| truTV Presents: World's Dumbest... | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Crime/Reality/Comedy/Satire |
| Created by | The Smoking Gun |
| Narrated by | Chip Bolcik |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 11 |
| No. of episodes | 130 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | truTV |
| Picture format | 4:3 SD |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original run | March 13, 2008 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
truTV Presents: World's Dumbest... (formerly titled The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest...) is a cable television series produced by Meetinghouse Productions, Inc. and is airing on truTV. Originally known as World's Dumbest Criminals, it is a weekly countdown that takes a comedic look at twenty half-witted and offbeat events caught on camera and sometimes by 911 dispatchers. They are broken down into topics such as Criminals, Drivers, Daredevils, Partiers, etc. It features commentary from comedians and writers such as Roger Lodge, Bryan Callen, Judy Gold, Ted Jessup, Loni Love, Brad Loekle, Chelsea Peretti, Billy Kimball, Daisy Gardner, Nick DiPaolo, John Enos, Mike Trainor, Chuck Nice, Natasha Leggero; as well as celebrities who have had their own brushes with the law, such as Daniel Baldwin, Leif Garrett, Todd Bridges, Tonya Harding, Danny Bonaduce, among others. The show holds a TV-14 rating due to strong language and comedic violence.
Often, sound effects and mock commentators are added to enhance the humor of the events.
In January 2011, the show slightly re-branded itself as "truTV Presents: World's Dumbest...", dropping the "Smoking Gun" branding and redesigning the commentator names-signs, title page, and background brightness in the process.
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Among these, Rob D'Alessandro (Partiers 5), Mike Gadoff (Daredevils), Calvin Collins (Criminals 17), and Busty Heart (Performers 2) spoke about clips in which they had appeared. Rob and Osi also appeared in a parody of the popular Coca-Cola commercial with "Mean" Joe Greene. The Pizarros are from the TruTV show Operation Repo.
Each episode features twenty clips focusing on one of several recurring themes:
| Theme Title | # of Episodes |
|---|---|
| Animal Encounters | 1 episode |
| Bracket Showdown[ep 1] | 1 episode |
| Brawlers | 9 episodes |
| Competitions | 5 episodes |
| Confrontations | 1 episode |
| Criminals[ep 2] | 25 episodes |
| Daredevils | 12 episodes |
| Drivers[ep 3] | 22 episodes |
| Employees | 1 episode |
| Fans | 1 episode |
| Heroes | 1 episode |
| Hillbillies | 2 episodes |
| Holidays | 1 episode |
| Inventions[ep 4] | 5 episodes |
| Lovers | 3 episodes |
| Meltdowns | 1 episode |
| Motorheads | 4 episodes |
| Outlaws | 4 episodes |
| Partiers | 17 episodes |
| Performers | 10 episodes |
| Pranksters | 2 episodes |
| Record Breakers | 6 episodes |
| Shoppers | 1 episode |
| Thrillseekers | 4 episodes |
| Tourists | 2 episodes |
Tonya Harding has her own segment on some episodes of World's Dumbest. After the short intro is played, Harding (dressed in an ill-fitting lab coat) says, "Oh, crap! That's me!" Before a clip is played, Harding gives viewers a brief lesson on a few related topics such as fermentation, gravity balance, etc.
This segment featured Gary Busey set in a chair next to a fireplace, with a book, presenting the audience a story about the film clip being shown, usually with Gary giving his own insights and philosophical advice in regards to the people in the clip (much to the annoyance of the other commentators).
A commentator is sitting in a 911 operating room and gets very weird calls. The calls are described as a cartoon most of the time. Example: A stressed woman calls 911 because she thought that was the number for "Nanny 911". Sometimes, old episode clips will be replaced with these.
This segment features comedian Bryan Callen as he shows supposedly "sexy" clips that most of the other commentators find completely unerotic. Examples include: People bathing in chocolate, a nude couple (shown from a helicopter camera so that nudity is barely shown), throwing rocks over a bridge into oncoming traffic, a man showing his "ass" to the cops, and an old woman pulling on a robber's "man parts."
Roger Lodge usually appears as a host for a game show. Examples include: "What's in the bag?" (Criminals 13), "Guess What Happens Next" (Daredevils 4), etc.
Anchorman Rob Delaney and on-the-spot reporter Jaime Andrews (occasionally; along with other celebrities using their own voice) bring reports of supposedly "journalistic" events as they happen that most other commentators easily get shocked at (and referred to as simply "Eyewitness"); it includes a bottom-left side bar to parody newscasts. Only on some episodes.
Roger Lodge also appears on this segment. Spoofing the Bob Saget era of America's Funniest Home Videos, Lodge showcases hilarious moments caught on tape. Other panelists appear as audience members laughing hysterically. The spoof AFHV logo (as well as the graphics) resembles the logo for the original 1989 Thanksgiving special more than the actual logo used in the Saget era.
This segment involves stupidity considered shocking. At the beginning of each clip, Tonya Harding says: "Wait a minute, I thought this was "World's Dumbest"!" At the end of the clip, Danny Bonaduce repeats this line.
Panelists (mostly comedians) give punchlines related to a clip.
In this running gag, "SGP Sports" basically show sports that go hilariously wrong.
Each episode usually ends with quirky outtakes of the panelists. Some of the recurring moments are Judy Gold constantly being fidgeted with by the make-up crew much to her annoyance, and cast members interacting with the camera crew.