Just for Laughs Gags
Just for Laughs Gags is a Canadian silent comedy and hidden camera reality television series created by Pierre Girard and Jacques Chevalier. It is part of the Just for Laughs brand.
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, depending on natural audio in the setting, along with additional sound effects and music.
Production
On 21 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 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.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 United Kingdom 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.- Antoine Laurier
- 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-Andrée Poulin
- Marie-Ève Larivière
- Marie-Ève Verdier
- Marie-Pierre Bouchard
- Mathilde Laurier
- Maude Croteau
- Maude Laurier
- Nadja David
- Pascal Babin
- Philippe Bond
- Rebecca Laurier
- Richard Ledoux
- Richardson Zéphir
- Sonia Butterworth
- Ted Pluviose
Reception
With its silent format and no translation required, 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.Reactions to the gags range from "inane" to cross-culturally funny. 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.
American version
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 2007–08 [Writers Guild of America strike|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.
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.
Seasonal Nielsen ratings
Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of Just for Laughs on ABC:| Season | Episodes | Timeslot | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers |
| 1 | 17 | Tuesday 8:00 PM | 17 July 2007 | 6 November 2007 | 2006–07 [United States network television schedule|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 |