''Punk'd'' is an American

hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...

– practical joke

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a ...

and

Jason Goldberg Jason Goldberg (born 1972) is an American film and television producer. Goldberg is the producer of the films ''Guess Who'' and '' The Butterfly Effect'' and executive producer of the shows ''Beauty and the Geek'' and ''Punk'd''. He often work ...

, 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 ''TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes'' is an American television series. Debuting as a weekly series, new episodes have been broadcast as infrequent specials during most of its run. It premiered on NBC in 1984, moved to ABC in 1998, and was revived i ...

'', which also featured pranks on

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. Being "punk'd" referred to being the victim of such a prank. New episodes hosted by

King Bach Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...

and

DeStorm Power DeStorm Power ( ) is an American Internet personality who began his career on the social media platform YouTube. Life and career The fourth of eight siblings, Power was born in Arlington County, Virginia and raised in Baltimore, Maryland by h ...

aired on BET. A new reboot of the series hosted by Chance the Rapper premiered on

Quibi Quibi ( ) was a short-lived American short-form streaming platform that generated content for viewing on mobile devices. It was founded in Los Angeles in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg and was led by Meg Whitman, its CEO. The serv ...

in 2020 and moved to

The Roku Channel The Roku Channel is an American over-the-top video streaming service owned and operated by Roku, Inc., which launched in September 2017. History In September 2017, Roku, Inc. launched a free, ad-supported streaming channel for its digital med ...

upon the platform's demise, premiering the second season in December 2021.

History and format

Originally, Ashton Kutcher and MTV were developing a program 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 Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ro ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the 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. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine ranked the prank #3 on its list of 32 Epic Moments in Reality-TV History. Another involved

Frankie Muniz Francisco Muniz IV (; born December 5, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award ...

's special custom-made limited edition Porsche being stolen. 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 ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...

'' 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 Ryan James Pinkston (born February 8, 1988) is an American actor and model. He was a cast member on ''Punk'd'', he played Arnold in the ''Spy Kids'' films, and played Billy Hunkee in '' Soul Plane''. Life and career Pinkston was born in Silver ...

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 Jill Suzanne Wagner (born ) is an American actress and television personality. She was the on-field host for the ABC game show '' Wipeout'' from 2008 to 2014. Since then, Wagner has starred in several made-for-television films for the Hallmark ...

, Masi Oka, B. J. Novak,

Caitlyn Taylor Love Caitlyn Taylor Love (born June 16, 1994) is an American actress and musician. She co-starred in the Disney XD sitcom '' I'm in the Band''. She is the voice of White Tiger/Ava Ayala in the Disney XD animated series '' Ultimate Spider-Man''. Ca ...

, Dax Shepard, and a then-unknown

Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (201 ...

were accomplices in the pranks. The series finale aired on MTV on May 29, 2007, and culminated in early June with the Punk'd Awards.

Revival

In October 2010, ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'' revealed that ''Punk'd'' was being revived with

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

replacing Kutcher as the host; however, it stated that Kutcher would remain as executive producer. After a five-year hiatus, the program was revived with a March 2012 premiere. 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 program would be revived in 2012, and that a different celebrity guest host would be featured each episode, the guests included:

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape ' ...

Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality ...

Hayden Panettiere Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series '' Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the ABC/ CMT musical drama serie ...

, Lucy Hale,

Nick Cannon Nicholas Scott Cannon (born October 8, 1980) is an American television host, actor, rapper, and comedian. In television, Cannon began as a teenager on ''All That'' before going on to host '' The Nick Cannon Show'', ''Wild 'n Out'', ''America's ...

, Dax Shepard, Ashley Tisdale, Demi Lovato,

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...

Heather Morris Heather Elizabeth Morris (born February 1, 1987) is an American actress, dancer, singer, and model. She played the role of Brittany S. Pierce in the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee''. Early life Morris was born in Thousand Oaks, Calif ...

Kellan Lutz Kellan Christopher Lutz (born March 15, 1985) is an American actor and model. He made his film debut in ''Stick It'' (2006), and is best known for playing Emmett Cullen in ''The Twilight Saga'' film series (2008–2012). He has since played Pos ...

Daniel Tosh Daniel Dwight Tosh (born May 29, 1975) is an American comedian, writer, and producer. After graduating from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Marketing, Tosh moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy. His career acceler ...

, and Mac Miller.

made a returning appearance on an episode where he got to punk again. The ninth season ended on June 7, 2012.

BET reboot

On May 25, 2013,

Katalyst Media Katalyst Network was a company founded by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, based in Los Angeles, California. It was the company behind television series such as ''Beauty and the Geek'' and ''Punk'd''. Founding history The company was launche ...

stated that a tenth season was in development. At their 2015 upfronts, BET announced that they would be rebooting the program for their network. Although Katalyst had closed by then Goldberg returned as executive producer with a revival of the Katalyst banner without Kutcher. The reboot is tailored for the network's audience and goes behind the scenes of many pranks. The reboot premiered on August 18, 2015. To promote the program, BET announced the return of '' BET: Uncut'', a block for uncut music videos, on August 11, 2015. In reality, after a revelation and introduction from new hosts,

and

, BET aired highlights from past segments of the program as well as previews for their program.

Quibi reboot

In 2020, it was announced that a new Punk'd reboot would air on the mobile video platform

hosted by Chance the Rapper. After Quibi was shut down in December 2020, on January 8, 2021, Roku bought the rights to Quibi's content library, including ''Punk'd'' for seven years. Season 2 premiered on

on December 10, 2021.

Syndication

Punk'd began in off-network syndication in 2008 and in the fall of that year,

Trifecta Entertainment & Media Trifecta Entertainment & Media is an American entertainment company founded in 2006. The company's founders previously held jobs as executives at MGM Television. Trifecta is primarily a distribution company and also handles advertising sales in exc ...

put it into barter syndication and aired on affiliates of Fox,

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

, and

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

stations. However, as of fall 2012, the show has left local syndication along with '' The Hills'' and ''

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...

'' due to lack of ratings.

References

External links