I unashamedly admit, when toasted, I find myself laughing out loud to the various pranks on this show- many of them are very creative (one recent favorite- guy comes out of store to find his car has been made to look like a cab, and foreign speaking tourists are there with bags, asking him for a ride in a foreign tongue).
My questions-
Does anyone know why they don’t let you hear what the people are saying? Do they think xenophobe Americans won’t watch a show made in another country (even though it should be obvious to most that its not made in USA?)
In the bits with police- are they using actual police garb and cars? If so, do other countries allow this, or is it done on the sly? Some of the bits show people driving who think they are being pulled over by actual police, not security I don’t think.
Are people in Canada and Europe* that * much cooler and with less hang ups than Americans? For example, one had people laughing after getting soaked from head to toe while trying to save a “drowning” victim, and one other had blindfolded people rubbing a turkey, and then swapped it for an old mans bare ass, and the several people they showed who kneaded his bare ass were not pissed at all- they were laughing!. In fact, most of the stunts they show have me thinking “if that were done here, they would have a friviolous lawsuit on their hands”.
It’s made in Montreal. People there will either be speaking english or french, and you’d get a mixed bag of the both the languages. That would make it really frustrating to attempt to dub it or subtitle it… And I don’t see a reason to add that in on a comedy show - Plus it makes it so that it’s accessible to any language with minimal alteration.
Not to mention, that if you watch their lips, there’s a whole lot of profanity from some people.
Question 2)
I don’t think they’re actual police cars/uniforms. I think that we have similar laws. But I would imagine you could do it if you had a policeman with you when doing these gags.
Question 3)
Some are cool. Some are angry… We just don’t see the point of sueing someone for something harmless and fun.
The show in question is Just For Laughs Gags. The little green guy in the OP is the festival mascot.
Just For Laughs is a much longer running program, and it’s the broadcast of the Montreal International Comedy Festival. Which is mostly stand-up, with some sketch comedy, (humorous) music, ventriloquism, (humorous) magic, the occasional juggler, and a handful of other acts - the Tap Dogs and Stomp both performed there, they’ve had at least one contortionist, a hand-shadow guy, a couple quick-change artists, etc.
Unfortunately, a half hour block isn’t long enough for the whole title on the satellite guide, so if I don’t look at the program description, and just see ‘Just for Laughs’, half the time I get subjected to Gags, instead. Gah.
Most countries, I would think, allow actors to dress up as policemen for entertainment purposes. There are, after all, lots of TV cop shows worldwide. They have no problem using police uniforms and cars. The charge of “impersonating a policeman” would only apply if done for fraudulent purposes.