History Main / CandidCameraPrank

* Originally, ''Overhaulin''' combined this trope with the premise of ''Series/PimpMyRide''. Upon the request of someone connected to the "mark", they would "steal" the guy's ride (often a car, but trucks are also featured in later episodes) and string him along for a week. At the end of the week, they'd reveal the prank and return the mark's ride...[[PimpedOutCar customized.]]

* Originally, ''Overhaulin''' combined this trope with the premise of ''Series/PimpMyRide''. Upon the request of someone connected to the "mark", they would "steal" the guy's car and string him along for a week. At the end of the week, they'd reveal the prank and return the mark's car...[[PimpedOutCar customized.]]

** ''Candid Series/CandidCamera'' was the same show, with the same host, only Direct to Video and [[HotterAndSexier with]] [[NakedPeopleAreFunny nudity.]]
** Funt also made two [[TheMovie theatrical films]] of this type, ''What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?'' and ''Money Talks''.
** The show is referenced in Creator/BillCosby's '60s standup sketch "Noah's Ark", where an incredulous Noah, receiving construction instructions from a voice in the air claiming to be God, eventually asks "Am I on ''Candid Camera''?"
** In ''Film/CannonballRunII'', state troopers Don Knotts and Tim Conway pull over a speeding limousine; finding that it's being "driven" by a chimpanzee, they're convinced Allen Funt is hiding in the back somewhere and filming them for ''Candid Camera''.

** Parodied in ''Film/StayTuned'', with a show called "Sadistic Hidden Camera".
** [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff800/fv00727.htm Referenced]] in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', as Florence seeks a robot whose brain was manufactured on Jean, and comes up with a test involving asking a target robot "What does your name smell like?"

* ''Beadle's About'' involved ordinary people.
** As the series progressed, nobody seemed to realise that all sorts of improbable things that involved their cars being destroyed could possibly be prank. Hilariously, someone wised up and, when the parking lot she was in was somehow replaced with a showroom of cars identical to hers said, without missing a beat, "Is this Beadle's About?"

** ''Film/StayTuned'' parodied this with ShowWithinAShow ''Sadistic Hidden Videos''.

* Subverted as a part of an [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i2k-xXob1c ad]]: it begins as the normal "guy hiding in a mailbox and throwing peoples' letters out" gag, complete with canned laughter and several successfully fooled people, but after the expected results, a huge bald guy gets his letter spat out at him. He tries again a few times, but instead of just standing there with a baffled expression, he pulls out a gun and fires several times through the mail slot.

** Animal Planet once ran a similar special called ''People Traps'', produced and hosted by Trace Beaulieu of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' fame.
* ''WesternAnimation/CreatureComforts'' (both versions) was a weird sort of Candid Camera Prank in that the victims knew it was happening - they were told at the time that they were being recorded for a TV show. Where the prank comes in was that neither character designers nor animators ever met the people being recorded. They wanted them to base appearance and performance on voice alone, so they were isolated from the process of recording so they wouldn't get any preconceived notions before setting to work. So there was an even chance you'd either be surprised to find out just how owlish you were, or offended that someone equated you with a gorilla. Thank God for anonymity, eh fellas?
** It's doubtful that they weren't told that they would be rendered in {{Claymation}}, but it might be a surprise to find out exactly how.

* Inverted in ''Film/TheGumballRally''. The Dodge police cruiser team gets an [[GoodOlBoy Arizona state trooper]] to believe that they are filming a movie from a camera hidden on a far-away peak, and ask him to hold still for a face shot, as they make their getaway.
* [[http://youtu.be/ENygQpTMC7s This ad for Pine-Sol]], where the Pine-Sol Cleaning Lady bursts out of a poster to JumpScare a few men sampling the products. Some of their reactions are...[[CampGay priceless]].

* An episode of ''Anime/MagicalAngelCreamyMami'' has Megumi set one of these up to try and trick the title character into revealing her SecretIdentity.
* Originally, ''Overhaulin''' combined this trope with the premise of ''PimpMyRide''. Upon the request of someone connected to the "mark", they would "steal" the guy's car and string him along for a week. At the end of the week, they'd reveal the prank and return the mark's car...[[PimpedOutCar customized.]]

