Just for Laughs Gags

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Just for Laughs Gags
Just for Laughs Gags Logo.png
Just for Laughs Gags title card used since 2017
Also known asJust for Laughs
GenreComedy
Created byPierre Girard
Jacques Chevalier
Country of originCanada
Original languagesSilent
French
English
No. of seasons20 (as of 2020)
No. of episodes3000+
Production
ProducerJust for Laughs
Production locationsCanada (cities of Quebec, Montreal and Vancouver)
Mexico
Running time15 minutes
Release
Original networkTVA
CBC Television
The Comedy Network
TVOntario (Canada)
Original release26 December 2000 (2000-12-26) –
present
Chronology
Related showsJust for Laughs
Candid Camera
External links
Website

Just for Laughs Gags (in French, Juste pour rire les gags) is a Canadian silent comedy/hidden camera reality television show that is under the Just for Laughs brand.[1]

The series uses a hidden camera format, playing pranks on unsuspecting subjects while hidden cameras capture the subjects' responses; each episode presents multiple gags. While some segments have included brief dialogue, most do not contain any sound or dialogue; the audio is replaced with sound effects, a laugh track, and public domain music.

Production[]

On 26 December 2000, JFL: Gags began airing on French Canadian network Canal D. In the following years, the show was picked up by TVA, CBC and The Comedy Network in Canada, BBC1 in the UK, TF1 in France and ABC and Telemundo in the United States; the Canadian version (unlike the ones produced for ABC) aired in the United States in first-run syndication starting in the fall of 2015. That version is distributed by PPI Partners and is available in both weekday strip and weekend runs.[2]

Most segments are filmed in Montreal, while some have been filmed in Quebec City, Vancouver and Mexico. British and Asian versions have been produced in the UK and Singapore, respectively. In 2011 the show spawned a spinoff, Just Kidding, which consists exclusively of kids playing pranks on adults.

Reception[]

With its silent format and no translation required (outside of gag set-up commentary which is easily localized), Just for Laughs: Gags has been purchased for use in over 100 countries throughout the world as well as in airports and by airlines. Reactions to the gags range from "inane"[3] to cross-culturally funny.[4] The same distributors also distribute Surprise Sur Prise, a similar show.

A gag on 'Just for Laughs'

Cast[]

This section requires specific casting related to Just for Laughs: Gags.[5]

  • Claude Talbot;
  • Dany Many;
  • Denis Levasseur;
  • Denise Jacques;
  • Francis Gio Santiago;
  • Jack Martin;
  • Jacques Drolet;
  • Jean Guimond;
  • Jean Kohnen;
  • Jean-Pierre Alarie;
  • Jean Provencher;
  • Keith Law;
  • Kirsteen O'Sullivan;
  • ;
  • Marie-Ève Larivière;
  • Marie-Pierre Bouchard;
  • Nadja David;
  • Pascal Babin;
  • Philippe Bond;
  • Richard Ledoux;
  • Sonia Butterworth;
  • Ted Pluviose.

Pranks[]

In the opening of each prank, the actors introduce how the prank was done and how it will be shown as well. Some examples include:

  • Alien in the bushes: as people pass by a street, bushes shake uttering a strange language. As they try to check it, an alien pops out and chases them away;
  • Hand out of the coffin: a coffin is abandoned in a park and when people pass by, a hand pops out;
  • Stolen tires: an elderly lady asks bystanders to help her carry two tires to her car. But as they do so, they pass a police vehicle which is missing them. They tell the officer that they were the lady's and they were helping her take it to her car but as they look back, she was nowhere to be found;
  • Dead bird in a race: people passing are asked to fire a starting pistol to help start a race. Once they give a shot in the air, a pigeon falls down;
  • Honking at Hookers: a traffic police officer stops drivers and checks their license. Two prostitutes walk by and the officer honks a horn and the women appear to believe the drivers honked at them.
  • Instant Accomplice: stranger's friend or loved ones take part on a prank.

