Punk'd

Punk’d
Title card (2003–2005)
Format	Comedy reality, candid camera
Created by	Ashton Kutcher Jason Goldberg
Starring	Ashton Kutcher (2003-2007) Various hosts (2012–present)
Theme music composer	Elizabeth Miller Brian Friedman (Theme) Ricky Friedman (Theme)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	64 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jason Goldberg Ashton Kutcher David R. Franzke Billy Rainey Lois Clark Curren Rod Aissa
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	MTV
Original run	March 17, 2003 (2003-03-17) – May 5, 2007 (2007-05-05) (Original series) March 19, 2012 (2012-03-19) – present (Revival series)

Punk'd is an American hidden camera-practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003 and was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, and produced and hosted by Ashton Kutcher. It bore a resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera and to TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, which also featured pranks on celebrities. Being "punk'd" referred to being the victim of such a prank.

The series finale aired on MTV on May 29, 2007. The series culminated in early June with the Punk'd Awards. Reruns began airing on TV Guide Channel in 2009 and PMC (with Persian dubbing) on November 20, 2010. Punk'd was a heavy recipient of many Teen Choice Awards.

After a five-year hiatus, the series will be revived with its ninth season, which is scheduled to premiere on March 29, 2012.

History and format

The pranks would be set at a variety of locations, public and private. The show's first prank was set at singer Justin Timberlake's home, where he was led to believe that government agents were seizing his home and valuables because of unpaid income tax. The prank was named by Time magazine as #3 in their list of 32 Epic Moments in Reality-TV History. Kutcher would sometimes use real-life current events as elements in his pranks, as when he punked tennis player Andy Roddick, who was scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show, by convincing him that his automobile was trapped by the Los Angeles mudslides. Kutcher sometimes sets his pranks where his targets work, such as on the sets of movies, TV shows, and music videos. As one example, Kutcher pulled a prank on The Rock, who was filming the movie Be Cool, by convincing him that his trailer was destroyed. As another example, Kutcher punked Kanye West by convincing him that he could not shoot his music video for "Jesus Walks" on Sundays without a permit. Kutcher has also done holiday-themed pranks, as when he punked Beyoncé Knowles into thinking she knocked over a 50-foot (15 m) Christmas Tree, or when he pulled a prank on Fall Out Boy's Pete 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 use of the catchphrase, "You just got punk'd!", or by revealing a large sign or banner to that effect. Each half-hour episode usually features three pranks.

A frequent segment during the first two seasons was a Punk'd cast member pretending to interview celebrities at red carpet events, only to mock them instead. This segment closely copies what originated on The Howard Stern Show in the 1980s, when Stern and his writers began sending interns (most notably Stuttering John Melendez) to ask celebrities embarrassing questions on the red carpet. During the first season then-fifteen-year-old Ryan Pinkston posed as a reporter from a children's television program, and would insult the celebrities. During season two, the producers then chose a foreign interviewer accompanied by her interpreter who would then ask inane questions to the guests.

Failed "punks"

While the pranks most of the time are successful, some pranks actually have failed.

• In December 2003, Kutcher attempted to "punk" then-WWE wrestler Bill Goldberg by having a truck run over an exact replica of his prized motorcycle, but the stunt went wrong when the truck clearly missed the bike. When the bike spontaneously exploded without any visible reason, Goldberg realized what was going on, and asked, "Who do I get to kill first?" as Kutcher revealed himself, knowing the joke had failed. It aired on the Season two finale.
• Michael Vartan and Pamela Anderson both deny ever being fooled. Anderson's punk involved convincing her that a porn movie was being shot in her back garden. She explained that she realized it was a prank when she confronted a nude model on the premises.
• Kutcher has claimed that he himself is "unpunkable." In the first season, he was "punked" as he had to keep walking through the metal detector at MTV Studios. It went off again and again despite the strip-searching and repeated pat-downs by the guard. They got Ashton all the way down to his underwear. The second time, his crew attempted to punk him using Britney Spears, but Kutcher got wise to the plot and convinced Spears to help him turn the tables on his own crew.

Revival

In October 2010, New York Magazine revealed that Punk'd was being revived with Justin Bieber replacing Kutcher as the host; however it stated that Kutcher would remain as executive producer.

The first episode of the ninth season, featuring Bieber as a guest host, was filmed in late August 2011. On December 31, 2011, MTV confirmed that the series would be revived in 2012, and that a different celebrity guest host would be featured each episode. Confirmed celebrity guest hosts include Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Kellan Lutz, Bam Margera, and Dax Shepard, while celebrities that have been "punked" for the revival include Khloe Kardashian, Demi Lovato, and Tyler Posey. They have also confirmed that Kutcher will remain as executive producer for the revival. The series will return for its revival on March 29, 2012.

Controversy and conflict

• On The Late Show with David Letterman, Kutcher mentioned "punking" David Spade in one of the show's first episodes. However, Spade refused to sign the release papers. The same prank was then used on Seth Green for the same episode.
• Alias star Michael Vartan reportedly refused to sign the release after being punked by Kutcher, preventing the prank from airing. However, Vartan denies ever being punked, and claims that the story was completely false.
• During his interview of Kutcher for Interview, actor Brad Pitt advised Kutcher not to prank his Ocean's Eleven co-star George Clooney, a notorious expert prankster himself. Pitt told Kutcher, "Don't do it. Don't ever go near it. Clooney will kill you and everything you love. I know it's tempting, but don't do it."
• Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has stated that she does not wish to be Punk'd, and is so paranoid that she often assumes she is being Punk'd whenever any suspicious or out of the ordinary mishap occurs, as when, for example, a valet gives her the wrong car when leaving a restaurant, which Kutcher's crew members did to Simon Cowell during the Season 5 Premiere.
• Scrubs star Zach Braff was involved in a prank with teenagers vandalizing his car. Braff was so furious that he almost proceeded to, in his own words, "pummel" a twelve-year old.

Episodes

Main article: List of Punk'd episodes

Celebrities who have been Punk'd

• List of celebrities who have been Punk'd by name

International versions

• An Icelandic version of the show, Tekinn, hosted by Auðunn Blöndal, premiered on Sirkus TV in fall 2006.
• A Norwegian version, Lurt av Karlsen hosted by Jan Fredrik Karlsen, premiered on TV2 4. march 2010.
• A Hong Kong version, Whatever Things!, was hosted by Edison Chen, in which he pranked famous Asian artists like Vanness Wu.
• A Dutch version, Gotcha was hosted by Georgina Verbaan for the first season and Tatum Dagelet for the second.
• An Arab version called الكاميرا الخفية (The Hidden Camera).
• An Indian Version called MTV Bakra was initiated by Cyrus Broacha airing from 2007.
• In Iraq there was a show, Put Him in Bucca, where fake bombs were planted in celebrities cars and they were threatened with death and prison.
• In Romania there is a show broadcast and produced by Intact Media Group, who run host TV station Antena 1. It is called "Plasa de stele" (A trap for stars) and it has been broadcast for over 2 years.
• In the Philippines a version of the show called "Victim" was a short lived Prank show pranking celebrities the host was Actor/Model/VJ/Fitness Guru/singer Carlos Agassi the show lasted for one season and in one year in 2005-2006 on ABS-CBN and re-aired on sister networks Studio 23 and MTV Philippines (Now MTV Asia)
• In Japan the show is called ドッキリ　パニックフェイス (Surprise Panic Face) where famous comedians and celebrities are punk'd.

Canada

• MuchMusic

See also

• The Jamie Kennedy Experiment – a similar television show

External links

• Official website
• Punk'd at the Internet Movie Database
• Punk'd at TV.com