Top 10 April Fools Day TV Episodes
Jason Teich - April 1, 2013
It's April Fool's Day on CBS.
Earlier today on THE PRICE IS RIGHT (April 1 at 11am ET / 10am PT), the models seized control of the show, switching roles with host Drew Carey and announcer George Gray, who presented prizes, made lightning-fast costume changes and learned just how tough it is to walk a mile in high heels. Plus, LET'S MAKE A DEAL (check local listings) held a special Zonk Redemption Show, where host Wayne Brady played a prank on his audience. If you missed these episodes, you'll be able to watch them online at CBS.com (PRICE IS RIGHT online video; LET'S MAKE A DEAL online video)
In honor of April Fool's Day -- and to put you in the mood for the rest of this jokester's holiday -- we searched for the best April Fool's Day episodes in TV history, focusing on live-action TV series.
In the comments, tell us about your fave TV series gag, or let us know if we were foolish and missed a classic TV prank.
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Episode: "April Fools" (March 24, 1980) About the Episode: When Colonel Potter warns the 4077th that a nasty, old-school Colonel named Tucker is coming to visit on April Fool’s Day, Hawkeye and company decide to pull off an elaborate series of pranks to drive the rigid martinet insane. Most Memorable Prank: Convinced they’re all getting court-martialed, the 4077th decide to go out with a bang, dumping a bucket of beer on Tucker from the rafters. When Tucker collapses, Hawkeye is convinced he’s killed the man. Tucker and Potter burst out laughing and reveal they’re old friends: there’s no court-martial, and they’ve been fooling everyone. |
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Episode: "Dominoes Falling" (April 1, 2003) About the Episode: A waning street gang revives a practice from their glory days called "April Fool’s Parties," in which gang members shout, "Johnny says April Fools!" before shooting a random civilian in the face. Vic and the Strike Team help catch the April Fool’s Day killers and steal $2 million from the Armenian mob. Most Memorable Prank: This might be stretching the word "prank," but the most famous part of the episode is the Strike Team’s duplicitous robbery of the Armenian money train. They convince the Armenians that they’re rival criminals, convince their bosses in the LAPD that they’re out following leads, and abscond with 2 million bucks. |
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Click the video to watch. |
Episode: "The Science of Illusion" (March 25, 2010) About the Episode: On April Fool’s Day, the study group is determined to expand their horizons. As Annie and Shirley play bad cop/bad cop, Britta sets out to prove she’s not the buzz kill people think she is with a prank that goes as wrong as it gets. Most Memorable Prank: Britta plans to mock her Spanish teacher with a frog in a sombrero labeled "Señor Chang." When Britta tries to steal a frog from the Bio-Lab, she bumps into a gurney, sending a medical cadaver out an open 2nd-story window. Reeling back in shock, Britta accidentally steps on her frog, leaving two splayed out bodies in her wake, and giving new meaning to the term "buzz KILL." |
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Click here to watch video clip from this episode (Nick.com). |
Episode: "iApril Fools" (March 24, 2012) About the Episode: As Carly and Spencer get ready to be evicted, the gang reflects on their time together, but their memories are skewed from reality. In their flashbacks, the gang hits each other with stop signs, T-Bo becomes a genie who summons a "Party Bush," and Spencer becomes a clone of Mrs. Briggs. Most Memorable Prank: After up-ending the entire series canon as an April Fools’ gag, the episode’s biggest prank comes at the end, when Spencer emerges from the bathroom and, like Doc Brown in BACK TO THE FUTURE, tells the gang he has to take them to a future episode, because something has got to be done about their kids! |
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Click the video to watch. |
Episode: "April Fool's Day" (April 10, 1990) About the Episode: Dan is at the end of his rope with the Conner family taxes, just hours before they're due. Roseanne tries to help him, but can't understand any of the forms either. They go down to the IRS, where Roseanne takes a moral stand against the needlessly overcomplicated tax system. Most Memorable Prank: In this instance, the big prank of the episode is its title, since the actual episode airs on April 10th, takes place on April 15th, and doesn't have a thing to do with April Fool's Day, except to suggest that everyone's a fool on tax day. |
