7/18/2007

There was a show on last night, as we say, on “another network”-with the wacky title “Just for Laughs.” It basically is a combination “Candid Camera/Punked” type show- for example, the promo showed someone going into a porta-potty, and suddenly someone’s head sticks out of the bowl, screaming at them. You get the idea.

It occurred to me that this is yet another “original” idea that was taken from European television. Maybe you remember the commercials or half-hour infomercials from a few years ago for a wacky set of videotapes called… “Just for Fun!” It was a cheesy assortment of the same kind of gags on unsuspecting people in public places. I remember this very well, because, the year that these tapes were for sale, we were on vacation, renting a lakeside house with a good friend- and he and I had the wacky background music that they used in the spots and the infomercial running through our heads. You’d see clips of the “fun”- someone sitting by someone on a park bench, then letting out a very loud fake explosion of intestinal gas- someone parking their car, and having a fake fireplug placed next to it, followed by a phony cop writing them a ticket, something that involved women’s skirts being blown up…and it was all obviously shot in Europe, with American voices occasionally dubbed in saying “Yeech!” and things like that. One of the most blatant examples of that was an escalator that had something like Vaseline rubbed on the handrail- and watch the ca-razy reactions of people who put their mitts into it! Then, someone would have a spray bottle, be standing behind someone in a line, then “sneeze’ and spray the bottle onto the person in front of them! Hilarity ensued…

I think there was also a more “naughty” collection of these tapes marketed as a follow-up…with nudity that was censored and covered in the commercials, much like the current “Girls Gone Wild” dvds- except THESE were “Just for Fun!” So, it’s taken maybe 5 years or more for this idea to filter its way from European television, and worldwide tape distribution, to an American television network. Another evolution, like “All in the Family” and “Sanford and Son” being created from original series overseas- actually, more like “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “Deal or No Deal”… if any of you bought those “Just for Fun” tapes back a few years ago, tell me about ‘em- svengoolie@wciu.com - and let’s see if ALL the gags in the brand spanking new American show are the same stuff!