The forerunner to "The Most Extreme" was "Twisted Tales", two series produced in 1999 and 2000 which took a single animal group like "The Frog" or "The Bat" and focused on their relationship with people through time, and around the world. "Twisted Tales: The Bat" earned Ian McGee NHNZ's second Emmy Award in 1999 for Outstanding Achievement in a Craft in News and Documentary Programming – Writers. The following year, Ian and co-writer Quinn Berentson were again nominated for an Emmy Award in the same category for "Twisted Tales: The Rat".