joke. So we’re laughing. To have someone as funny as Tracy as the host, that brings the show to a whole new level right there.

And the bits this season are the biggest, best bits we’ve ever done. One of the favorite bits in past seasons has been the “rat monster” bit, where a little 28-inch-tall actor dressed as a half man, half rat and terrified a guy. He’s back. Gabriel Pimentel’s back this time as Satan’s baby in the premiere episode. And he pops out from underneath the sheet and this girl who was set up by her mom starts screaming her head off. And it’s phenomenal.

Q: What type of scare tactics would work on you, Tracy?

TM: Oh man. If you sent the IRS to my house for no reason I think I would be [pretty scared], something like that.

Q: Scott, how do you avoid people defending themselves with violence or fighting back or something like that?

SH: We take safety really, really seriously on our sets. And when the bit is at its height is when we’re about to reveal anyway. And we always sweep the area to make sure there’s not anything people can pick up and use as a weapon.

If people start to react in that way where it looks like they’re going to fight, their friend or family member is with us. ... We will reveal immediately when it—if it looks like things are going to, you know, go in a bad direction.

Q: Do you have anyone this season or any of the past seasons that refused to sign the waiver for their episodes to be aired?

SH: You know what? It’s very rare. And I can’t really go into—everybody signed this season. Absolutely everybody signed who’s on the show this season.

We had one bit that was supposedly at a bachelor party and there was a stripper. The guy refused to at the end because he was going to be running for office and didn’t want to be on TV. So it’s usually for that reason that people don’t sign. But like I said, it’s rare.

And because everyone’s set up by a friend or a family member, it usually takes the onus off the show and people feel like, “Oh, it’s OK. It was my friend setting me up and it was a good joke.” And, in fact, the biggest source of new victims for the show is from people who are on the show as victims themselves.

Q: So you got a lot of people sort of turning the tables on their friends?

SH: Exactly. The shows like a roller coaster. We want it to be a thrill ride. We want it to be when you’re done you get off the ride and go, "Oh my God, that was great. I got to do it again." And the way they get to do it again is to setup a friend.

Q: What makes a good victim when you’re looking at people to cast?

SH: People who are expressive; people who react; people who are verbal. We like people who when they buy into the story and they believe Satan’s baby’s in the room with them, we want them to react and say what’s on their mind and, you know, if they scream, then that’s fine.

But, you know, it’s equally entertaining to see someone who takes the leadership role and, you know, tries to fight back against whatever is happening to them as it is to see someone get scared. So both reactions are great as long as they’re, you know, big reactions. That’s the best thing.

Q: And lastly, who is your all-time favorite person that you’ve been able to prank?

SH: All-time favorite, let’s see, we haven’t pranked Tracy yet. But we’ll see.

Q: Does he have a clause in his contract sort of like Ashton with “Punk’d” that you can’t actually try to get him?

SH: No, I don’t think he got that. Did you get that Tracy?

TM: No.

Q: Regretting that choice?

SH: No, I think my all-time favorite reaction is coming up in the first episode. The woman who is frightened by Satan’s baby. This girl was set—her name is Brittany. She was setup by her mom to answer phones at this medical clinic. And we find out from the beginning that she’s always wanted to be on TV.

And she didn’t realize she was on TV at the moment she said that. And then this woman comes into the clinic in labor and moments later, gives birth to Satan’s baby, this 28-inch-tall actor is painted red. He’s got horns on his head.

He pops out from under the sheet and attacks the doctor and the girl starts screaming and she points at him and the little baby turns to her and says “praise me.” And she goes, "No, that is the devil. That is not who I praise. I love God." And she’s actually talking to this thing as if it’s real. It was the ...

TM: Yeah.

SH: ... greatest reaction I’ve ever seen.

TM: It was awesome.

Q: Tracy, are there any backstage pranks going on at “30 Rock” that compare or any particularly memorable thing?

TM: Actually not. There are no pranks going on. Everybody’s there to work pretty much long days of filming and stuff. And, you know, they don’t—there’s not really a lot of pranks going on like at “30 Rock.” We save that for “Scare Tactics.”

Q: Are there any other sort of celebrity friends that you’ve through watching, you know, some of these pranks get pulled thought about, you know, trying to set somebody up?

TM: I couldn’t tell you what anybody else is thinking about. I could just say—I could just say I hope they are.

SH: Tracy didn’t you tell us that Tina Fey gave you a wedgie?

TM: Oh, no way.

SH: You told me that.

TM: No way. I gave her a wedgie.

SH: Oh, there you go. That’s what it was.

