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7113. TOTALLY HIDDEN VIDEO Debut 7/9/89
11/5/89
11/12/89
11/19/89
11/26/89
12/10/89
1/7/90
1/13/90
Host: Steve Skrovan

7114. TOTALLY HIDEN VIDEO: 2/17/90
thru
11/10/90
TOTALLY
HIDDEN VIDEO
I chuckle along with this half-hour de-
scendant of Candid Camera. Like any
other voyeuristic book, but answered in
a more interesting way. I wonder if it's
been around when a television critic
asked: Is there a place where we can
not only uncover secrets that
they've covered, Canada, but get them
to take an oath? "I solemnly swear to
uphold the laws of Canada." But
isn't it also a little amusing? And if
people will eat up your favorite with out-
door off to please a TV host, what ty-
ranny will they resist?
Okay, maybe it's better not to dwell
on the implications of people's behavior
in absurd situations, and no judgment about
the invaded privacy of the victims. After
all, they have all signed releases allow-
ing the videotape to be shown. It's their
backside. And we are all eavesdrop-
pers at heart, aren't we?
The format is the usual: hidden cam-
eras record the reactions of people who
walk into elaborately laid traps. When
a gum-slicked frozen-yogurt machine
wouldn't stop pouring, some customers
were more frustrated than others. Three
teenage boys got the staggering giggles
while a take-charge junior-executive
type demanded the clerk do something
about it. Very funny, and not humiliating
for the targets, most of whom seemed
to enjoy the situation in a panicky sort
of way. Another amusing outing had a
young woman slipped into a duffel bag
and left on a sidewalk, where she
pleaded with passersby to let her out.
One cautious gentleman wanted to help
but felt he should
get the proper authorities first.
The host, Steve Skrovan (about), per-
forms as an actor in many of the
tricks, so Alan Frank used to do before
he was widely recognized. Frank had a
way of taking the line out of his dry-
giggling laugh by talking about how
beautiful and unpredictable people
would be. Skrovan could use a bit more
of that approach. There is a little of
the comedy-club wise guy about him.
Americans do show an amazing equal
mood for being victimized, even if they
get on in advance of this kind. But that
may be a sign of our cynical and
good-natured attitude. I had to admire
the adventurous spirit, if not the wea-
pons, of the young woman who agreed
to a new beauty treatment involving
hanging her from a tether by her hair.
Fun is previously aired by Fox's To-
tally Hidden Video (Sundays at 8:30
PM [ET]), claiming that the show is
a rip-off of Candid Camera. So it may
be, but I agree with the producers that
the idea of hidden cameras is too obvi-
ous to be owned by anyone. Fun's
more serious charge was that THV was
undermining the audience, using actors
in the roles of victims.
The producers tell me that in the
pilot show, which never aired, some
victims were played by people who were
in on the gag. But they assure me that
they now eschew this disgraceful
practice, inflicting their deceptions hon-
estly. We certainly trust so; there's a
difference between a joke and a dirty
trick.

7115. TOTALLY HIDDEN VIDEO:
11/17/90 thru 8/17/91

7116. TOTALLY HIDDEN VIDEO:
9/7/91 thru 7/31/92
SKY DIVERS 8-25-93

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7117. THE WORLD'S MOST IMAGINATIVE
COMMERCIALS. Host: David Leisure
Watch great commercials-uninterrupted
by those annoying programs. 5/2/90
CLIO AWARDS: 12/14/90
A WORD
FROM OUR
SPONSOR
Hosts: Crystal
Bernard & Phil
Hartman.
10/1/92
TV's FUNNIEST COMMERCIALS:
Host: Patrick Duffy.
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR II.
Host: Phil Hartman. 9/23/93
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
SANTA
12/1/93
CBS Morning News weatherman Mark
McEwen hosts Brought to You by Santa,
a collection of holiday commercials from
Christmases past and present.
YOUR FAVORITE COMMERCIALS:
Host: Malcolm-Jamal Warner. 4/3/94
From: France, Japan, Great Britain
and Australia.
CLIO AWARDS: 10/31/94
Host: Kelsey Grammer.

7118. COMMERCIALS:
Concl. of 1994 CLIO AWARDS 10/31/94
WORLD'S FUNNIEST COMMERCIALS:
Host: Leslie Nielsen. 11/9/94
GREATEST COMM'L EVER MADE.
From 50 years of TV. 3/15/95
CLIO AWARDS: 1995 Host: Josie
Bissett & Jon Cryer. 11/27/95
CLIO AWARDS; 1996. Host: Bill
Maher. 10/29/96
BEST COMM'L'S YOU'VE NEVER SEEN
(AND SOME YOU HAVE) 5/9/98
From around the world.
BEST COMM'L'S, ETC. 2/6/99
TOP TEN (COMMERCIALS): 11/13/99