The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest



The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest is a program on TruTV, "highlighting" the world's dumbest criminals, drivers, brawlers, encounters, etc. Produced by The Smoking Gun, a site profiling known criminals and many celebrities such as Danny Bonaduce and Leif Garrett, who also are regular emcees on the show. Other emcees include Frank Stallone, Tonya Harding, Judy Gold, Todd Bridges, Daisy Gardner, Chelsea Peretti, John Enos, Roger Lodge, Loni Love and Jo Koy.

The name of the program has recently been changed to TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest. All previous episodes have been retroactively rebranded as such.

This series features the following tropes:

 * Adults Are Useless: One clip shows a mother who apparently didn't think she had enough room for a plastic drawer unit in her trunk. So, she put the item in the back seats, and made her kids (one of them, a baby) ride in the trunk. In another clip, a careless father stuck his baby daughter on a jet ski and let it take off. There is also one clip where a father gets so drunk in a strip club, he forgets where he parked his semi truck, where his son was alone.
 * Affectionate Parody: They did one once of the reality show "Blind Date", complete with Roger Lodge hosting.
 * Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Often, particularly the reason for most of the World's Dumbest Partiers.
 * Bottle Fairy: Every episode of World's Dumbest Partiers has at least one example.
 * Brother Chuck: Sort of. During the first season, the show not only featured comedians and actors as commentators, but also real life judges, cops, private investigators, security guards for the "Dumbest Criminals" episodes. By the 2nd season, they were all dropped.
 * Every now and again, Ron Kuby makes an appearance, but that's about it.
 * Most of those dropped commentators appear on another Tru TV franchise, Disorder in the Court. Possibly the move towards Lighter and Softer prompted them to shift their more sober commentators to a more sober show.
 * Butt Monkey: There must be an unspoken motto on this show - "When in doubt, make fun of Leif Garrett." Leif even lampshaded it once by flat out asking "Why does everyone always pick on me?"
 * Tonya Harding seems to be Brad Loekle's current personal Butt Monkey, and before was Judy Gold's.
 * Canon Dis Continuity: They regularly comment on how they've never shown a clip of someone successfully stealing an ATM on the show. Even though there's been at least 2 videos of ATMs being successfully stolen, one involving a large group of people working together, and the other the man loading an ATM into his car via a forklift, though he failed to steal a SECOND ATM.
 * Captain Obvious: There are moments where the cast members aren't really making jokes at the videos, and tend to just be narrating what's going on, as if we, the viewers, can't figure it out ourselves.
 * This was very prevalent in the early episodes where there were less gags and jabs at the people on the video (and each other).
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Of the main cast members, Gary Busey probably qualifies. Tonya, too.
 * The Cloud Cuckoolander Was Right: In one episode of World's Dumbest Drivers, there is a clip where a five-year-old child takes a ride in his grandmother's pickup truck. Gary was the only one to point out that the real dumb person was the one who left the truck unlocked to begin with, not the child who was just following his instincts and curiosity.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: Frequently by people shown in the video clips, not unusual from commentators (Judy Gold and Frank Stallone seem the most prone to it, but nearly everyone's cut loose a few times).
 * Compensating for Something: Apparently Judy Gold believes that every man with an even somewhat expensive car has a small penis.
 * Cowboy Bebop At His Computer: A recent "Dumbest Partiers" episode featured a video clip from a video game convention and people dressed up as video game characters such as Mario, Luigi, Link, etc. The narrator and commentators however, kept referring to the footage as being of a "comic book convention", with people dressed up as "comic book characters".
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Is shown occasionally. Such as the 78-year-old man VS a 20-something pickpocket. Said 78-year-old man was a former Marine, iron worker, and Golden Gloves boxer.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Kevin McCaffrey and Chelsea Peretti slip into this from time to time.
 * Brad Loekle is pretty much this 100% of the time.
 * Did Not Do the Research: During the "Cuchini" segment of "Smartest Inventions" Loni Love claims she doesn't have a 'camel toe', she has an 'elephant hoof'. Elephants have feet, not hooves.
 * During a segment about a man using a crucifix to rob a Catholic Church, Kevin McCaffrey makes a joke about how the thief should steal the Communion Bread to make sandwiches. The Communion Host isn't actual sandwich loaf bread, but a small, unleavened wafer-like piece of bread broken up by the priest during Communion to be given to the congregation.