Q: Tracy, is it hard at times not to kind of crack and tell the people that it’s just a prank?

TM: No. Well, Scott is a really mean producer and he runs a tight ship. And he doesn’t allow me to laugh and joke and crack even though there’s really funny stuff going on. No, I’m just joking. No, I have fun. We have a lot of fun when we’re rolling and when we’re taping. We have a lot of fun. There’s a lot of good vibes and good energy on the set.

Q: Have you ever had like a family member or a friend pull a really scary prank on you that they just won’t let you live down to this day?

TM: I don’t know if they—no. They don’t want to prank the breadwinner. So they pretty much leave me alone. I’m quite sure I’m going to have a lot of people pulling pranks now when “Scare Tactics” starts to roll.

Q: Scott, your crew for this show is huge compared to most reality shows. You’ve got a full art department, post-production people, special effects. Is this another thing that sort of delineates your show, your reality show from a lot of others?

SH: Hopefully. I mean yeah, we take the production of the show obviously very seriously. We like it to look big and cinematic and so yeah. It takes a—we have a really talented art department. We bring in special effects people when we need it like special makeup effects or explosions or, you know, fire, gunshots, any of that kind of stuff. So the cinematic nature of the show is really important to us and yeah, there’s about—there’s over—I think the staff is over 60 people.

Q: Tell us you old school favorite horror movie or TV show of all time and then we’ll do new school.

TM: Old school? I got to say “Blacula.” New school? No, I want to say old school I’m not going to say “Blacula.” I’m going to say “The Exorcist.” And new school, I got to say “Flavor of Love.”

Q: “Flavor of Love”?

TM: Yes. That’s scary.

Q: Do you have anybody in your inner circle that you think would fall for this elaborate scare tactic?

TM: Absolutely. Everybody around me. Everybody around me can be scared in—you know, like “Scare Tactics.” Once it’s elaborate and you set it up right people won’t even see it. When you watch “Scare Tactics,” these people don’t even see it coming.

And that’s what makes it awesome because we love to see other people get scared, as long as it’s not you who slips on ice, it’s tragic but you’re going to laugh because it’s not happening to you.

Q: Tracy, you said you’re not a big prankster but then what drew you to role of Spoony Luv on “Crank Yankers”?

TM: I guess it was in that environment, in that element and I thought it was—I think it’s different. I was a part of the prank. Like “Scare Tactics” I’m not actually involved in the prank. I’m hosting the show and “Crank Yankers” I was actually making the phone call. It was fun. It was great. But me in my personal life when I was growing up, we wasn’t allowed to make prank phone calls on the phone. My mother see that phone bill and somebody was going to get their behind whipped. So, you know, I guess that carried on into my adult life.

Q: You mentioned that “The Twilight Zone” was a big influence to you. What other shows influenced you growing up?

TM: As far as comedy? “The Honeymooners,” Lucille Ball, “The Carol Burnett Show,” you know, “Saturday Night Live,” all those was there. The same things that the rest of America saw. I love television.

Q: Scott, Tracy mentioned Shannen Doherty. You worked with her. Was that a scary experience?

SH: No. We get along great with Shannen. I wish I had something scary to tell you about Shannen. We did another show with her after so we’re actually tied with Aaron Spelling. We’ve done two shows with Shannen Doherty. And we did “Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty” for the Oxygen Network after “Scare.” So no, we get along great with Shannen.

Q: Scott, do the people who are setting up their friends help you figure out what the scare should be?

SH: We have—besides Kevin Healey and I and Mike Harney who are the executive producers—we have a couple of writers helping us out as well and we all ... get in a room and we’ll throw ideas out and we’ll spitball them and kind of, you know, make sure that the—we’re telling a good enough story and there’s enough, you know, levels kind of to the scare.

But sometimes the friends will—like we’ll run the bit we’re thinking of doing by them and make sure that they think the bit’s good for their friend. That their friend will get into it. Like if someone is like into vampires, you know, we might put them in a where they find themselves in a vampire bit or something like that.

But on the flip side, if someone’s terrified of spiders, we’re not going to put them in a room and throw spiders on them. We don’t want, you know, we don’t want them to have a bad time. So we would actually keep that person away from a bit with spiders.

Q: So sometimes you do sort of tailor to the specific person?

SH: Absolutely.

Q: Tracy, do you take part in any of the planning or any of the scares?

TM: Oh, no. No. I’m not good at that stuff. Those guys are great at what they do and I just sit—I just really just walk the piece to the audience and set them up, host it, try to bring some personality to the hosting area and just set up the whole scene.

You know, and make that fun and help the people get ready for the scare tactic, the actual scene.

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