Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Candid Camera

 Candid Camera
type
TVTItem
 Candid Camera
label
Candid Camera
 Candid Camera
page
CandidCamera
 Candid Camera
comment
A Reality TV show that worked by secretly recording ordinary people's reaction to pranks presenting strange situations staged by the crew.The original show began radio as The Candid Microphone in 1947 and was created and produced by Allen Funt. After a few theatrical live action shorts under that title, the TV version premiered in 1948 and has ran off and on ever since. It used hidden cameras to film ordinary people in unusual situations, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed. When the joke was revealed, the victims would be greeted with the catchphrase "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." Celebrities were regularly featured as well, either as victims of or as participants in a prank. Participants in gags included Woody Allen, Muhammad Ali and Buster Keaton.It is, needless to say, the Trope Namer and Trope Codifier for the Candid Camera Prank.There was a poorly received syndicated version in the 1990s starring Dom De Luise. Another incarnation starred Allen's son Peter Funt and Suzanne Somers, and ran from 1998 until 2000 on CBS, then on PAX until 2004 where Somers was replaced by Dina Eastwood. Another revival began on TV Land in August 2014, retaining Peter Funt, but adding Mayim Bialik as co-host. Some of the pranks in the 2014 version are played by Peter's son Danny.
 Candid Camera
fetched
2023-11-26T01:46:29Z
 Candid Camera
parsed
2023-11-26T01:46:29Z
 Candid Camera
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Candid Camera / int_1787e703
type
Candid Camera Prank
 Candid Camera / int_1787e703
comment
Candid Camera Prank: The whole point of the show. It is the Trope Namer, after all.
 Candid Camera / int_1787e703
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_1787e703
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_1787e703
 Candid Camera / int_18d15922
type
Title Drop
 Candid Camera / int_18d15922
comment
Title Drop: Regularly, when they tell people at the end of the pranks to "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." Additionally, the show films pranks in locations throughout the United States, leading to an extended version of the Catchphrase at the end of the show when the hosts warn us that "Don't be surprised if sometime, somewhere, someplace when you least expect it, someone steps up to you and says 'Smile, you're on Candid Camera!"
 Candid Camera / int_18d15922
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_18d15922
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_18d15922
 Candid Camera / int_1bf94a24
type
The Movie
 Candid Camera / int_1bf94a24
comment
The Movie: Funt made two movies with the same premise — What Do You Say to a Naked Lady? and Money Talks.
 Candid Camera / int_1bf94a24
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_1bf94a24
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_1bf94a24
 Candid Camera / int_2f72ded5
type
Husky Russkie
 Candid Camera / int_2f72ded5
comment
Husky Russkie: Subverted when they tried the trick in Moscow. The blonde pulled the routine on a burly Russian pedestrian...who picked up the 200-pound suitcase and followed her effortlessly.
 Candid Camera / int_2f72ded5
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Candid Camera / int_2f72ded5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_2f72ded5
 Candid Camera / int_389b0e
type
Title Theme Tune
 Candid Camera / int_389b0e
comment
Title Theme Tune: "With our hocus pocus, you're in focus, it's your lucky day! Smile, you're on Candid Camera!"
 Candid Camera / int_389b0e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_389b0e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_389b0e
 Candid Camera / int_3950c1f0
type
Poe's Law
 Candid Camera / int_3950c1f0
comment
Poe's Law: Backfired badly for Allen Funt in Real Life, when a plane he was traveling on was hijacked to Cuba. Some passengers noticed that Funt was on board, and thought the hijacking must be a gag. It wasn't.
 Candid Camera / int_3950c1f0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_3950c1f0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_3950c1f0
 Candid Camera / int_39ba2515
type
Advert-Overloaded Future
 Candid Camera / int_39ba2515
comment
Advert-Overloaded Future: One of the gags of the 2014 season tried to convince people it was here. It involved a television marketed for $89.95 that was a 60" television, but only had 11" of viewable space and the rest was locked into advertising. It even stated on the TV screen itself "picture lock technology," though nobody seemed to notice or comment on that.
 Candid Camera / int_39ba2515
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_39ba2515
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_39ba2515
 Candid Camera / int_40d6724
type
Sound-to-Screen Adaptation
 Candid Camera / int_40d6724
comment
Sound-to-Screen Adaptation: The show began on radio as Candid Microphone.
 Candid Camera / int_40d6724
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_40d6724
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_40d6724
 Candid Camera / int_42839f8b
type
Sound-Effect Bleep
 Candid Camera / int_42839f8b
comment
Sound-Effect Bleep: The 1998 series frequently had bleeped-out swearing from the victims.
 Candid Camera / int_42839f8b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_42839f8b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_42839f8b
 Candid Camera / int_59aa1d0b
type
Recycled IN SPACE!
 Candid Camera / int_59aa1d0b
comment
Recycled IN SPACE!: Candid Candid Camera was a direct-to-video spinoff featuring coarse language and nudity; it aired a few times on HBO in the early 80s.
 Candid Camera / int_59aa1d0b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_59aa1d0b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_59aa1d0b
 Candid Camera / int_62fd5552
type
Bavarian Fire Drill
 Candid Camera / int_62fd5552
comment
Bavarian Fire Drill: The British version once successfully (pretended to have) closed an entire county, only allowing vehicles in as others came out. The American version did a similar prank, except it was the state of Texas that they "closed". The Bavarian fire drill was, in fact, a standard operating procedure for many of the show's pranks, which often involved the pranker (often one of the Funts) dressing up as some sort of public official and seeing how people reacted to some ridiculous rule or law they were supposedly enforcing.