* On ''TheFlintstones'', Fred and Barney weasel out of a commitment to attend a bachelor party for a friend (which to have them describe it makes it sound like this friend was about to die), and find themselves on film for the TV show "Peek-A-Boo Camera." They're excited at first but then face the realization that the wives will see it as well. They successfully manage to prevent the wives from seeing it, but the next week, the host says the segment was so well-received that they are repeating it. Cue Wilma and Betty about to thrash the boys.
* Music/{{Mamamoo}}'s "Mr. Ambiguous" music video leaves in a scene of Baek Ji Young and the rest of the crew pulling one of these off quite successfully on the girls. The camera crew secretly film them practising for the MV in front of Ji Young who pretends to harshly criticise them. The girls go into HeroicBSOD when they find out they've been fooled.
* In ''Webcomic/GrrlPower,'' the engineer Omar makes a habit of occasionally dropping remarks that will draw screams of outrage from Maxima, and then [[http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1886 snapping a picture of the rage-face with his smartphone.]]
--> '''Omar:''' ''[grinning]'' One of these days you'll stop falling for that, Max. Until then, the Anger Album continues to grow.
* On ''Joe Piscopo'''s comedy album ''New Jersey'' one track is called "Candid Radio" where Piscopo as Alan Funt plays some "classic" pranks from the radio version of ''Candid Camera,'' including removing the "No Smoking" signs from the restrooms on ''UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg'' and pranking Julius and Ethel Rosenberg into participating in espionage.

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'', the producer of Take-2 TV who was broadcasting Trucy's magic show planned to prank her live on the air by making her believe she had accidentally killed her co-performer, only for him to "come back to life". [[spoiler:It does exactly go according to the script, since the co-worker winds up dead for real. Although it's subverted in that this actually the producer's plan all along, as a way to frame Trucy for murder.]]

----

!! Phone Scams:

* Most ''MorningZoo'' radio shows will do this at some point.
** The radio station PLJ in New York City actually calls it "Phone Scams".
** 93.3 FLZ's MJ Morning show really likes '''''REALLY''''' annoying crank calls.
** This MorningZoo prank call went very very wrong http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRmAyyvAcZY
** ''{{WebSite/Snopes}}'' [[http://www.snopes.com/love/betrayal/radio.asp relays the tale]] of a woman who called into a radio show on Valentine's Day to have the [=DJs=] prank call her boyfriend. The DJ called the man and offered him free flowers, and he chose to send them... to his wife. Oops.

