$25 Million Dollar Hoax

Space Cadets

December 2024 •English

Space Cadets is a British television program made by Zeppotron for Channel 4. Presented by Johnny Vaughan, it was aired across ten consecutive nights beginning on 7 December 2005, with the final episode aired on the evening of 16 December 2005. It was accompanied by a behind-the-scenes sister show Space Cadets: The Satellite Show, with interviews and phone-ins.

Bedsitcom

December 2024 •English

Bedsitcom is a British reality television hoax series that was broadcast on Channel 4 in December 2003. The series follows the lives of six young people living in a loft flat in London - three of them actors being directed by the writers.

I Wanna Marry Harry

December 2024 •English

Reality meets romance, with a little twist, in the surprising dating show I WANNA MARRY “HARRY.” Summer love is in the air, as an average English “bloke” is given the royal treatment and an upper crust makeover before meeting 12 single American women searching for Prince Charming. Will he be able to convince them he's regal? And if he does, will they fall for the crown, or fall in love with the real him? Join “Harry” as he courts each of the ladies, taking them on romantic dates worthy of a princess and trying to make some version of their fairytales come true.

Finding Bigfoot

December 2024 •English

From small towns in the South to remote areas of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, four eccentric but passionate members of the Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BFRO) embark on one single-minded mission - to find the elusive "creature" known as Bigfoot or the Sasquatch.

The Family

December 2024 •English

A middle-class clan from the Northeast is suddenly thrust into the world of the super rich. Sequestered in a 20,000-square-foot mansion on a 40-acre estate in Palm Beach, they are observed by around-the-clock cameras. They compete in high-society challenges for cruises on luxury yachts, private jets and spectacular prizes and ultimately, for control of the one million-dollar fortune. A full-service professional staff is at their beck and call, including a butler, personal trainer, stylist, kitchen staff, personal secretary, housekeepers, manicurist, tennis pro and countless others -- all used to working with high-end clientele. Unbeknownst to the 10 contestants, the staff picks the winners and losers, and the losers must remain in the house to watch the remaining contestants duke it out.

Invasion Iowa

December 2024 •English

Invasion Iowa is a television series that aired on Spike TV beginning on March 29, 2005, on ITV4 beginning on 3 November 2005 and The Comedy Channel in April 2007. The series depicts events from September 2004, in which William Shatner played a hoax on the small town of Riverside, Iowa by claiming to film a science fiction movie there. Unbeknownst to the residents of Riverside, the movie was in fact fake, a satire on the genre. In front of and behind the cameras, Shatner and his purported entourage performed a living, breathing parody of Hollywood. Producers designed the various plots and gags to elicit reactions from the townspeople. Shatner played the part of the eccentric star. Improvisational actors pretended to be members of his entourage. Residents of Riverside were encouraged to audition for parts in the movie and take jobs on its crew, only to bear witness, firsthand, to an elaborate send-up of tinseltown. Producers chose Riverside because it is the self-proclaimed future birthplace of Shatner's most enduring character, Captain James T. Kirk. Invasion Iowa was created by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who also created Spike TV's earlier "reality parody" series, The Joe Schmo Show, and its sequel, Joe Schmo 2.

Caught in the Action

December 2024 •English

Caught in the Action is a reality television series centering on friends setting up their unsuspecting friends to be placed in the center of their own action movie. From bar room brawls, to car chases, to hostage negotiations, the series places people in the middle of an elaborate high-octane hoax.

Ça change pas le monde

December 2024 •French

The Empress

December 2024 •Arabic

In a social drama context, the work deals with the story of Faisal, who suddenly moves to the luxury class, when one of the businessmen takes him as as a cater to practice his business, and they agreed that Faisal is the bond and protection, and the relationship between them continued until this man decided to get rid of Faisal and the events.

The Joe Schmo Show

December 2024 •English

The Joe Schmo Show is a reality television hoax show created by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. The series is broadcast in the U.S. on the cable network Spike. The show's premise is that a target person or persons are led to believe that they are contestants on a reality television show; in reality, all of the other participants in the purported show – including the host – are actors, and their actions and the outcome of the purported show are all scripted in an attempt to elicit comedic reactions from the targets. The show's first season, The Joe Schmo Show, aired in 2003, and its second season, Joe Schmo 2, aired in 2004. The first season's hoax was conducted as a typical reality competition show while the second hoax was a Bachelor-like dating series. On December 10, 2012, Spike announced it was bringing The Joe Schmo Show back for a third season, which premiered on January 8, 2013. The only constant presence in all three Joe Schmo seasons has been voice actor Ralph Garman, who has served as the "emcee" for all three editions.

