That was a great show and I could never understand why it wasn’t more popular. There were segments I disliked but some of the setups were so complicated and the results so hysterical that usually each episode had many laugh out loud moments. He managed to set things up so that the “patsies” were virtually unwitting members of the cast of a sitcom.
There is a successful Aussie show, *Thank God You are Here * that reminds me of it a lot. Comedians are placed in sketches where the other actors know what is happening but the comedian doesn’t. I think a crap US version was attempted.
Alan Funt usually only appeared after the joke was finished. And there were plenty of episodes (especially later on) when they recognized him as soon as he came out (not that you would necessarily recognize someone you’ve seen on TV – which adds the appearance of weight and, in the 50s, was most likely in black and white).
Funt’s pranks were all genuine and I’ve never seen anyone suggest otherwise. Note, though, that his pranks were never cruel or involved physical pain, and usually weren’t even scary. A typical Candid Camera prank would be something weird happening (there’s one on the web showing a man from a movie theater telling the people on line to buy tickets they have to line up alphabetically).
In addition, there was at least one successful lawsuit again the show when someone was accidentally injured (the injury as not part of the prank; he evidently bruised himself while following the instructions). If it were faked, why a lawsuit?
As for other shows, most are genuine, but some are faked (Scare Factor).
Also, through the use of editing, they can film the stunt and add other elements in later. Different camera angles and reaction shots, but the core prank is still real. For example, they can film the prank, get the prank on camera as it actually happened, then, after that’s shot, get a few shots of the actors (not the marks) from the angle of the mark’s viewpoint with the mark not even around and insert them in later. That doesn’t make it “fake” or “staged” that’s just editing it so it gives you a better impression of how it went down. Also, as an analogy, has anyone ever seen those “fake” interviews where a comedian uses a real interview and edits in his own questions to a real interview that was filmed earlier? It doesn’t make the original interview “fake” but it does show you how you can use editing after the fact.
This clip is from “Scare Tactics,” the marks are in red and powder blue. Everyone else is in on the joke and two of the people are actors, the other two are friends. Any time you DON’T see the mark in the shot, that can be filmed later to insert into the prank footage. So, no, they didn’t film the actor running with a camera man behind him while the prank was going on and in which the marks can see, but they can save filming that until the prank has been pulled. All they have to do is create the environment for the prank and add the gravy in later.
And after the girl in red is told she’s on “Scare Tactics” she says “What’s Scare Tactics?”
It’s also the only state that doesn’t require both parties to give consent to having a phone call recorded, IIRC. This is why Crank Yankers, one of my favorite TV shows, was largely done in good ol’ Nevada!
Are they real or fake? I couldn’t say, but the reactions seem real enough and they’re all harmless pranks, except possibly the last one, which might cause the mark to fear for his safety.
Once Allen Funt was chatting on TV with someone about Candid Camera, and he said he always gets asked about how many people refuse to let their segment be aired. He said only about three out of a thousand refuse, and it’s always for the same reason – “they were with the wrong person, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.”
There was one skit on Totally Hidden Video where the ‘mark’ was a pre-fame Andy Dick. A few months later he showed up on the same network (Fox) as the star of the new “Get Smart” show. Gave me a pretty good idea that they were using unknown actors as marks (although that doesn’t necessarily mean they were in on the gags).
If anyone can find any confirmation of Andy Dick on Totally Hidden Video, I would be very grateful. I know it happened, have it on VHS somewhere, but I can’t find any evidence online. The gag was they told the mark they needed his help in a mud wrestling contest. They covered him in mud - then like the Bubba Smith gag, they had him run into a stuffy academec lecture or something.
Canadian. Seems the US version is an edit of ours, although there are versions made in other countries, and not all the segments were filmed in Canada (although Bell telephones, Canada Post mailboxes and delivery vehicles, the Montreal Metro all feature in different gags). FTR, we call it JFL Gags up here, as Just For Laughs is a comedy festival in Montreal, and has been broadcast under that title for 25 years. (Gags is a spin-off.)
JFL Gags is the source of one of the more ‘wtf?’ ‘it’s fake!’ arguments I’ve seen…
There’s one segment where a man is asked to keep an eye on a kid, while his parent does something urgent.
Then the kid wolf-whistles a woman, who gets angry at the man.
The argument that it was fake? It was the same kid and woman every time. (Apparently the fact that the man was the victim escaped some people. A lot of people.) There were also people arguing it was fake due to the ‘silent’ aspect, which meant the wolf-whistle had to be overdubbed after the fact. Again, the fact that there was NO natural sound, and that even faked there would have been a real wolf-whistle if they were filming with sound escaped people.
I worked as a production assistant for the relaunch of Candid Camera for a week while they did shooting in the San Francisco Bay area in the early 90’s, and the stunts were legit.
They make them silent and with no talking so that they can be shown anywhere in the world. They just put some goofy music and sound effects in the background. My guess is that the wolf whistle isn’t universal and they put in a different whistle or sound in different markets.
I’ll share another funny one that I saw (since my last contribution to this thread was over eight years ago I am sure no one will mind.) It was one of the silent ones. A two guys were dressed up as surveyors at either end of a long narrow alley. They asked the mark for help which was holding up a big red flag and marching down to the other end of the alley. When he is like half way down the alley a bunch of (fake) police in riot gear start walking towards him. When the mark turns around, there are a bunch of people who look like communist protesters marching behind him with raised fists. The mark looked like he was leading the riot.
Obviously, they must film dozens of takes before they get the airable ones. Some people refuse to sign a waiver, others don’t end up working out and others figure out what is going on. I have walked up on two different prank shows in my life and figured it out both times. I basically told them that I knew what they were trying to do and to leave me alone.
I can confirm that the Jerry Springer show is entirely fake. Friends were on, and had to sign a non-disclosure. The guys in the black security t-shirts are “production assistants” telling the actors who to fake throw a punch at.
Since it’s Canadian, you don’t even need to go around the world - no need to do two versions, one in French, one in English, or dub over the dialogue in one…or resigning yourself to locking yourself out of several major markets…if it’s all silent with music and occasional sound effects if they’re necessary, you just change the title cards and you’re set.
There was a thread sometime in the past few months where a Doper was touting the fact that his nephew was on that show - and the nephew did “the right thing” (IIRC it was a situation where people in a restaurant were being vocal with gay bashing in front of a couple of gay patrons). I read a follow-up on the episode…I think it was in the nephew’s hometown paper maybe? Or maybe the follow-up was the proud Doper uncle.
Anyway, nothing I saw or read with regards to that show made me think it was faked.
I’m sure they do many many takes and only use the best ones.
Maybe it was in the thread I started. I started a thread about that show a couple of months ago. It wasn’t about whether it was fake or not, though, just a general thread…
I worked for the Jerry Springer Show, and I can confirm for you that it is not entirely fake. The saddest guests were the real ones with real problems.
The reason guests are told to throw “fake” punches is because they are not allowed to throw real punches - Steve and many of the other security guys on the show are off-duty Chicago police officers, and if someone started throwing real punches, it’s the cops’ duty to arrest them.
My husband worked for Spy TV, and he says that the segments he worked on were legit, not fake. You’d be shocked at how many people are willing to sign anything, as long as they get a few minutes of fame.
My concern would be with people who had any medical problems, like a weak heart. Has anyone ever had a heart attack after being pranked on a hidden camera show?