* Apparently the fear of this has become so ubiquitous that a US senator hung up on US President-Elect UsefulNotes/BarackObama because she thought he was a prankster. The fact that VP candidate Sarah Palin fell victim to a just such a prank several weeks earlier ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcEiR01QK7o this one from a group pretending to be the French president and his aide]]) probably contributed. Barack Obama was said to have been amused.
** OlderThanTheyThink: Legend has it that during the Second World War, a junior aide at Buckingham Palace rather rudely hung up on the then-Queen of the Netherlands, who'd just been evacuated -much against her will!- along with a GovernmentInExile ahead of the invading German Panzers. She was less than pleased at being forcibly separated from her country InItsHourOfNeed and had apparently been forced to sneak off to a public callbox to dial the only number she could find for the royal residence, and finally got connected at around the time the pubs were closing, so his suspicion is somewhat understandable.
* And then sometimes it happens the other way around. The famous British political cartoonist Karl {{Giles}} famously sketched several allegedly rather unflattering cartoons of the Royals, which was quite the courageous act back in the Fifties, and was rather surprised to receive a call from someone calling from Buckingham Palace. He responded with a hearty "Fuck off!" and slammed the receiver down, think it a colleague at the paper playing a prank on him. It really ''was'' Buckingham Palace, calling on behalf of Her Majesty to request the original to have it framed. Giles went on to receive a knighthood and his own biographer described him as an unofficial CourtJester to the British throne. And people accuse HRH the Queen of excessive BritishStuffiness...
* ''El vacilón de la mañana'' was famous in the Hispanic world for creating the infamous "Manolo Cabeza de Huevo" (Egghead Manolo) prank. It all begins with the DJ calling a concierge who ''hates'' being called "egghead". He promptly calls him and tells him "egghead". Then the DJ calls him and, with a high screeching voice, claims to be his bunhole. The final result: Manolo ends up yelling "Fuck you, fuck your mother, fuck you all, and fuck all your motherfucking genealogic tree!".
** Said radio show also managed to ''successfully'' trick Hugo Chávez into thinking he was being called by Fidel Castro, and viceversa.
* The most prolific American practitioners of the Phone Prank are The Jerky Boys, who've sold over 8,000,000 albums showcasing their work.
* Inverted by comedian Tom Mabe, who plays pranks on people who call ''him'' - namely, [[AcceptableTargets telemarketers]].
** JamesFlorentine has dabbled in this as well. ''Series/CrankYankers'' has also featured incoming call pranks to people who thought they were calling a package delivery service strongly hinted to be UPS.
** Steve Wozniak once owned a telephone number that was a frequent misdial for an airline. He would test his callers to see what kind of imaginary flights he could book, lowering the price by adding a ridiculous number of connections, and so forth. But these calls were never recorded or published.
** Minneapolis radio personality T.D. Mischke hosted a podcast when he was between jobs. The phone number his sponsors gave him turned out to have been previously owned by a few different people with credit problems. When the collection agencies would call in, he would have a lot of fun with them. [[http://www.mischkemadness.com/audiofiles/dont_be_mad.mp3 Here's a sample!]]

* ''TheSimpsons'', in its early years, had the RunningGag of Bart prank-calling Moe's Tavern with Double Entendre names, similar to the Red Tube Bar Prank Calls.
** In "Krusty Gets Kancelled", Krusty's TV replacement, Gabbo, gets ready to perform a "patented Gabbo Crank Call" (on Krusty himself). When Bart complains that "he stole that bit from Krusty", Lisa counters that Krusty stole it from Steve Allen.
** In "Homer Alone", one of the things that stresses out Marge at the beginning is hearing KBBL's Bill and Marty prank-calling a man and telling him that his wife died.
* In Quebec, the most well known phone pranksters were the ''Justiciers Masqués'', a team of radio hosts. They usually prank normal people from around Quebec, but they also successfully pranked many Canadian politicians, and even Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, by passing as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They also fooled Music/BritneySpears into thinking she was speaking to Music/CelineDion... Despite them being an all men team ''and'' having French as their first language.
** They were also the ones behind the Sarah Palin prank call mentioned above.
* Radio host Gary Burbank would call people, claiming to be from the "U.S. Senseless Survey". People who didn't pay careful enough attention would think they were talking to the U.S. ''Census'' bureau and take the surveys that were, indeed, senseless.
* RussellBrand sometimes does this in his stand-up set, usually finding a slightly silly advertisement in the local newspaper of the town where he's doing the show and calling the business up with outrageous requests.
** He also did this on his radio show, which led to the infamous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachsgate Sachsgate Scandal]], which (long story short) a message on comedian Andrew Sach's answer phone caused outrage due to comments about his grand daughter, leading to Creator/TheBBC getting fined by the regulators, Jonathon Ross (who was also present) being suspended and Brand's eventual resignation from the BBC. Proof that this kind of joke [[DudeNotFunny isn't always appreciated.]]
* Brent Douglas and the late Phil Stone of KMOD-FM in Tulsa, OK created "Radio/RoyDMercer," a country bumpkin who calls up businesses, citizens and even celebrities, asking for outlandish recompense for some wrong or another, and threatening an "ass-whoopin'" if he doesn't get it. Some believe that "Roy" is based on "Leroy Mercer," the brainchild of Tennessee native John Bean, who died in 1984 and whose [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes work was disseminated through bootleg tapes]] in the early '80s. Stone and Douglas claimed their character was original, despite the fact that "Roy's" and "Leroy's" calls share many similarities.

