Parents' Guide to

Crank Yankers

By Lucy Maher, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Puppet pranksters set iffy examples for teens.

TV MTV2 Comedy 2002
Crank Yankers Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

See all
age 15+

Based on 4 parent reviews

Usysrs
Usysrs Adult
May 16, 2020
age 15+
Its a meh
danny800
danny800 Adult
April 21, 2019
age 18+

Crank Yankers is a Adult puppet show

i think crank yankers is a amazing show but its not for kids its a puppet show for Adults is very raunchy and has lots of swearing like ass hell f*** and s*** has puppets that look like Sesame street doing crude things like a puppet that looks like big bird is seen smoking and theres a resturaunt with big bird as the mascot puppets are seen smoking doing drugs and its very vilonte puppets have injuries like a puppet is seen missing his fingers and his hand is all bandaged up 2 puppets kill a bear by ripping out his heart and eating it a puppet gets attacked by a monkey and his face gets full of blood and theres lots of Sexual innuendo a puppet is seen trying to call and buy something from a Adult store a character named Elmer sees a doll and squeezes its breasts a chinese guy slaps some girl puppets on the butt a woman calls to work at a strip club and theres lots of offensive stuff with that being said its okay for 14 and up and the uncensored version is for 18+ only it has uncensored swearing and uncensored nudity and i dont reccomend it for anyone under the age of 18

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In CRANK YANKERS, comedians like Adam Carolla, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman, and Dane Cook lend their voices to prank-call-making puppets. The comedians make the calls, their voices are recorded, and later puppets act them out for the show. Each episode features several segments that range from the absurd (a woman who says she has a penis-like appendage tries to explain her unique anatomy while making a bikini wax appointment) to the silly (a shopper reports her lost juice to the security office at a local mall). Some of the calls have a fair share of sexual innuendo, as when a harpist who is called upon to join a hip-hop tour says she has to end the call to get some wood from the carpenter. The hip-hop artist to whom she had been speaking then giggles and says, "Yeah, go get some carpenter wood."

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (1 ):

Crank Yankers targets the same audience as Jackass and Beavis and Butt-head: goofy guys who get off on inane pranks. Save for a few bleeped-out curse words, there's nothing here that most kids haven't already done ... although that doesn't mean that watching won't inspire them to do more.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about practical jokes. How does it feel to be on the receiving end of a prank? Is it OK to get a laugh at someone else's expense? What's the difference between laughing at someone and laughing with them? Which is more respectful? Do you think the comedians participating in the show ever feel bad about the people they trick?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate