Candid Camera
Candid Camera is a long-running television series, created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially appeared on radio as Candid Microphone in the 1940s, then screened in the United States in the 1950s, with local versions produced around the world.
Related Topics:
Television series - Allen Funt - Radio - 1940s - United States - 1950s
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The show involved scenarios in which unwitting members of the public would be placed in a situation where unusual things began happening (caused by actors hired by the producers as well as various props, some ingenious).
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The victim of the prank's reactions would be filmed by a concealed camera, and at some stage the joke is finally revealed to them.
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Writer Woody Allen got his start writing for the show in the 1960s and performed in some scenarios; so did Buster Keaton and Muhammad Ali.
Related Topics:
Woody Allen - 1960s - Buster Keaton - Muhammad Ali
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The show was very much a precursor to the late 1990s explosion of so-called reality television, in that its humor was based around putting "real people" in unreal situations. In the sixties and seventies Candid Camera produced over ten tapes of adult-oriented (but not pornographic) stunts and hidden camera gags called Candid Candid Camera. (For example, a man is hired as a hypnotist's assistant and then a beautiful new lady patient disrobes while hypnotized.)
Related Topics:
1990s - Reality television - Sixties - Seventies - Tapes - Candid Candid Camera - Hypnotist's
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The show often played its hidden camera pranks on celebrities as well. One memorable episode had actress Ann Jillian (who is Lebanese) scheduled to make a small donation to a Lebanese charity. Just before she is confronted by police officers who inform her that the man running this charity is in fact a well known swindler and con artist. They convince her to donate a MUCH larger amount with the assurance that as soon as he accepts the check they will come in and arrest him. However, when she does so, the cops are nowhere to be found and she is forced into acting like she had intended to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars all along. Another popular stunt is to appear to eat a goldfish in a public crowd. The "goldfish" would actually be a slice of carrot.
Related Topics:
Ann Jillian - Lebanese
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Latest news on candid camera
Quintessential TSA stupidity: taking airline cutlery away from a pilot
Salon's Patrick Smith, author of the excellent Ask the Pilot column relates the incredibly frustrating -- and quintessential -- story of the day a surly TSA screener confiscated the airline-issue, safe-certified knife from his luggage (part of his hotel stayover emergency kit): "No, this is no good. You can't take this." "Why not?" "It's serrated." He is talking about the little row of teeth along the edge. Truth be told, the knife in question, which I've had for years, is actually smaller and less sharp than the knives currently handed out by my airline to its first- and business-class customers. You'd be hard-pressed to cut a slice of toast with it. "Oh, come on. It is not." "What do you call these?" He runs his finger along the minuscule serrations. "Those ... but ... they ... it ..." "No serrated knives. You can't take this." "But sir, how can it not be allowed when it's the same knife they give you on the plane!" "Those are the rules." "That's impossible. Can I please speak to a supervisor?" "I am the supervisor." There are those moments in life when time stands still and the air around you seems to solidify. You stand there in an amber of absurdity, waiting for the crowd to burst out laughing and the "Candid Camera" guy to appear from around the corner. Except the supervisor is dead serious. Realizing that I'm not getting my knife back, I try for the consolation prize, which is getting the man to admit, if nothing else, that the rule makes no sense. "Come on," I argue. "The purpose of confiscating knives is to keep people from bringing them onto planes, right? But every person on my flight was legally handed one of these knives with their meals. How can you ... I mean ... it just ... At least admit to me that it's a dumb rule." "It's not a dumb rule." Link (via Schneier!)...
Jonathan Routh
Broadcaster responsible for Candid Camera who wrote The Good Loo Guide and painted nuns.
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