* ''NotTheNineOClockNews'' parodied ''Game for a Laugh'' by having the "prank" consist of the victim's wife (who was the one who submitted his name to the show) being brutally murdered and left for him to find when he gets home. When he finds out it's all for the show, he bursts out laughing in relief.

* ''Series/JustForLaughsGags'' is a Canadian version of these. Because there's pretty much no dialogue at all (overdubbing with music), it's often shown during flights. Its specialty is immense use of public service uniforms and vehicles (and pranks involving nuns that would not work anywhere else except in Quebec). Interestingly tho, they also license some content from Australian hidden camera show ''Just Kidding''.

* ''Just For Laughs Gags'' is a Canadian version of these. Because there's pretty much no dialogue at all (overdubbing with music), it's often shown during flights. Its specialty is immense use of public service uniforms and vehicles (and pranks involving nuns that would not work anywhere else except in Quebec). Interestingly tho, they also license some content from Australian hidden camera show ''Just Kidding''.

* Originally, ''Overhaulin''' combined this trope with the premise of ''PimpMyRide''. With the help of someone connected to the "mark", they would steal the guy's car and string him along for a week. At the end of the week, they'd reveal the prank and return the mark's car...[[PimpedOutCar customized.]]

* The Creator/Channel4 series ''Series/BadRobots'' is one that centers around technology, it has an excuse plot about a robot named ''Tez One'' that has gained sentience and decided to teach humanity a lesson after seeing humans mistreating their electronic appliances.

* Allen Funt's ''Series/CandidCamera'' is pretty much the definer of the genre. It did both ordinary people and celebs. Its CatchPhrase, "Smile, you're on Series/CandidCamera," is well known around the world.

* ''Just Kidding'' is the Australian equivalent of ''Candid Camera''. More interestingly, they license some of their content to ''Just for Laugh Gags'' as well.

* ''Series/{{Punkd}}'' is a take of this that only targets celebrities.

* In Quebec, the most well known phone pranksters were the ''Justiciers Masqués'', a team of radio hosts. They usually prank normal people from around Quebec, but they also successfully pranked many Canadian politicians, and even Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, by passing as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They also fooled BritneySpears into thinking she was speaking to CelineDion... despite them being an all men team ''and'' having French as their first language.

* ''TheDickVanDykeShow'' had an ep where pranks were played on the cast while they stayed at a cabin. The segment was to be called 'Sneaky Camera' or something like that, and they then proceeded to lampshade the fact that it would be a ripoff of another show (Candid Camera, but not mentioned by name.)

** JamesFlorentine has dabbled in this as well. ''CrankYankers'' has also featured incoming call pranks to people who thought they were calling a package delivery service strongly hinted to be UPS.

* ''CrankYankers'' was an example of phone scams on television. The performers would do the crank calls, and then a set of puppeteers wielding [[Creator/JimHenson Hensonesque]] caricatures of both parties would act out the scene with extra visual gags. One of the best was rapper Ludacris calling up his manager, claiming he wanted to change his name to "Mr. Peanut". On Luda's end, his puppet was trying on monocles and top hats, while his manager's puppet was calmly shredding Ludacris' contract, and pressing the BigRedButton marked "In Case of Insane Rapper".

* ''Series/NoelsHouseParty'' with its "Gotcha" (originally "Gotcha Oscars" until the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences threatened legal action) feature on celebrities. Memorable ones include a football manager ending up doing the Christine Keeler pose and something involving "Custer's Last Hat Stand".

* In ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'', the engineer Omar makes a habit of occasionally dropping remarks that will draw screams of outrage from Maxima, and then [[http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1886 snapping a picture of the rage-face with his smartphone.]]
-->'''Omar:''' ''[grinning]'' One of these days you'll stop falling for that, Max. Until then, the Anger Album continues to grow.
* On Creator/JoePiscopo's comedy album ''New Jersey'' one track is called "Candid Radio" where Pisocpo as Alan Funt plays some "classic" pranks from the radio version of ''Candid Camera,'' including removing the "No Smoking" signs from the restrooms on ''UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg'' and pranking Julius and Ethel Rosenberg into participating in espionage.
* In a sketch on ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' Benny approaches a woman sitting in a park, singing to her and kissing her. She is upset until he points out a van parked across the way, saying she's on ''Candid Camera''. She laughs and kisses him. After she goes away Benny admits to another man sitting there that it's ''not'' a Candid Camera Prank, he was just trolling her to get her to kiss him.

