Smile, you’re listening to a podcast about Candid Camera. Created by Allen Funt, Candid Camera was America’s first prank reality show. A case could be made that this show is responsible for the reality television trend that led to a con man being packaged as a “successful businessman” and is now pranking America as prez. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about this pioneering show whilst smiling through their tears.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands.

Cite your sources:   “Candid Camera | Television Academy Interviews.” Television Academy Interviews |, 1997, https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/candid-camera. Accessed 26 January 2025.   Engle, Harrison. “Hidden Cameras and Human Behavior—An Interview with Allen Funt.” ida, 1 October 2000, Hidden Cameras and Human Behavior—An Interview with Allen Funt.   Flagler, J.M. “Student of the Spontaneous.” The New Yorker, 2 December 1960, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1960/12/10/student-of-the-spontaneous.   Funt, Allen, and Philip Reed. Candidly, Allen Funt: A Million Smiles Later. Barricade Books, 1994.   Miller, Robert Nagler. “Q&A: The keeper of ‘Candid Camera’s’ zany TV legacy.” The Jewish News of Northern California, 12 July 2018, https://jweekly.com/2018/07/12/qa-the-keeper-of-candid-cameras-zany-tv-legacy/. Accessed 6 February 2025.   Nussbaum, Emily. Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV. Random House Publishing Group, 2024.   Perry, Gina. “Stanley Milgram and Candid Camera.” Gina Perry, 10 April 2012, https://www.gina-perry.com/2012/04/10/candid-camera/. Accessed 6 February 2025.   Saxon, Wolfgang. “Allen Funt, Creator of 'Candid Camera,' Is Dead at 84.” The New York Times, 7 September 1999, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/07/arts/allen-funt-creator-of-candid-camera-is-dead-at-84.html. Accessed 25 January 2025.   Stewart, Travis. “How “Candid Camera” May Have Destroyed America.” Travelanche, 16 September 2020, https://travsd.wordpress.com/2020/09/16/how-candid-camera-may-have-destroyed-america/.