Tapes on this page: 0 new, 6 already catalogued (7113 on 20260907_124239; 7114 on 20260907_124239; 7115 on 20260907_124239; 7116 on 20260907_124239; 7117 on 20260907_124239; 7118 on 20260907_124239)
## LEFT COLUMN 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 HIDDEN VIDEO: 2/17/90 thru 11/10/90 TOTALLY HIDDEN VIDEO I chuckle along with this half-hour descendant of Candid Camera like any other voyeuristic booby, but sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't be scared instead. It is funny when a television crew can set up a phony Canadian border station next to a California desert town and not only convince motorists that they've entered Canada, but get them to take an oath: "I solemnly swear to uphold the laws of Canada." But isn't it also a little unnerving? And if people will eat yogurt flavored with cod-liver oil to please a TV host, what tyranny will they resist? Okay, maybe it's better not to dwell on the implications of people's behavior in absurd situations, nor to fret about the invaded privacy of the victims. After all, they have all signed releases allowing the videotape to be shown. It's their backside. And we are all eavesdroppers at heart, aren't we? The format is the usual: hidden cameras record the reactions of people who walk into elaborately laid traps. When a gummed frozen-yogurt machine wouldn't stop pouring, some customers were more flustered 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 zipped 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 contact the proper authorities first. The host, Steve Skrovan (above), participates as an actor in many of the setups, as Allen Funt used to do before he was widely recognized. Funt had a way of taking the bite out of his dry-gulching tactics by talking about how delightful and unpredictable people could 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 aptitude for being victimized, sent up and put on in shows of this kind. But that may be a sign of our openhearted and good-natured attitude. I had to admire the adventurous spirit, if not the wisdom, of the young woman who agreed to a new beauty treatment involving hanging her from a raft by her hair. Funt is grievously irked by Fox's Totally Hidden Video (Sundays at 8:30 P.M. [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 obvious to be owned by anyone. Funt's more serious charge was that THV was filmflamming 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 honestly. 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 ## RIGHT COLUMN 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 Newsweatherman 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 COMML'S YOU'VE NEVER SEEN (AND SOME YOU HAVE) 5/9/98 From around the world. BEST COMML'S, ETC. 2/6/99 TOP TEN (COMMERCIALS): 11/13/99