Candid camera
| Candid Camera | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Comedy reality |
| Created by | Allen Funt |
| Developed by | Allen Funt |
| Presented by |
|
| Narrated by |
Durward Kirby (1960–66) Bess Myerson (1966–67) |
| Theme music composer | Frank Grant |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 38 |
| No. of episodes | 1,000+ |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Allen Funt (1948–92) Bob Banner (1960-67) Peter Funt (1996-2004; 2014) Ben Silverman (2014) |
| Location(s) | Various on-location |
| Camera setup | Single camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Allen Funt Productions (1953; 1960–67; 1974-79; 1983; 1987-88; 1991-92) Bob Banner Associates (1960–67) King World Productions (1991) Candid Camera, Inc. (1996-2004; 2014) Electus (2014) TV Land Original Production (2014) |
| Distributor |
FremantleMedia Enterprises (1974-2004) Electus International (2014) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
ABC (1948–49) NBC (1949–51) Syndication (1951–54) NBC (1954–59) CBS (1959–67) ABC (1974) Syndication (1974–79) NBC (1983) CBS (1987–88) Syndication (1991–92) CBS (1996–2001) PAX (2001–04) TV Land (2014) |
| Picture format |
480i SDTV (1953-2004) 1080i HDTV (2014) |
| Original release | Original version: 1948–54 1960 version: 1960–67 The New Candid Camera: 1974–79 The Candid Camera Show: 1987–88 The All-New Candid Camera: 1991–92 1996 version: 1996–2004 TV Land version: 2014 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Candid Microphone |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Candid Camera is an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone June 28, 1947. After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued into the 1970s. Aside from occasional specials in the 1980s and 1990s, the show was off air until making a comeback on CBS in 1996, before moving to PAX in 2001. This incarnation of the weekly series ended on May 5, 2004, concurrent with the selling of the PAX network itself. Beginning on August 11, 2014, the show returned in a new series with hour-long episodes on TV Land.
The format has been revived numerous times, appearing on U.S. TV networks and in syndication (first-run) in each succeeding decade, as either a regular show or a series of specials. Funt, who died in 1999, hosted or co-hosted all versions of the show until he became too ill to continue. His son Peter Funt, who had co-hosted the specials with his father since 1987, became the producer and host.
The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."
The show often played its hidden-camera pranks on celebrities as well: one episode had actress Ann Jillian scheduled to make a small donation to a Lithuanian charity. When police officers informed her a con artist was behind the charity, they convinced her to donate a much larger amount with the assurance that he would be arrested when he accepted the check. After the arrest attempt, Jillian was told the man was running a legitimate charity, a set-up that forced her into acting as though she had intended to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars all along.
In another episode, the show filmed the reactions of citizens after they saw the former President Harry S. Truman walking down the street. After being advised that the former president and his Secret Service entourage would be taking a walk in downtown Manhattan, the program tracked them with a hidden camera in a van. A young woman who was a champion runner was planted at a street corner they would pass, and she was asking directions from a passerby when she saw Truman and shouted hello. In a stunt suggestive of the classic radio play The Hitchhiker, she then ran around the block so she could be ahead of Truman and was at the next corner where she again said hello to him as he approached. After this was done several times, she asked President Truman if something seemed familiar. The former president replied he expected she had something to do with the van that had been following him, and pointed straight into the camera with his walking stick without turning to look.
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