At the end of every prank, the hidden cameras are revealed. During the pranks, actors would also participate as victims for uninvolved bystanders or crowds.

International versions[]

Country Name Network Aired
 Finland Pilanpäiten MTV3 2001 – present
 United Kingdom Just for Laughs BBC One 31 May 2003 – 21 July 2007
 Sri Lanka Siyatha TV 14 April 2017 – present
 United States Just for Laughs ABC and Telemundo
First-run syndication 		17 July 2007 – 12 July 2009
September 2015 – present
 Singapore Just for Laughs Gags Asia and Just for Laughs Gags MediaCorp Channel 5 and DIVA Asia 12 January 2010 – present
 Japan Just for Laughs Fox 2011 – present
 Philippines Just for Laughs Gags Radio Philippines Network GMA Network and TV5, 2002 – 2007
5 November 2011 – August 2012 - (upcoming)
 Russia Radi Smeha (in Russian, Ради Смеха) Ren TV 2012 – present
 Kazakhstan Tek Kúlki úshin (in Kazakh, Тек Күлкі Үшін) NTK TV 2008 – present
 Turkey Komikler (Just for Laughs Gags) Kanal D 2012 – present
 Azerbaijan Just for Laughs Gags Lider TV 2005 – 2016
 Morocco Just for Laughs Gags 2M TV 2010s – present
 Brazil Só Risos (Only Laughs)
Vídeos incríveis (Incredible Videos) 		Rede Bandeirantes de Televisão (terrestrial TV) 15 July 2013 – present
Pegadinhas (Pranks) Viva (pay TV) 5 January 2013 – present
 Kazakhstan Тек Күлкі Үшін HTK 2012 – present
 Hong Kong 笑笑大搞作 ATV 2007
 Taiwan 歡樂夏夏叫 Videoland Television Network
爆笑一籮筐 Eastern Broadcasting Company 2010 – 2014
 Kenya Just for Laughs Gags KTN
 Kosovo Kamera e Fshehur RTK 20?? – present
 Croatia Skrivena kamera
Žuta minuta 		RTL Television 2010 – present
 India Just for Laughs Gags Zee Cafe, , Zee Studio and Pogo 1 January 2004 – present
 Indonesia Just For Laughs Gags Indosiar, RCTI 2013 - present
 Pakistan Just for Laughs Gags Cartoon Network
Filmax 		2008 – 2010
2014 – present
 Serbia Skrivena kamera-Скривена Камера Prva Srpska Televizija
Radio-televizija Srbije 		2010 – present
2017 – present
 Malaysia Just for Laughs Gags and Just for Laughs Gags Asia TV3, NTV7, Disney Channel Asia, DIVA Asia, Astro Ceria & Comedy Central 1 January 2005 – present
 Poland Ale numer! TV Puls 2007 – present
 South Africa Just for Laughs Gags Comedy Central Africa 2012 – present
 Portugal Não há crise! (There's no crisis!) SIC 2008 – present
 Greece Just for Laughs Makedonia TV 2009 – 2016
 Mexico Sólo para Reir (Just for Laughs) Canal 5 (Mexico) 2011 – present
 Peru
 Bosnia and Herzegovina Just for Laughs Gags
Skrivena kamera 		Face TV
FTV 		2015 – present
12 July 2017 – 30 September 2017
 Vietnam Just for Laughs Gags
Đùa chút thôi or Cười lên nào 		2011 – 2012
Vui là chính HTV7 2006
Đùa chút thôi VTV6 2013 - 2014
 Lithuania Just for Laughs Gags
Pričiupom! 		BTV
Info TV 		2019 – present

Just for Laughs[]

Just for Laughs
GenreComedy
Created byRick Miller
Directed byTroy Miller
Presented byRick Miller
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes35
Production
Executive producerTroy Miller
Production locationWarner Brothers Studios
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time23 minutes
Release
Original networkABC
Picture formatNTSC
Original release17 July 2007 (2007-07-17) –
12 July 2009 (2009-07-12)

