Candid Camera Brings Eight Decades of Smiles to Faulkner Center

Courtesy of Candid Camera

Peter Funt of Candid Camera

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – An icon of television history comes to the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9, as Candid Camera’s “8 Decades of Smiles! with Peter Funt” takes the stage in a show set to entertain guests of all ages.

This program has pleased audiences nationwide. Funt’s stage comedy is blended with clips, quips and behind-the-scenes tales from the show’s funniest moments.
Candid Camera holds a unique place in entertainment history as the only show to have produced new episodes in each of the last eight decades – from Allen Funt’s debut in 1948 through his son Peter’s recent run on TV Land. Peter’s latest show was a “Top Pick” in People magazine and praised by The New York Times. 

The stage show incorporates the best Candid Camera clips in a fast-paced, laugh-filled romp through the decades. Peter’s topical humor is blended with audience participation and special surprises to make the show a great night of fun.

As an added bonus, the Faulkner Center has partnered with the Arkansas Arts Academy to provide preshow games, set to recreate some of the classic game shows of television history. The overall concept will be “a nostalgic, colorful, wacky trip back to the the Golden Age of TV game shows.” Students from the Arkansas Arts Academy will host audience participatory sketches in the Faulkner lobbies, spoofing such classic game shows as Password, The Newlywed Game, Truth or Consequences, The Gong Show and Kids Say the Darndest Things.

Lobby events will last from 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 9, with Candid Camera taking the main stage at 3 p.m.

Tickets are $10 and available now. For tickets or more information about other performances and events, visit our website, give the Faulkner Center a call at 479-575-5387, or stop by the box office at 453 N. Garland Ave. on the University of Arkansas campus, open 1:30–5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

About Candid Camera: Candid Camera has been catching Americans in the act of being themselves for 68 years. First Allen Funt, and then his son Peter, used the tools of their unique trade — a hidden camera and gentle humor — to capture the reactions of ordinary people to extraordinary, and even bizarre situations.  The show began as Candid Microphone in 1947, and then moved to television in 1948. It's famous tag line — "Smile! You're on Candid Camera" — is universally known. Candid Camera has appeared on every major broadcast network, as well as several cable channels. Many episodes are available on DVD.

About Peter Funt: Peter Funt, star of “8 Decades of Smiles,” is a TV host, speaker and columnist, continuing the Funt Family tradition of catching people in the act of being themselves. In addition to hosting the landmark series Candid Camera, Peter writes frequent op-eds for The New York Times and Wall Street Journal as well as his weekly syndicated column. His writing and public appearances contain the same pointed social observations that have made Candid Camera popular since its invention by Peter’s dad, Allen, back in 1947. This season, Peter’s acclaimed stage show is touring the country, combining the best clips and quips from Candid Camera with topical humor and audience surprises.

About Arkansas Arts Academy: Arkansas Arts Academy is an open enrollment public charter school offering fine arts education to K-12 students throughout Arkansas. Located in Rogers, the Arkansas Arts Academy is the second oldest and one of the largest charter schools in the state. 

About the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center: The newest performing arts center at the University of Arkansas — a renovation of the old Field House — is named the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center, in honor of the couple’s major gift to the project. Completed in September 2017, this world-class performance venue is 39,400 square feet, with seating for 587, and a stage that can accommodate as many as 250 performers. The center is the main performance venue for the university’s J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Department of Music and hosts guest musical activities for the university and Northwest Arkansas community.