Impractical Jokers

A typical episode is a series of competitive games of dares in which each cast member, or "joker", receives either a thumbs up or thumbs down for his performance. At the climax, the joker who tallied the most thumbs down is the loser and is thereby subjected to a "punishment" (usually involves public embarrassment). The games are contrived scenarios in which one joker is challenged to embarrass himself by engaging with unwitting members of the general public, receiving commands from the other jokers who are orchestrating and surveying the bizarre scenario from behind the scenes with covert surveillance equipment. The most common premise is that a joker will immediately lose a challenge if he refuses to follow any instructions given by the other three. Some games involve all four jokers competing at once to be the first to reach a stated goal.

The intro describes the show as "scenes of graphic stupidity among (four) lifelong friends who compete to embarrass each other." The games are loosely structured, relying heavily upon improvisation. The show's comedic themes range from witty dialogue to slapstick routines, with the reactions of both the jokers and the members of the public serving as punchlines.

Intertitle from Season 3 to the first half of Season 9. From left to right: Q, Murr, Sal, and Joe.

Joe Gatto, James "Murr" Murray, Brian "Q" Quinn and Sal Vulcano are four friends and former classmates from Monsignor Farrell High School in Staten Island, New York. Gatto, Murray and Vulcano were original members of the live improv and sketch comedy troupe the Tenderloins in 1999. They transitioned to producing more comedy material on the internet, with Quinn replacing former Tenderloin Mike Boccio in 2006.[9] In 2007, the Tenderloins won the $100,000 grand prize in NBC's It's Your Show competition.

In 2008, they filmed a pilot episode for a scripted sitcom for Spike TV, but the show did not go to series. TruTV announced Impractical Jokers, originally slated to be named Mission: Uncomfortable, on April 12, 2011, eight months before the show's debut. Murray explained how the hidden camera format made sense based on the jokesters' skills. "We needed to find the right format... thing is, we've been doing this for years, but when it's on camera, the embarrassment is amplified."[10] Vulcano said "We wanted to utilize our improv strengths … put ourselves into a situation where we know we can be funny and also ourselves. If we’re ourselves and also showcase our friendship, something might resonate there."[11] The concept of feeding each other lines using an earpiece was inspired from talk show host David Letterman feeding neighboring storeowner Rupert Jee lines on Late Show with David Letterman.[11] Quinn and Vulcano have said when they gave their pilot episode to TruTV, it was recorded on their iPhones. At the time that they pitched the idea to TruTV, Murray was VP of Development for NorthSouth Productions, the company that has produced the series since its inception. Murray describes the show as an "upside-down hidden-camera show where the joke is on us, instead of the public. So it takes away the thing people hate about hidden-camera shows, which is, 'Oh, I feel bad for the people getting pranked.' We're messing with each other. The public is just there to witness our embarrassment."[12]

On December 31, 2021, Joe Gatto announced on his Instagram that he would be leaving Impractical Jokers after nine seasons.[13][14] Shortly thereafter, Quinn, on behalf of Murray and Vulcano, sent well wishes for Gatto and announced that Impractical Jokers would continue working despite Gatto's absence in 2022.[15] Subsequently, Paste reported that TruTV and HBO Max had removed "several episodes featuring Gatto in compromising situations" from their platforms.[16] On February 14, 2022, the show announced that the season would proceed with a lineup of various celebrity guests.[3]

Prior to every challenge, the Jokers explain where they are and what the challenge is. Often (but not always) the cast member(s) performing the prank wears an earpiece, while the others have a mic in a covert location. Cameras are hidden near the area to capture the action. The challenge location is usually a public area in or around New York City such as a city park, or store. The criteria of each challenge are the same for each of the Jokers competing in the round. If the Joker cannot or refuses to complete their task, they get a thumbs-down. At the end of the episode, the Joker(s) with the most thumbs down receives a punishment. The punishments cannot be refused, lest they be kicked off the show,[12] and are usually more embarrassing, humiliating, disgusting, painful, scary, or dangerous than any of the other challenges.

As of the 2017–18 television season, the series is syndicated to American broadcast stations by Trifecta Entertainment & Media, with a clearance rate of 85% of television homes.[17] Internationally, the series airs on Citytv in Canada, late nights on E4 in the UK and E.tv in South Africa.[18][19][20]

The cast consists of four long-time friends, collectively on the show referred to as "Jokers".

