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Impractical Jokers

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Impractical Jokers

Impractical Jokers is an American hidden camera comedy and reality show with improvisational elements. Produced by NorthSouth Productions, Impractical Jokers premiered on truTV on December 15, 2011, starring the members of The Tenderloins: James "Murr" Murray, Brian "Q" Quinn, Sal Vulcano, and formerly Joe Gatto. In March 2024, the series was relocated to TBS, who originally simulcast the tenth season, due to a programming network overhaul at truTV. Despite this, truTV continues to air reruns.

Impractical Jokers' twelfth season premiered on July 10, 2025. A feature-length film for the show was theatrically released on February 21, 2020.

Each episode begins with a satirical content warning for viewers: "Warning: The following program contains scenes of graphic stupidity among lifelong friends who compete to embarrass each other" ("four lifelong friends" in seasons 1 through the first half of season 9, before Gatto leaves the show).

In a typical episode, the cast members, or "jokers", compete against each other in two or three competitive games or dares. The games are contrived scenarios in which one is challenged to embarrass himself by engaging with unwitting strangers, receiving commands from the other jokers who are orchestrating and surveying the bizarre scenario from behind the scenes with covert surveillance equipment. 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 strangers serving as punchlines. Some games involve multiple jokers competing at once to be the first to reach a stated goal. The most common challenge is a joker having to follow instructions given by the other three. If he refuses to follow any instructions, his turn ends, and he loses the challenge. At the end of each joker's turn, he receives either a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down", meaning he has won or lost the game or dare, respectively. The "thumbs downs" received by each joker are recorded on the "loser board".

After the last game or dare, the joker with the most "thumbs downs" on the "loser board" is declared the "big loser" of the episode and undergoes a "punishment," usually involving public embarrassment in which they can not decline. If there is a tie for the most "thumbs downs" between jokers, the tying jokers are all "punished."

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. 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." 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." 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. 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."

On December 31, 2021, Joe Gatto announced on his Instagram that he would be leaving Impractical Jokers after nine seasons. 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. Subsequently, Paste reported that TruTV and HBO Max had removed "several episodes featuring Gatto in compromising situations" from their platforms. On February 14, 2022, the show announced that the season would proceed with a lineup of various celebrity guests.

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