MTV Prank Series ‘Punk’d’ Revived by BET
Celebrities, you’re officially on notice: In news that feels like one of the elaborate pranks the series specialized in, BET announced Thursday that it would revive Ashton Kutcher’s MTV hoax show Punk’d as part of the network’s upcoming slate of new shows. The new Punk’d – this would mark the second time the series was rebooted – would provide a more behind-the-scenes look at how the celebrity-fooling shenanigans are created and executed, The Hollywood Reporter writes.
Punk’d‘s MTV original run, hosted by Kutcher, pranked unsuspecting celebrities from 2003 to 2007, though BET made no mention whether Kutcher would be involved in the series’ reboot. After five years of celebrities breathing easy, MTV briefly resuscitated Punk’d with a rotation of hosts including Justin Bieber (who pranked Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift), former Punk’d prankster Dax Shepard and, for the final episode, Kutcher himself.
BET didn’t reveal whether their Punk’d would feature a full-time host or a revolving door of tricksters. The resurrected Punk’d was just one of several music-minded programs BET detailed in their upfront announcement: The network also ordered a singing competition show called Chasing Destiny produced by Kelly Rowland as well as a Ludacris-produced docuseries titled The Label, a look at classic record labels. Those new programs join the network’s current slate of shows like Being Mary Jane and Nellyville, which should feature an interesting subplot this coming season.
Punk’d isn’t the only once-popular MTV property to get a new series order: MTV2 previously announced they will “reinvent” Celebrity Deathmatch with an eye toward the new feud-happy world of social media.