Punk'd
| Punk’d | |
|---|---|
2012 series title card
|
|
| Created by |
Ashton Kutcher Jason Goldberg |
| Starring | Ashton Kutcher (2003–2007) Celebrity guest hosts (2012) King Bach and DeStorm Power (2015–) |
| Theme music composer | Elizabeth Miller Brian Friedman (Theme) Ricky Friedman (Theme) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 76 (through 2012) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jason Goldberg Ashton Kutcher (2003–2012) David R. Franzke Billy Rainey Lois Clark Curren Rod Aissa |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Katalyst Media (2003–07 & 2012) |
| Distributor | Trifecta Entertainment & Media |
| Release | |
| Original network |
MTV (2003–2012) BET (2015–present) |
| Original release |
Original series: March 17, 2003 – May 5, 2007 Revival series: March 29, 2012 – June 7, 2012 BET series: August 18, 2015 – October 6, 2015 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Punk'd is an American hidden camera-practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears 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. New episodes hosted by King Bach and DeStorm Power air on BET.
Originally, Ashton Kutcher and MTV were developing a series called Harassment, a hidden camera show which would feature pranks on regular people. However, a January 2002 prank involving a fake dead body at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas backfired and the couple who were targets of the prank sued Kutcher, MTV, and the hotel for $10 million. The concept was later retooled to involve celebrities instead. 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 taxes. The prank was named by Time magazine as #3 in their list of 32 Epic Moments in Reality-TV History.
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. Several actors, like Jill Wagner, Masi Oka, B.J. Novak, Caitlyn Taylor Love, Dax Shepard, and Carlos McCullers II were accomplices in the pranks.
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