Just for Laughs Gags
Also known asJust for Laughs
GenreComedy
Created byPierre Girard
Jacques Chevalier
Country of originCanada
Original languagesSilent
Interjection
French
English
No. of seasons23 (as of 2023)
No. of episodes3,000+
Production
ProducerJust for Laughs
Production locationsCanada (cities of Quebec, Montreal and Vancouver)
Mexico
Running time15–22 minutes
Original release
Network
Release26 December 2000 (2000-12-26) –
present (present)
Related
Just for Laughs (British TV series)
Just for Laughs Gags Asia
Just Kidding
Candid Camera

Just for Laughs Gags (French: Juste pour rire les gags) is a Canadian silent comedy/hidden camera reality television series that is under the Just for Laughs brand[1] created by Pierre Girard and Jacques Chevalier.[2]

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 music.

Production

On 26 December 2000, Just for Laughs 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 and also Laff 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.[3]

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 spin-off, Just Kidding, which consists exclusively of kids playing pranks on adults.

Cast

This section requires specific casting related to Just for Laughs Gags.[4]

Reception

A gag on Just for Laughs Gags

With its silent format and no translation required (outside of gag set-up commentary which is easily localised), in three years Just for Laughs Gags reached 70 countries and by 2015 had been purchased for use in over 130 countries throughout the world as well as in airports and by airlines.[6][7]

Reactions to the gags range from "inane"[8] to cross-culturally funny.[9] The same distributors also distribute Surprise Sur Prise, a similar show.

Bruce Hills, who is COO of the company responsible for the show, thinks that the reason why it is in demand among TV channels is because of its feature of expressing to audiences without language.[6]

Just for Laughs (American TV series)

Just for Laughs Gags
Also known asJust 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
Original release
NetworkABC
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 2007–08.

It returned to the schedule on 1 January 2008, before being cancelled on 12 May 2008. On 4 June 2009, it was announced that a third season would begin airing on 21 June 2009.[10]

Program Partners brought the show back to the United States for a fourth season beginning in fall 2015; this season aired in first-run syndication.[11]

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
1117 July 2007
2224 July 2007
3331 July 2007
447 August 2007
5514 August 2007
6621 August 2007
7728 August 2007
884 September 2007
9911 September 2007
101018 September 2007
111125 September 2007
12122 October 2007
13139 October 2007
141416 October 2007
151523 October 2007
161630 October 2007
17176 November 2007

Season 2 (2008)

No.
overall		No. in
season		Original airdate
1811 January 2008
1928 January 2008
20315 January 2008
21422 January 2008
22529 January 2008
2365 February 2008
24712 February 2008
25819 February 2008
26926 February 2008
27104 March 2008
281111 March 2008
291218 March 2008
301325 March 2008
31141 April 2008

Season 3 (2009)

No.
overall		No. in
season		Original airdate
32121 June 2009
33228 June 2009
3435 July 2009
35412 July 2009

YouTube channel

The show has an official YouTube channel. As of March 2023, the channel had at least 7.3K videos.[12]

Lawsuit

In 2014, an 83-year-old woman was preparing to sue Just for Laughs for child related pranking.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Just for Laughs Gags Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine "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. ↑ Eddie Brawley (7 June 2016). "The Strange Phenomenon of Just For Laughs' Canadian Prank Series". Vulture.
  3. ↑ "THE WHOLE WORLD'S LAUGHING WITH PPI. JUST FOR LAUGHS GAGS CLEARS 75% FOR SEPTEMBER 2015" from PPI (March 2015)
  4. ↑ Just for Laughs Gags (TV Series 2001– ) - IMDb, retrieved 8 October 2022
  5. ↑ "Comment la vie a-t-elle piégé Denis Levasseur ?". L'express Montcalm (in French). 25 January 2019.
  6. 1 2 Carmel Kilkenny (8 January 2015). "Just for Laughs: Gags – 15 years growing around the world". Radio Canada International.
  7. ↑ Zarzycki, Nick (31 May 2019). "The cost of cringe: Does Just for Laughs: Gags go too far?". National Post. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  8. ↑ 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).."
  9. ↑ 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."
  10. ↑ "ABC Revives "Just for Laughs"". The Futon Critic. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  11. ↑ "NATPE 2015: Fall 2015 Syndication; Buzzr TV: New Game Show Multicast Network Launches This Summer" from Sitcoms Online (22 January 2015)
  12. ↑ "NICK ZARZCYKI: The cost of cringe - Does Just for Laughs: Gags go too far?". Saltwire. 30 May 2019.
  13. ↑ Marie-Eve Dumont (1 August 2014). "'Traumatized' senior sues 'Just for Laughs Gags,' over". Toronto Sun.

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