Just for Laughs is an American sketch comedy show hosted by Rick Miller produced by Dakota Pictures that shows clips from the Canadian version of the show. Good ratings during the summer airings in 2007 and a writer's union strike resulted in ABC adding the show to the network lineup as a mid-season replacement for 2007-2008. It returned to the schedule on 1 January 2008, before being canceled on 12 May 2008. However, on 4 June 2009, it was announced that a third season would begin airing on 21 June 2009.[6] brought the show back to the United States for a fourth season beginning in fall 2015; this season aired in first-run syndication.[7]

Seasonal Nielsen ratings[]

Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of Just for Laughs on ABC:

Season Episodes Timeslot (EDT) Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
1 17 Tuesday 8:00 PM 17 July 2007 6 November 2007 2006-2007 #111 7.06
2 14 Tuesday 8:00 PM 1 January 2008 1 April 2008 2007-2008 #156 4.93
3 4 Sunday 7:30 PM 21 June 2009 12 July 2009 2008-2009 #150 3.90

Season 1 (2007)[]

No.
overall		 No. in
season		 Original Airdate
1 1 17 July 2007
2 2 24 July 2007
3 3 31 July 2007
4 4 7 August 2007
5 5 14 August 2007
6 6 21 August 2007
7 7 28 August 2007
8 8 4 September 2007
9 9 11 September 2007
10 10 18 September 2007
11 11 25 September 2007
12 12 2 October 2007
13 13 9 October 2007
14 14 16 October 2007
15 15 23 October 2007
16 16 30 October 2007
17 17 6 November 2007

Season 2 (2008)[]

No.
overall		 No. in
season		 Original Airdate
18 1 1 January 2008
19 2 8 January 2008
20 3 15 January 2008
21 4 22 January 2008
22 5 29 January 2008
23 6 5 February 2008
24 7 12 February 2008
25 8 19 February 2008
26 9 26 February 2008
27 10 4 March 2008
28 11 11 March 2008
29 12 18 March 2008
30 13 25 March 2008
31 14 1 April 2008

Season 3 (2009)[]

No.
overall		 No. in
season		 Original Airdate
32 1 21 June 2009
33 2 28 June 2009
34 3 5 July 2009
35 4 12 July 2009

Home media[]

  • Just for Laughs Gags 1
  • Just for Laughs Gags 2

References[]

  1. ^ Just for Laughs Gags "This crazy but amazing team of Quebec-based comedian troupe uses the city as its stage, and its inhabitants, or victims, as characters! People are caught in a twisted yet funny web of comedic deception. This updated Candid Camera is a tad more risque and a little kookier with its practical jokes. The little snippets last only a few minutes, and some look more painful than others."
  2. ^ "THE WHOLE WORLD'S LAUGHING WITH PPI. JUST FOR LAUGHS GAGS CLEARS 75% FOR SEPTEMBER 2015" from PPI (March 2015)
  3. ^ Keyan Tomaselli Cultural Tourism and Identity: Rethinking Indigeneity 2012 – Page 29 "The inane Just for Laughs candid camera on the drop-down video screen is interspersed with silent movies on the … Mick Francis … responded to this note: "as a Canadian I must apologize for the Just for Laughs show as it a strange Canadian export filmed in the late 1980s and mysteriously shown around the world" (Francis, personal communication, October 2008).."
  4. ^ Ray Wiss A Line in the Sand: Canadians at War in Kandahar 2010 Page 249 "It was an episode of Gags from the Just for Laughs organization in Montreal. For those who have not seen this, it is reminiscent of Candid Camera: the comedians set up an outlandish situation on a city street or in a mall and capture people's reactions. The Afghans got the jokes and laughed as hard as I did."
  5. ^ "Just for Laughs Gags Cast and Crew" IMDb.
  6. ^ "ABC Revives "Just for Laughs"". The Futon Critic. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  7. ^ "NATPE 2015: Fall 2015 Syndication; Buzzr TV: New Game Show Multicast Network Launches This Summer" from Sitcoms Online (22 January 2015)

External links[]

also at:

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