History Main / PointAndLaughShow

** It's also worth noting that most of these books are crammed with fabrications, urban legends, and other lies. The worst are lists of FamousLastWords, which are about [[BeamMeUpScotty 90% fake]].

* The ''Doctor Who'' Big Finish audio ''Peri and the Piscon Paradox'' has an older version of Peri (the story features a younger Peri who is traveling with the Fifth Doctor and an older Peri who has long since left the TARDIS) hosting one of these shows, where celebrity couples talk about their relationship in front of a studio audience.

* Brits may be more familiar with ''Vanessa Feltz'', ''Trisha Goddard'' and, most notoriously, [[Series/TheJeremyKyleShow The Jeremy Kyle Show]].

'''Man with Pumpkin-Shaped Head:''' Yes, and a new ca-NO!\\

** A similar, more recent version was 30 Seconds to Fame, where the HopelessAuditionees had to survive 30 seconds without getting voted off the stage by the audience.

* The TropeCodifier of the Point and Laugh Show, and probably the best known example, is ''[[Series/TheJerrySpringerShow Jerry Springer]]''. While the show initially took a serious approach, with episodes that dealt with serious issues and politics (one notable episode seeing Jerry spend a night with a teenager who was living on the streets), it turned into this trope around the mid-1990s or so. Bring on the cross-dressing dog fetishists. Bring on the albino midgets. Bring on the homicidal glue-sniffing trailer trash. Bring on the [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs homicidal glue-sniffing cross-dressing albino midget dog fetishist trailer trash]]. It's an old-school circus sideshow freak attraction for the new millennium.

* ''Catfish'' has shades of this. It's split between feeling bad for the one being catfished, laughing at them missing obvious signs of catfishing, and either hating or laughing at the catfisher.

With these shows, the single most important job is that of casting director. The host doesn't need to do much; just wait for the cast of losers to show up, sit back, and [[ComedicSociopathy enjoy the comedy]]. The art of casting them reached its heights (or depths) in three genres: talk shows, RealityTelevision, and {{Game Show}}s. The final element is putting the cast under as much stress as possible (hostile studio audiences for the talk show, cramped conditions and hunger for Reality Television, and seizure-inducing sets for the Game Show) so they ''really'' crack up.

* Pretty much the idea behind "{{Cringe|Comedy}} Compalations", along with BileFascination.

* Similarly, there is a whole genre of pop gonzo history (found in such places as the ''Literature/UncleJohnsBathroomReader'' series and ''A Scandalous History of the Roman Emperors'') that consists entirely of "Look how stupid and/or obnoxious this historical figure was!" Like the dumb-quote books, the Internet has been a problem for them.

* Brits may be more familiar with ''Vanessa Feltz'', ''Trisha Goddard'' and, most notoriously, ''Jeremy Kyle''.

* Website/SomethingAwful, Encyclopedia Dramatica, and their ilk feed on this sort of thing. Indeed, this is actually where the former gets its name, pointing and laughing at "something awful" a member finds on the Internet.

* ''Series/{{Cops}}'' shows, well, [[CaptainObvious cops]] dealing with people so imbecilic that it's a wonder they haven't died in freak nail clipper accidents; and people whose emotional control is one step removed from "poo-flinging monkey".

* Pretty much the idea behind "[[CringeComedy Cringe]] Compalations".

* Something Awful, Encyclopedia Dramatica, and their ilk feed on this sort of thing. Indeed, this is actually where the former gets its name, pointing and laughing at "something awful" a member finds on the Internet.

* ''WebVideo/DeagleNation'' was believed be be this for years, but it eventually came out that it was staged.

* Morton Downey Jr. pioneered the trash-talk format.

With these shows, the single most important job is that of casting director. The host doesn't need to do much; just wait for the cast of losers to show up, sit back, and enjoy the comedy. The art of casting them reached its heights (or depths) in three genres: talk shows, RealityTelevision, and {{Game Show}}s. The final element is putting the cast under as much stress as possible (hostile studio audiences for the talk show, cramped conditions and hunger for Reality Television, and seizure-inducing sets for the Game Show) so they ''really'' crack up.

* ''{{Series/Wipeout|2008}}''. A mild example, as the humor is derived from {{slapstick}} and all the contestants know perfectly well that they can expect some pratfalls. So while the laughs are on them, it's quite good-natured. (And in fact, sometimes if you find an episode on YouTube, you may see the contestant on there saying how ''fun'' the course was or how funny their Pratfalls are.)

* The Spanish court room show ''Caso Cerrado'' with Ana Maria Polo often falls into this, though a difference is made between people with "alternative lifestyles" and people that the show considers AcceptableTargets (like people who are outright bad, neglectful, abusive, or criminal).

A partially or wholly unscripted show with real people, where the point is to point, laugh, and say, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historian%27s_fallacy "Damn, those people are stupid/crazy/losers/trashy/jerks!"]] Everybody in the cast is either a moron, a {{Jerkass}}, insane, ratchet, trailer-trash, or [[LowerClassLout all of the above]]. The audience sees these people humiliate themselves in public, and is comforted that [[ExpectationLowerer no matter how messed up their own lives may be, at least they have more sense than these fools]].

An unscripted show with real people, where the point is to point, laugh, and say, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historian%27s_fallacy "Damn, those people are stupid/crazy/losers/trashy/jerks!"]] Everybody in the cast is either a moron, a {{Jerkass}}, insane, ratchet, trailer-trash, or [[LowerClassLout all of the above]]. The audience sees these people humiliate themselves in public, and is comforted that [[ExpectationLowerer no matter how messed up their own lives may be, at least they have more sense than these fools]].

An unscripted show with real people, where the point is to point, laugh, and say, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historian%27s_fallacy "Damn, those people are stupid/trashy/jerks!"]] Everybody in the cast is either a moron, a {{Jerkass}}, insane, ratchet, trailer-trash, or [[LowerClassLout all of the above]]. The audience sees these people humiliate themselves in public, and is comforted that [[ExpectationLowerer no matter how messed up their own lives may be, at least they have more sense than these fools]].

These are almost always GuiltyPleasures, and usually use BigotVsBigot. Compare SadistShow and ImmoralRealityShow, as well as FreakShow. See also TheFreelanceShameSquad, when bystanders laugh at a character's misfortunes InUniverse.

Since these are real people involved in unscripted pain, there are people who [[DudeNotFunny can't help but sympathize with them]]. This is often rebutted with the claim that [[usefulNotes/VictimBlaming because they're "dumb enough" to have it filmed, they deserve to be laughed at]], even though they are all essentially events that [[DidntSeeThatComing the victim could not have predicted]]. At times it's not even a valid excuse. Some of these shows intentionally use false names when filming their subjects.

Since these are real people involved in unscripted pain, there are people who [[DudeNotFunny can't help but sympathize with them]]. This is often rebutted with the claim that because they're "dumb enough" to have it filmed, they deserve to be laughed at, even though they are all essentially events that [[DidntSeeThatComing the victim could not have predicted]]. At times it's not even a valid excuse. Some of these shows intentionally use false names when filming their subjects.

An unscripted show with real people, where the point is to point, laugh, and say, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historian%27s_fallacy "Damn, those people are stupid/trashy/jerks!"]] Everybody in the cast is either a moron, a {{Jerkass}}, insane, ratchet, or all of the above. The audience sees these people humiliate themselves in public, and is comforted that [[ExpectationLowerer no matter how messed up their own lives may be, at least they have more sense than these fools]].