Punk'd: Harmless Reality TV or Public Menace?

For those of us that don't know, Punk'd is a show on MTV (the creators of Reality TV) that features Ashton Kutcher playing pranks on celebrities, and on occasion an ordinary person. Not a particularly original idea. The pranks range from harmless and annoying to tasteless and dangerous. Although I've never seen anything over the line.

Until yesterday. In a prank against Serena Williams Ashton had a 13 year-old drive an SUV on a public street in mid-day traffic. In addition, the underage driver was playing cat and mouse. I must say, I object. While this is not only potentially dangerous, the kid is breaking the law! Even if it were the case that California (assumed the state) started licensing 13 year-olds, this kid is probably not experienced enough to handle and SUV in car chase conditions.

Perhaps the kid was 16 and posing as 13. Perhaps he is trained. But what kind of example for other teenagers is this? Sure they say "Don't try this at home" but seriously...thats protection for the network, not for the general public.

Thoughts?

 

Menace. I can't figure out Kutcher's appeal, as he has no discernible talent. Bad things need to happen to him. I hope someone just hauls off and decks him for what he is doing.

 

bad idea, kids will imitate it and think they 're funny, but instead get beat, just like that show with BAM and Jonny Knoxville

 

When he sticks to harmless, dumb pranks that's fine..but the above scenario is illegal and deadly. Besides, Topher Grace and the guy who plays Hyde are better characters on That 70's Show.

 

Great idea! I love that show, even though Ashton occationally puts down Bush. (Hey, I never said Ashton was smart) That show is funny and any kid who tries to imatate it has parental problems, not problems with TV.

 

I think the show is stupid, but then again that goes along with the network it's on and the actor who is featured.

The problem is not that it is on TV, some people may actually enjoy the show (I don't know why but they may find it amusing.)

Children, especially those who will be influenced by it shouldn't be watching the program. The parents should regulate what the child watches and observe what is happening in their own home.

So it isn't a public menace (unless we are discussing how bad of a show it is.) What is bad is parents who don't pay attention to what is going on. The child shouldn't be watching the show.

-Seldon

 

MTV rots the brain.

 

Well, one of my best friends moved out to L.A. a couple years ago, and got himself a job in Hollywood with an Art Department Studio, who does a lot of the work for Punk'd, Playboy TV and other MTV shows.

So my buddy has been on the set and helped punk every celebrity on the show since Season 2, he tells me all the stories, and it seems like harmless fun.

I mean, its fun to see what these celebs are like under pressure no?

 

Basically, I see this as being a big waste of airtime. It's just stupid, and one day it'll bit everyone incvolved in the ass. Then, I won't have to worry about it for years to come...until the next show of it's kind comes out.

We've seen before the types of things that could happen to someone in these prank shows, and it ain't pretty. To toy with someone's life this way is just wrong.

But that's TV for you. There's gotta be anough idiots out there watching this to justify keeping it on the air.

Harmless reality? Not really.

Public menace? Only insofar as it kills braincells, but other than that...

I weep for humanity.



b4k4^2

 

Its a great show and I think its genius, actually. Celebrities arent more important than you or me. What they have to say isnt more relevant that what you or I say. We live in an age of celebrity worship and it doesnt bother me one bit that a guy like Kutcher, who seems to be about the most down to earth, I-realize-I-only-have-about-fifteen-minutes-of-fame type of celeb does this kind of thing. It also shows you which celebrities have decent heads on their shoulders and good senses of humor. Like Haile Berry. I would have never thought that she was cool like that until I saw her Punk'd session.

 

She also accepted her Razzie for Catwoman graciously.

 

I think this is a great show. Probably the best on MTV which is saying a lot. I think it's great to see celebrities get pissed off or put in awkward positions.

 

Agreed that parents are ultimately responsible for the behavior of their children. If violence, or even bad role models were the menace then this thread would include much more than Punk'd.

I still think that Punk'd is a menace. What gives them the right to break the law (assuming the kid wasn't licensed) and broadcast it on national TV? I imagine law enforcment catering to the entertainment studios because it is after all, Hollywood. But really, where is the line? Letting underage kids drive? Whats next, allowing real cocaine to be snorted in a scene for realism? It sounds extreme now, but give it 10 years....

For full disclosure...I love Jackass and shows like that. For some reason I love laughing at voluntarily taking a pool ball to the crotch, or at skaters snapping their leg while grinding a rail.

 

Well, with this particular show I have to say my feelings are more ambivalent. Mostly because these are celeberties, and they appear to be peopple Kutcher has at least met before. So as long as they stay harmless, I don't think that the "Punk'd" show is too bad.

However, in general, I think it's part of a terrible trend. The much worse version is the show "Boiling Point."

They do mean-spirited thinsg to normal people on this show, and then at the end everything's supposed to be okay because they give the person some paltry sum and put them on TV. I tihnk that's a terrible insult to the people's dignity, in the first place.

On another level, though, I don't much like the idea of these kinds of pranks. They seem to be tied to this same kind of idea like the "It's okay to make off-color jokes, because I know they're racist" mentality. The truth is their not okay. To say "just joking" doesn't really negate the fact that you might have treated someone terribly, or done something wrong. I don't think it's a healthy thing.

So yes, I object to this show, and all the shows of its ilk.

 

However, in general, I think it's part of a terrible trend. The much worse version is the show "Boiling Point."

They do mean-spirited thinsg to normal people on this show, and then at the end everything's supposed to be okay because they give the person some paltry sum and put them on TV. I tihnk that's a terrible insult to the people's dignity, in the first place.

I completely agree. "Boiling Points" represents everything that is wrong with American entertainment. I am going to laugh my face off when one of the contestants pulls a gun on the "pranksters."

 

That show is an outright menace.

It's destroying the good morals and security of the slowly desintegrating society we live in. In another fifty years, the economy's going to be in the toilet, we'll be at war, and everything's gonna be on fire.

All thanks to Ashton Kutcher (and Harry Truman)

 

I am NOT a fan of this show at all, due to one prank in particular that was well on the way to getting out of control.

The thing is, Ashton Kuchter could have set up the prank in such a way that it would not have even come close to getting out of control. That is one show I will not watch.

 

Isn't reality TV <i>already</i> a public menace?

But seriously, I hate reality TV in general. This show is just one of its stupider manifestations.

 

On another level, though, I don't much like the idea of these kinds of pranks. They seem to be tied to this same kind of idea like the "It's okay to make off-color jokes, because I know they're racist" mentality. The truth is their not okay. To say "just joking" doesn't really negate the fact that you might have treated someone terribly, or done something wrong. I don't think it's a healthy thing.

You just named the reasons I like that show.

Kinda funny how different people are, huh?

 

I think Punk'd is a dumb program. I couldn't stand watching even a full episode of it without rolling my eyes.

 

I may sound like an old fogie, but I yearn for the days of Candid Camera and TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Dick Clark and Ed McMahon. I also like the Jamie Kennedy Experiment better than Punk'd, but I guess everyone can recognize Jamie Kennedy. Enough rambling.