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Punk'd

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Punk'd is an American hidden camera practical joke television series on MTV, produced and hosted by Ashton Kutcher, which first aired in 2003. It bears a strong resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera, and to TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, which also featured pranks on celebrities. "Punk'd" refers to the act of having such a prank played on oneself, and the word also refers to the show's style of prank itself.

Contents

Formats

Candid Camera format

The show begins with a description by Kutcher of which celebrity will be punk'd, what the celebrity's claim to fame is or the celebrity has done something bad (ex: Terrell Owens), why he feels the celebrity deserves to be punk'd, and what the setting of the joke will be, including the accomplices and the premise. As the show is usually set in Los Angeles, the pranks often take place in common locations such as parking lots, restaurants, hotel rooms, residences, Universal Studios Hollywood-for Beyoncé's case, school-for Matt Leinart's case, and at the bowling alley-for Eric Dill's case, though Kutcher will sometimes engineer the prank at a celebrity event at which the target is a prominent guest, as when he pranked actress Halle Berry by convincing her that fire codes prohibited her from entering the building at the premiere of her own film, Gothika, or when he pranked Philadelphia 76ers' Guard Allen Iverson by convincing him that he could not enter to his own 30th birthday party because the President's daughters and the Secret Service were inside the party. Kutcher will also sometimes use real-life current events as elements in his pranks, as when he pranked tennis player Andy Roddick, who was scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show, by convincing him that his automobile was trapped by the 2004-2005 Los Angeles mudslides. Kutcher sometimes sets his pranks on the sets of movies, TV shows or music videos where his targets are working, as when he pranked Kanye West by convincing him that he could not shoot any footage for his music video for the song Jesus Walks on Sundays without a permit, or when he pranked The Game by convincing him that he could not leave his studio because his crew had repaved its entrance. Kutcher has also done holiday-themed pranks, as when he pranked Beyoncé Knowles into thinking she knocked over a 50 foot Christmas Tree, or when he pranked Fall Out Boy's Peter Wentz into thinking he derailed a train at a Christmas festival. After the joke progresses to a point, usually with the celebrity having become angry or frustrated at the outrageousness of the situation, Kutcher or one of the actors will announce to the surprised victim that they just had a practical joke played on them (usually with the line, "You just got Punk'd!"). An episode will usually feature three pranks.

Road Trips

In Season 3, Ashton Kutcher and his crew went to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, at an event tied to the release of the film The Prince and Me, and pranked actress Julia Stiles.

In a road trip to Tony Hawk's hometown Carlsbad, California in Season 5, Hawk was pranked by his son Riley, who destroyed a park restroom with an M-80, injuring a bystander played by an actress.

In Season 6, Kutcher sent crew members to Moorestown, New Jersey, the town of residence of football player Terrell Owens, in order to prank him there. The crew staged an auto accident in which Owens, believing it to be real, attempted to assist elderly people from an overturned bus. [link].

Ryan Pinkston Format

A frequent segment during the first season had the then fifteen-year-old Ryan Pinkston pretending to interview celebrities at red carpet events for a kids' show, only to mock them instead [link].

Stars interviewed by Pinkston

Failed Punks

Controversy and conflict

Influences

In addition to the obvious influences of past hidden camera prank shows such as Candid Camera and TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, Method Man, Redman and Matt Besser of the Upright Citizens Brigade had a hidden camera celebrity prank show on MTV called Stung in 2002, a full year before the introduction of Punk'd. Whether this was a direct influence on Punk'd is unclear. On Hip Hop DVD magazine S.M.A.C.K. DVD Vol. 9, when the interviewer asks about the similarities between Stung and Punk'd, Redman replies "Fuck you, Ashton Kutcher," while the whole crowd behind him laughs and repeats after him.

Parodies and derivatives

Celebrities who have been \"Punk'd\"

Celebrity accomplices

Most of the sources are from all episodes of Punk'd. NOTES: 1. Kutcher did not introduced him as an accomplice until Fest was at the scene to give his input as he co-wrote the song Jesus Walks 2. Her name is misspelled as "Stephani".

Punk'd Firsts

NOTES: 1. Goldberg was supposed to become the first WWE wrestler to get punk'd but Kutcher messed the prank up. Instead, The Rock is now the first WWE wrestler to get punk'd. 2. When Ashton was starting to punk people, the first people he pranked were Tara Reid and then Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro in the same Punk (at different times). Season 1 broadcast the Third try with Rosario Dawson getting Punk'd, though they ended up showing the first two times in Season 3.

Pranks Not Aired For Legal or Miscellaneous Reasons

Name of Prankee Intended Season: Notes
Al Shearer 1 The prank was never seen on MTV but was released on [The Complete First Season: DVD]
Alex Rodriguez 3 First celebrity to deny Punk'd broadcasting rights, although he was amused by the show's concept. [link][link]
Black Eyed Peas 3 Claimed in an interview that they were pranked. They noticed the 'cops' apparently featured in the prank weren't real and got into a fight because they suspected the fake police not of being Punk'd staff, but criminals. [link][link]
JoJo 4 Denied Punk'd broadcasting rights. JoJo did not sign the release form to air her episode because she didn't want her young fans to see her swearing.
Juliette Lewis 4 MTV forgot to air her on Season 4.
Michael Vartan 4 Denied Punk'd broadcasting rights. Vartan's lawyers threatened to file suit against Kutcher if the prank was aired, but Vartan denies being punk'd. [link][link]
Pamela Anderson ? Denied Punk'd broadcasting rights (see above)

Other information

External links

 

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