Trigger Happy TV

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

Comedy Central’s new UK Channel 4 import, Trigger Happy TV, is the best hidden-camera show since Allen Funt started this mess with Candid Camera some 50 years ago. It has everything needed for good television—the segments are short, they don’t need any introduction, and most of them are funny—and brings plenty more than other hidden-camera fodder like Spy TV and The Jamie Kennedy Experiment. Comedian Dom Joly is the star of the show, but there are no lame America’s Funniest Home Video–style lead-ins, and the action stays focused on the pranks. Helpless pedestrians are baffled when they’re asked to participate in bike-stealings, suspicious suitcase drop-offs, and random interrogations on the street by uniformed policemen. With quick cuts, the jokes aren’t given the chance to grow tired, and the pedestrians go along with the most ridiculous requests. No introductions, no explanations, no bullshit—just punchlines. Trigger Happy is a quick-hitting show that will keep your trigger finger off the remote.