"Candid Camera" pioneered 'reality TV' with hidden cameras capturing everyday people reacting to unusual situations.
Is anyone old enough to remember the original "Candid Camera" television show?
I vaguely remember the series, which ran from 1960 to 1967, but debuted well before that. The first appearance of Allen Funt's precursor to reality TV was on the ABC television network in 1948.
The show switched networks a couple of times and ran as segments on variety shows including Jack Paar's "The Tonight Show" and "The Garry Moore Show," but the premise was always the same - hidden cameras capturing everyday people reacting to unusual situations.
MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey
Watching episodes of the show from the 1950s, it's easy to see why "Candid Camera" became a sensation. Not only do the participants get totally taken in by the shenanigans, but Funt himself would often walk into the scene and participate in the antics.
The show had become wildly popular in the 1960s, spawning the catchphrase "Smile! You're on Candid Camera!" TV viewers got a chuckle out of watching people in funny situations.
A personal photobomb favorite from our family album. And, even though still pictures don't 'move' like television, they can impart the same level of amusement, capturing a moment in time when things were just a little unexpected. In our gallery, we see people doing more than just stiffly posing, people captured in a surprising moment, and even the earliest incarnations of the modern meme, the 'photobomb.'
So, while this isn't Candid Camera, it is an amusing gallery of candid photos, unstaged photos from days gone by in New Jersey.
Can't get enough? Here's a link to last year's gallery.
Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find The Star-Ledger on Facebook.