History Main / CandidCameraPrank

* ''Candid Series/CandidCamera'' was the same show, with the same host, only Direct to Video and [[HotterAndSexier with]] [[NakedPeopleAreFunny nudity.]] Allen Funt became so well known for this that when he once got on a plane that was hijacked and flown to Cuba, he was the only passenger who didn't spend the entire flight laughing hysterically, thinking that this was a Candid Camera gag. In other words, it sucked to be the hijackers who took over that flight.

* A ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch with Creator/ChristopherWalken had such a show, [[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/02/02mpranksters.phtml Pranksters]]. It starts with a guy pranking his rat-hating sister... and goes into a man who pranks a workmate who kept using his parking space [[DisproportionateRetribution by killing him with a tire iron]].

* ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'': Lou claims to know then-First Lady Betty Ford, but Mary [[TheCelebrityLie doesn't believe him]]. At the end of the episode Mary gets a call from Mrs. Ford but hangs up on her, believing that it's a prank.

* The basis for the [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP Foundation]] entry [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2030 SCP-2030]], "LA U GH IS F UN," describing an anomalous program that shows up in places like streaming sites and DVD rental kiosks. The "pranks" shown tend to be [[BodyHorror nightmarish]] and surreal, with the victims reacting appropriately, only for them to suddenly act like whatever horror they just witnessed was a totally normal joke once the host unveils himself (usually via even more gore and madness). It's worth noting that all the identified individuals shown in the series are either missing or presumed dead.

* The basis for the [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP Foundation]] entry [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2030 SCP-2030]], "LA U GH IS F UN," describing an anomalous program that shows up in places streaming sites and DVD rental kiosks. The "pranks" shown tend to be [[BodyHorror nightmarish]] and surreal, with the victims reacting appropriately, only for them to suddenly act like whatever horror they just witnessed was a totally normal joke once the host unveils himself (usually via even more gore and madness). It's worth noting that all the identified individuals shown in the series are either missing or presumed dead.

* And then sometimes it happens the other way around. The famous British political cartoonist Karl Creator/{{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...

--> '''John Culshaw:''' Hello, this is the Doctor.\\
'''Tom Baker:''' That's odd... Oh no, no there must be a mistake, ''I'' am The Doctor.

* Italy's ''Scherzi a Parte'' (Pranks on the Side) is focused on pranking celebrities, and is infamous for pulling no punches. Their most famous prank was when actor Leo Gullotta found himself cornered by a ''tiger'' (tame and chained, through the darkness hid the chain).

* ''Candid Series/CandidCamera'' was the same show, with the same host, only Direct to Video and [[HotterAndSexier with]] [[NakedPeopleAreFunny nudity.]] Allen Funt became so well known for this that when he once got on a plane that was hijacked and flown to Cuba, he was the only passenger who didn't spend the entire flight laughing hysterically, thinking that this was a Candid Camera gag.

* ''Series/ScareTactics''. Like ''Candid Camera'', but innocent people are tricked into extremely frightening situations. There's been at least one lawsuit by a victim, but the show continues.

** Karlson & McKenzie continue this tradition on 100.7 WZLX.

* Subverted as a part of an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUnu8mm551I 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.

* Creator/ImprovEverywhere does it just for the amusement of the participants, bystanders and readers of their website.

* ''Series/TriggerHappyTV'' is a British show that sticks more to the traditional Candid Camera formula.

* Many of Creator/DerrenBrown's Channel 4 specials and shows are practically extremely elaborate versions of this trope, 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). To wit, ''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. Then there's ''Hero at 30,000 feet'', where a burnt out everyman was put on a flight simulator and tricked into thinking he's on a plane that's on a collision course and is the only one who can save the plane. And of course, there's ''Pushed Off The Edge'', where the mark is being pressured into pushing someone off the edge of a building.

* Creator/DerrenBrown'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).

* 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.

* [[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]].

* 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.]]

* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': In the second season episode "The Liberation Of Marcia Brady," Peter agrees (begrudgingly, at Greg's behest) to join the Sunflower Girls (a Girl Scout-type group) and is asked to sell cookies door-to-door. One of the neighbors an embarrassed Peter attempts to sell to is really amused and comments that he surely is being pranked by "one of those hidden-camera shows" ... before agreeing to buy a box of cookies. Not because he eats cookies, but because of the sheer ridiculousness of the whole thing.

* ''Oblivious'' (stylized as [[LuckyCharmsTitle ''Obliviou$'']]) was a "hidden-camera game show" aired on Creator/SpikeTV. The host would come up to people and start asking questions of them, working them into a conversation, but with them being entirely unaware that they were on a game show. Each episode ended with a bonus round in which one of the people to which this was done would then have the opportunity to take their turn as the host, asking questions of another unwitting contestant.

* 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.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Candid Series/CandidCamera'' was the same show, with the same host, only Direct to Video and [[HotterAndSexier with]] [[NakedPeopleAreFunny nudity.]]
** Allen Funt became so well known for this that when he once got on a plane that was hijacked and flown to Cuba, he was the only passenger who didn't spend the entire flight laughing hysterically, thinking that this was a Candid Camera gag.

* ''TheJamieKennedyExperiment''.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

[[folder:Other]]
* 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''?"
* 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.
[[/folder]]

* The ''{{Series/Fonejacker}}'''s entire schtick.

-->'''Mr. Phillips:''' Ahoy Mrs. Brady, it's Mr. Phillips. How are you feeling?
-->'''Carol:''' Not well enough to go on that broken-down barnacle barge of yours.

* Most ''MorningZoo'' radio shows will do this at some point.

** 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.
* 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.

* 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.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/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.

* 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...

** 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.