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Episode: "April's Fools" (March 32, 2015) About the Episode: On April 1st, April announces she's sick of people using this fake holiday as an excuse to besmirch her Christian name, and that she's not participating in hijinks this year. In reality, April tricks Leslie into attending a city council meeting dressed as Tonto, Ron into eating a dozen tofu dogs, and Andy into preparing for the end of days. Most Memorable Prank: April learns that her prank on Andy has landed him in a mental asylum after he took his clothes off and tried to hoard all the Twinkies from a local store. April is horrified to find Andy in a straightjacket, but Ann, Leslie and Ron emerge from around the corner to reveal that Ann figured everything out and the joke is on April. |
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Click here to watch a video clip of a serious moment from this episode (YouTube).. |
Episode: "Survival of the Fittest" (March 29, 2001) About the Episode: With an influx of trauma to the ER – a bus full of sick kids, a mental patient killed upon escaping, and a pregnant teenager – the staff tries to keep the atmosphere light by playing April Fool's Day pranks on one another. Most Memorable Prank: Malucci pretends to be a mental patient to fool Luka, but before Malucci can reveal the prank, Luka injects him with Haldol, knocking him out for the rest of the day. While unconscious, Malucci manages to glue his own hand to his forehead. |
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Click the video to watch the first half of the episode. |
Episode: "The April Fools" (April 1, 2000) About the Episode: On April Fool's Day, Kenan and Kel try to prove they're the ultimate practical jokers by replacing Kenan's mom's face cream with green paint, gluing Kenan's dad's mouth shut with wet cement, and convincing their boss he won the lottery. Kenan takes the pranks too far, getting himself thrown in jail. Most Memorable Prank: When a traffic cop writes Kenan a ticket, Kenan is convinced he's being pranked by Kel and a fake cop. Kenan turns the tables on his would-be pranksters by snatching the cop's hat, dumping creamy corn inside it, placing it back on the cop's head, and spraying shaving cream all over the cop's face. Kenan, of course, gets arrested. |
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Click the video to watch a clip from this episode. |
Episode: "April Fools" (February 24, 1989) About the Episode: On April Fool's Day, Bubba, Vint, Naomi and Lola ignore their work and spend all their time pranking Mama, annoying her with a hand buzzer, a plastic snake and an embarrassing sign on her back. Mama gets even, pranking the whole family into working. Most Memorable Prank: Mama gets her revenge by tricking the family into thinking their pranks made her miss a ceremony where she was to receive the prestigious "Golden Troll Award." Mama uses their guilt to manipulate them into doing hours of yard work for her, only to reveal it was all a trick, and she never received any award in the first place. |
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Click the video to watch the full episode. |
Episode: "The April Fools" (April 17, 2004) About the Episode: Romeo and Louis try to become legendary April Fool's pranksters, but they go too far and accidentally destroy the school's national basketball trophy. Myra finds out and blackmails Romeo into dating her. Most Memorable Prank: The most memorable prank is the one at the center of the episode. Romeo and Louis steal the school's most prized trophy and tape it to the top of the flag pole, only to have a lightning storm destroy the trophy before they can take it down. |
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Honorable Mention:
It doesn't meet out live-action requirement, but this SOUTH PARK episode had too much chutzpah not to be included as an Honorable Mention:
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Episode: "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus" (April 1, 1998) About the Episode: Because he hates Terrance and Phillip's flatulence humor, Scott, plots to kill the comedy duo by making a deal with Saddam Hussein. Saddam double crosses Scott, leaves Terrance and Phillip alive, and conquers Canada. Most Memorable Prank: This Season 2 premiere was hyped as giving resolution to Season 1's cliffhanger question, "Who is Cartman's father?" However, "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus" begins by announcing the audience has been pranked for April Fool's Day and will get no answers in this episode. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone received thousands of hate letters in response to the stunt. |
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Honorable Mention:
And, even though it's not from a TV series, no list about fools is complete without including a clip of this TV icon:
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Jason Teich is a blogger and screenwriter living in Los Angeles. His all-time favorite shows include THE SOPRANOS, LOST, and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (And yes, he's aware you hate their endings).
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