• A British version of Impractical Jokers began airing in winter 2012 on BBC Three. It starred comedians Paul McCaffrey, Joel Dommett, Marek Larwood and Roisin Conaty.[30] The pilot was filmed and placed online as part of "The Comedy Kitchen" in 2012. The first series included six episodes, which aired from November 15 to December 20, 2012. The second series also included six episodes, and aired from February 24 to April 2, 2014. It was produced by Yalli Productions.[31] It was cancelled after Series 2 in April 2014, mainly due to its unpopularity. However, more recently, Comedy Central and Channel 5 picked up the rights to co-produce a third season of Impractical Jokers UK with Yalli Productions, starring Late Night Gimp Fight. It aired from 2016 - 2017.[32]
• A Dutch version was broadcast on Veronica TV in 2012, called De Fukkers. In 2015 a new version started at RTL 5, named Foute Vrienden. The series ran for 5 seasons, ending in 2019. A third All-Female version started in 2018 called Foute Vriendinnen.[33]
• A Belgian (Flemish) version broadcast on 2BE in the fall of 2012, titled Foute Vrienden. James Murray appeared in episode 5 of the first season.[34] The second season, which started in March 2014, included 10 episodes.
• A Brazilian version is currently being broadcast on SBT titled Amigos da Onça. The series premiere aired on January 7, 2013[35] and ended on August 13, 2013. James Murray appeared in episode 3 of the second season.
• A Lebanese version was broadcast on Al Jadeed in the fall of 2013.
• A Mexican version broadcast on TBS Latin America started on May 20, 2015 with the title Impractical Jokers.
• A Greek version was broadcast on Ant1 in February 2014 with the title Wanted.
• A French-language Canadian version was broadcast on V on February 24, 2014 with the title Les Jokers.
• A Swedish version was broadcast on TV6 in April 2014 with the title Radiostyrd.
• A Spanish version was broadcast on Neox in 2014 with the title Sinvergüenzas.
• An Egyptian version was released in 2015 with the title Al Mohayesoun.[36]
• A Russian version was broadcast on Che in 2018 and 2019 with the title Shutniki (Шутники)[37]
• An Australian version starring comedy duo The Inspired Unemployed premiered August 9, 2023 on Network 10 and Paramount+.

Impractical Jokers has been well received by most critics, with Linda Stasi of the New York Post calling it "possibly the funniest, most ridiculous show I've seen in years."[38]

While it has been compared to earlier hit prank shows such as Candid Camera and Jackass, critics have offered praise for its unique twist on the genre, wherein the stars' reactions to the pranks are often equally as humorous as those of the innocent bystanders. Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times stated that "the gag pays off twice: once in the reaction of the unsuspecting passer-by, once in the discomfort of the fellow doing the asking." He later wrote that the cast-members' occasional integrity "[kept] these four clowns a little bit lovable."[39] Dean Robbins of The Daily Page echoed this sentiment, stating that "the friends are jovial rather than Jackass-obnoxious, even rejecting some dares as too offensive."[40]

The series has been generally well received, garnering 1.5 million viewers during its December 15, 2011, premiere.[41]

The review of the show by Variety's Brian Lowry was less positive, ending with this statement: "Nobody will ever confuse Impractical Jokers with high art, certainly, but as low-brow, micro-cost comedy in the context of truTV's programming resources, it's actually quite practical—and occasionally funny."[42]

On February 6, 2023, the borough of Staten Island officially declared the first Monday of every February "Impractical Jokers Day" in honor of the tenth season of the show.[43]

After Gatto's departure in 2022, the show was criticized for losing its quality and original charm.[44][45]

On March 7, 2018, truTV announced that Impractical Jokers was renewed for an eighth season and a feature-length film to begin development in spring 2018, directed by Chris Henchy and produced by Funny or Die. Production on the film began at the end of April 2018. A trailer was released on December 17, 2019, and the movie was released on February 21, 2020.[54][55][56]

TruTV and Built Games developed a mobile game called Impractical Jokers: Wheel of Doom, released in 2018.[57] Wilder Games developed a party game series including Impractical Jokers: Box of Challenges and Impractical Jokers: Ultimate Challenge Pack that were released in 2020.[58][59]

The Official Impractical Jokers Podcast started in 2017, hosted by producers Casey Jost and James McCarthy. Episodes are usually released the day after new episodes have broadcast.[60] Assistant director and producer Chá DeBerry joined the podcast as a host in 2021.[61][62]

• Official website
• Impractical Jokers at IMDb