!!Phone Scams:

* One of the most famous practitioners in the United Kingdom is impressionist Jon Culshaw, mostly but not exclusively on ''Series/DeadRingers'', He once rang up then Prime Minister TonyBlair live on air and pretended to be William Hague, who was then leader of the opposition. The prime minister spotted it pretty quickly. Culshaw is also famous for his scarily accurate impression of the Fourth Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho''. He's used this several times, including in prank calls to Creator/SylvesterMcCoy (the Seventh Doctor), Creator/ColinBaker (the Sixth Doctor), Creator/PeterDavison (the Fifth Doctor) and... Creator/TomBaker, who ''actually played'' the Fourth Doctor:
-->'''John Culshaw:''' Hello, this is the Doctor.\\

* One of the most famous practitioners in the United Kingdom is impressionist Jon Culshaw, mostly but not exclusively on ''[[Series.DeadRingers Dead Ringers]]'', He once rang up then Prime Minister TonyBlair live on air and pretended to be William Hague, who was then leader of the opposition. The prime minister spotted it pretty quickly. Culshaw is also famous for his scarily accurate impression of the Fourth Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho''. He's used this several times, including in prank calls to Sylvester [=McCoy=] [the Seventh Doctor], Colin Baker [the Sixth Doctor], Peter Davison [the Fifth Doctor] and... Tom Baker, who ''actually played'' the Fourth Doctor:
-->'''John Culshaw:''' "Hello, this is The Doctor."
-->'''Tom Baker:''' "That's odd... Oh no, no there must be a mistake, ''I'' am The Doctor."

* Derren Brown's ''Series/{{Apocalypse}}'' was one of the largest and most expensive ever, continuing as it did for two days, during which time the unfortunate subject believed himself to have survived a ZombieApocalypse. This isn't Derren's first foray into hidden camera pranks tho- he has done one just two years earlier with ''Hero at 30,000 feet''. Thinking of it, it's safe to say that more than half of Derren's specials consists of this trope to variable extent, usually with the mark volunteering through Twitter or the Classifieds in UK newspapers and then not being told themselves that they have been picked (although the mark's family and friends are usually told in advance).

* Derren Brown's ''Series/{{Apocalypse}}'' was one of the largest and most expensive ever, continuing as it did for two days, during which time the unfortunate subject believed himself to have survived a ZombieApocalypse. This isn't Derren's first foray into hidden camera pranks tho- he has done one just two years earlier with ''Hero at 30,000 feet''.

** In ''TheCannonballRun II'', state troopers Don Knotts and Tim Conway pull over a speeding limousine; finding that it's being "driven" by a chimpanzee, they're convinced Allen Funt is hiding in the back somewhere and filming them for ''Candid Camera''.

* In Malaysia, it's the ''Hitz.FM Morning Crew'''s segment ''Gotcha!'', where every morning the three shock jockeys will call a person nominated by a friend or relative via the radio station's website the day before.

* Derren Brown's ''Series/{{Apocalypse}}'' was one of the largest and most expensive ever, continuing as it did for two days, during which time the unfortunate subject believed himself to have survived a ZombieApocalypse. This isn't Derren's first foray into hidden camera pranks tho- he has done one just two years earlier with ''Hero at 30,000 feet'', and prior to that, ''The Heist''.

* Derren Brown's ''Series/{{Apocalypse}}'' was one of the largest and most expensive ever, continuing as it did for two days, during which time the unfortunate subject believed himself to have survived a ZombieApocalypse.

* ''Just For Laughs Gags'' is a Canadian version of these. Because there's pretty much no dialogue at all (overdubbing with music), it's often shown during flights. Its specialty is immense use of public service uniforms and vehicles (and pranks involving nuns that would not work anywhere else except in Quebec).

** The same writers also had a show ''Surprise Sur Prise'', which focused on elaborate pranks on celebrities.