The Proof Is Out There

December 2024 •English

Each episode analyzes and passes verdicts on several seemingly impossible things “caught on film,” including giant beasts, UFOS, apocalyptic sounds, hairy humans, alleged mutants from the deep, conspiracies, and many other cases. Host and veteran journalist Tony Harris takes nothing for granted in a quest for answers, tracking down eyewitnesses, putting each photo or film through a battery of tests, calling out the hoaxes, and highlighting the most credible evidence in an attempt to better understand our world.

Here Come The Habibs

December 2024 •English

After winning the lottery, the Habib family move into Sydney's richest suburb to live the Australian dream, but their poshy next door neighbours are not all to happy about it.

Windfall

December 2024 •English

Windfall is a serial drama television series about a group of people in an unnamed small city who win almost $400,000,000 in a lottery.

Six Zeros

December 2024 •Hebrew

What happens when millions fall on you without any preparation? 6 new lottery winners are surprised to learn the will not get the money immediately. A new low mandates them to take a workshop to prepare them to their new lives as millioners.

At Home with the Braithwaites

December 2024 •English

At Home with the Braithwaites is a British comedy-drama television series, created and written by Sally Wainwright. The storyline follows a suburban family from Leeds, whose life is turned upside down when the mother of the family wins 38 million pounds on the lottery. It was broadcast on ITV, for 26 episodes, from 20 January 2000 to 9 April 2003. At the beginning of the first series, each member of the Braithwaite family has an issue. Alison has to decide what to do with the winnings, and when to tell her family. David is having an affair with Elaine, his secretary at work. Virginia is on the verge of flunking out of university. Sarah has a crush on her drama teacher. Charlotte suspects that her mother may be the mystery lottery winner.

Porkpie

December 2024 •English

Porkpie was a British sitcom on Channel 4 television starring Ram John Holder as Augustus "Porkpie" Grant. It was a spinoff from Desmond's. Porkpie kept several key characters from Desmond's and in the first episode Grant was seen standing outside the barbershop Desmond used to run, saying: "Desmond, since you died it hasn't stopped raining. I know how much you used to say it can rain in England, and it's true. Must be one of two things: either a thousand angels weeping for you, or you having a good drink up in heaven and you spilling it all over the place."

The Millionaire

December 2024 •English

An anthology series that explored the ways sudden and unexpected wealth changed life for better or for worse. It told the stories of people who were given one million dollars from a benefactor who insisted they never know him, with one exception.

Les Lavigueur, la vraie histoire

December 2024 •French

On April 1st, 1986, Jean-Guy Lavigueur, an unemployed blue-collar worker and his family won 7.6 million dollars. At the time, it was the largest amount ever won at Loto-Quebec's 6/49 weekly draws. What should have been the beginning of a fairytale for the family turned rapidly into a nightmare...

Haunted or Hoax

December 2024 •English

Casey and Jac are the creators of a new website called Haunted or Hoax. Together, they visit some of the most terrifying and creepy locations in an effort to determine if the paranormal stories they have heard are true. First on their list is the old, Victorian masterpiece known as Grantham House. What will they find?

Chances

December 2024 •English

Chances was an Australian evening soap opera, produced from 1991 to 1992. It told the story of the average middle-class Taylor family whose lives are transformed by winning $3 million in the lottery. The series was broadcast by the Nine Network, initially as two one-hour episodes each week. Principal cast members included John Sheerin and Brenda Addie as Dan and Barbara Taylor, Jeremy Sims as their mischievous son Alex, Deborah Kennedy as Dan's sister Connie Reynolds, Tim Robertson as Dan's brother Jack, Anne Grigg as his wife Sarah, and Michael Caton as neighbourhood friend Bill Anderson. Originally, creator Lynn Bayonas pitched the show as a family-oriented drama; however to help ensure the program's success, Channel Nine asked for nude scenes and risqué elements to also be included in the series. Initial publicity for the show focused on the sex angle, and it was for this that Chances was chiefly known.