There is this "amusing" little short that keeps repeating on NZ TV. It is supposed to be some sort of a candid camera prank. For clarity I will bullet point the sequence of events: - A woman announces that she is getting a new car, and as part of the deal she gets a free scooter with it (why the fuck you would need a free scooter with a new car I don't know, just give me a discount). She asks a work colleague if he would like the scooter. He says yes. She says words to the effect of, why don't you destroy your old scooter first then I will give you the new one (the scooter is nowhere in sight at this point). Inexplicably he agrees (if someone announced this as a precondition to me I would tell them they were a fucking idiot and I'm not going to fall for a prank so painfully unsubtle). He destroys his scooter with some breaker's equipment. The new scooter turns up and is given to someone else who is standing next to him. I do not even understand this bit, why does it need to be given to someone else, why not just pretend it was a mistake and there was no free scooter??? He is left in shock wondering how he will get home. The person who received the scooter returns with it and says words to the the effect of, only joking it is yours really. Much hilarity ensues. No part of the "prank" makes sense. Not one bit of it. I have seen it three times now and it is making me want to kill. It is repeated regularly on one of the major channels here; and it is honestly making me wonder if everyone in NZ is slightly soft in the head.
There is a similarly devised "punk" show on American telly wherein owners of ancient, vintage (and in poor shape), or just plain shitty old cars are pranked into believing that some terrible fate happened to their POS while they were at work. A week goes by and, of course, the car has actually been taken to a trick-it-out shop were the car is elevated to awesomeness and then returned to the owner. Often, as they go through the week, family members are forced to put up with shit because the cause of the "terrible fate" is often put on them. One episode a kid of 10 was the "culprit" and he was grounded for the whole week while this was going on.