 Candid Camera / int_62fd5552
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_62fd5552
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_62fd5552
 Candid Camera / int_6cac9d40
type
National Anthem
 Candid Camera / int_6cac9d40
comment
National Anthem: One prank involved setting up a fake Canadian border on an isolated road the middle of the US, and then prank the hapless victims who happen to be using the road into thinking they've arrived at the Canadian border and must sing the Canadian national anthem, O Canada, to cross.
 Candid Camera / int_6cac9d40
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_6cac9d40
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_6cac9d40
 Candid Camera / int_85460422
type
Reaching Between the Lines
 Candid Camera / int_85460422
comment
Reaching Between the Lines: There was a stunt where a person talking on the phone suddenly sneezed. The victim, at the other end, was then sprayed with water from a gadget in the receiver. The victims reacted with disgust, at least until Fridge Logic kicked in.
 Candid Camera / int_85460422
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_85460422
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_85460422
 Candid Camera / int_87b73405
type
Signing-Off Catchphrase
 Candid Camera / int_87b73405
comment
Signing-Off Catchphrase: "Don't be surprised if sometime, somewhere, someplace, when you least expect it, someone steps up to you and says... 'Smile, you're on Candid Camera!'" Often preceded by a variant of something like "So whether you're out shopping at the mall, going to the movies, or just relaxing at the cafe after a day at work..."
 Candid Camera / int_87b73405
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_87b73405
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_87b73405
 Candid Camera / int_8a931051
type
Decoy Damsel
 Candid Camera / int_8a931051
comment
Decoy Damsel: Used several times. In one instance, a frail blond Damsel in Distress would be deposited on some street corner with two large suitcases. The suitcases looked identical, but one was empty and the other was filled with concrete, weighing at least 200 pounds. When some big strong man approached, she would ask him to help with her suitcases...then she would pick up the empty suitcase and walk away while the hidden camera recorded the reaction of the poor schmo who tried to pick up the other suitcase. Husky Russkie: Subverted when they tried the trick in Moscow. The blonde pulled the routine on a burly Russian pedestrian...who picked up the 200-pound suitcase and followed her effortlessly.
 Candid Camera / int_8a931051
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Candid Camera / int_8a931051
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_8a931051
 Candid Camera / int_8c30ad0
type
The Television Talks Back
 Candid Camera / int_8c30ad0
comment
The Television Talks Back: Once done on the French version with a victim who was watching Questions pour un champion, just as the guy found the answer to a question about a TV show where people are pranked on tape.
 Candid Camera / int_8c30ad0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_8c30ad0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_8c30ad0
 Candid Camera / int_b20fdfc8
type
Ur-Example
 Candid Camera / int_b20fdfc8
comment
Ur-Example: For many similar successor shows down the ages, like Britain's Game For A Laugh in the 1980s.
 Candid Camera / int_b20fdfc8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_b20fdfc8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_b20fdfc8
 Candid Camera / int_b24ce4b2
type
Rearrange the Song
 Candid Camera / int_b24ce4b2
comment
Rearrange the Song: The show's famous theme song had a different arrangement with each new version of the program. One notable arrangement was the arrangement done by Little Richard.
 Candid Camera / int_b24ce4b2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_b24ce4b2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_b24ce4b2
 Candid Camera / int_c2299d6e
type
Cutting the Knot
 Candid Camera / int_c2299d6e
comment
Cutting the Knot: Sometimes the prank victims got the better of the show. One prank involved a pair of escalators that both went up (they switched the second one so that it went down, leaving any unfortunate passengers stuck on the landing). One woman simply reached down and hit the Emergency Stop button present on all escalators and continued on her way.
 Candid Camera / int_c2299d6e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_c2299d6e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_c2299d6e
 Candid Camera / int_d2c0e2ed
type
Schmuck Bait
 Candid Camera / int_d2c0e2ed
comment
Inverted once when they put, in a public place, a bowl full of money with a sign that said "FREE MONEY". Nobody touched it, assuming it was Schmuck Bait.
 Candid Camera / int_d2c0e2ed
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_d2c0e2ed
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_d2c0e2ed
 Candid Camera / int_fc151e9d
type
Department of Redundancy Department
 Candid Camera / int_fc151e9d
comment
Department of Redundancy Department: The show's full Catchphrase was "Don't be surprised if sometime, somewhere, someplace when you least expect it, someone steps up to you and says.... 'Smile, you're on Candid Camera.'" The latter two, "somewhere" and "someplace" mean essentially the same thing.
 Candid Camera / int_fc151e9d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_fc151e9d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_fc151e9d
 Candid Camera / int_name
type
ItemName
 Candid Camera / int_name
comment
 Candid Camera / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Candid Camera / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera / int_name
 Candid Camera / int_name
itemName
Candid Camera

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Candid Camera
hasFeature
All Part of the Show / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Ate the Spoon / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Candid Camera Prank / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Decoy Damsel / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Jesus Was Way Cool / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Mistaken for an Imposter / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
National Anthem / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
No Such Thing as Bad Publicity / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Reaching Between the Lines / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Rearrange the Song / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Signing-Off Catchphrase / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Take a Number / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
The '40s / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
The Television Talks Back / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
The Wrong Way on the Escalator / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Traffic Wardens / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Women Drivers / int_7e3c015b
 Candid Camera
hasFeature
Husky Russkie / int_7e3c015b