Just for Laughs (ABC)

Based on a Canadian series, the half-hour hidden-camera comedy relies on silly gags and universal themes to bring on the guffaws. Hosted by Rick Miller, the show features gags played on the unsuspecting. For example: A woman asks a stranger for help opening a mailbox, only to place her furry lapdog inside instead of her package. As the gag plays over and over with different strangers, the reactions run the gamut from stunned silence to wide-eyed paralysis to angry attempts to rescue the pooch.

When cop shows, family sitcoms, and foul-mouthed chefs prove tiresome, JUST FOR LAUGHS will provide a fluffy TV fix without requiring much in return. Some segments are funnier than others, of course, but most viewers will find something to laugh at. Though viewers can sometimes make out what people are saying by lip-reading, the comedy is purely situational and requires no dialogue, which makes the show universally appealing.

Scenarios are mostly family-friendly, but some veer slightly out of the G-rated range. For instance, one set-up involves an apparently blind man pretending to pee on inner-tube riders at a theme park. As the park-goers calmly float down a man-made river in their bathing suits, the "blind" man squirts them with a tube he holds at crotch level. Reactions range from frantic paddling out of the way to jumping up out of the water to chase the apparent culprit. Viewers looking for light entertainment that isn't quite as clever as the classic Candid Camera but has a little more class than America's Funniest Home Videos will enjoy Just for Laughs.