 * Done in-show: Kevin called Al-Jazeera a terrorist organization. Tonya Harding (of all people!) corrected him. (Al-Jazeera is actually an Arabic news station.)
 * Daniel Baldwin claims that a man with a high-pitched voice sounds like Larry from the Three Stooges, and then does an impression of Curly, who the man sounded like.
 * Don't Explain the Joke: Danny Bonaduce and Judy Gold are chronic offenders.
 * Dumb Blonde: All the commentors accuse Tonya of being this. This applies to several of the women shown in clips.
 * Epic Fail: Of course this show thrives on it. One example is a robber who put a clear plastic bag over his head, using is as a mask.
 * Everything's Even Worse With Sharks: Every time you see a guy handling a shark, he's going to get bit. Every. Time.
 * Former Child Star: Danny Bonaduce, Todd Bridges, and Leif Garrett all qualify.
 * Gasshole: You will hear at least one commentator burp (mostly Danny) in most episodes of World's Dumbest Partiers. The commentators also tend to burp in general during the outtakes.
 * Groin Attack: In World's Dumbest Record Breakers 6, an Englishman tries to set a record for the most nut-shots. Just watching is painful.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: Judy Gold, dear lord, Judy Gold. Plus, most of the criminals and brawlers shown in the video clips.
 * Pretty much the whole point of World's Dumbest Meltdowns.
 * World's Dumbest Brawlers counts too, as it seems the smallest thing is always what starts most of the brawls.
 * Hilarious Outtakes
 * Hypocritical Humor: Leif Garrett once berated a drug dealer clip. Tonya Harding lectures people for lack of humanity. Those are just a couple of examples. It's all Played for Laughs.
 * I Was Quite a Looker: Comments are occasionally made about how nice looking Tonya Harding was when she was younger. Even though she still looks pretty good, especially for a new mother as of February 2011.
 * Garrett and Bonaduce too.
 * Idiot Ball
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: Danny Bonaduce is the most prone to these, although everybody indulges now and then. Always accompanied by a Rimshot.
 * Jerkass: Frank Stallone
 * Lighter and Softer: The show is like a softer version of Most Daring/Shocking, as the latter tends to feature very serious clips, such as people being murdered in cold blood.
 * Memetic Mutation: They show several clips that have garnered meme status, including Latarian "Smoking With Cigarettes" Milton and Bubb "Whoo Whoo" Rubb.
 * Money, Dear Boy: In the outtakes of the first World's Dumbest Partiers episode, Danny Bonaduce says "Why do I even come here? Oh, the money, that's right!"
 * Mood Whiplash: There is one cute clip of a cat swiping at a dog from the safety of a jar. During the end credits, the cast is told that the cat had died a few years later, and the cast's faces turn from the usual smirking to gasping sadness. Except for Mike Trainor, who said "Oh. Good!"
 * Nobody Can Die: With only one exception, none of the individuals in the clips end up dead as a result of their actions in the clip. And in that one exception, from way back in the first episode, it was never mentioned that the person died.
 * When a stunt pilot crashed upside down on fire! Judy Gold, Chelsea Peretti, and Billy Kimball held a vigil, only for the trope to be averted as she walked away without a scratch.
 * Only in Florida: At least one of the things on each episode takes place in Florida.
 * Logical Fallacies
 * Panty Shot: Happens in the video clip featuring the model who falls through a hole in the runway. Strangely, Chelsea Peretti was the only cast member who commented on the upskirt.
 * Pec Flex: John Enos does this in World's Dumbest Lovers.
 * He does it again in World's Dumbest Partiers (18).
 * And again in World's Smartest Inventions (6).
 * Police Are Useless: You don't see it often, but this trope does occasionally turn up in the episodes about dumb criminals. The most notorious example involved three police cars chasing a fugitive, the fugitive turns his getaway car around, goes in circles for several moments, and the cops...follow suit.
 * A different clip featured a police officer pulling into a McDonald's drive-thru with a criminal in his backseat. The criminal bails as the cop is waiting for his food, and gets away.
 * Political Correctness Gone Mad: Brad Loekle was once bleeped for saying "Arab", even though the criminal viewed in the present clip was Arab. Brad was also once bleeped for "faggot", even though Brad himself is gay. Guess he doesn't have N-Word Privileges.
 * Right Way, Wrong Way Pair: There's a parody of Goofus and Gallant with two criminals: one who does things the wrong way (Doofus) and one who does things the right way (Valiant).
 * Running Gag: In the World's Smartest Inventions episodes, with every product that involves cats, Billy Kimball will mention that he wants it and doesn't even own a cat.
 * Sanity Slippage: One clip showed a baseball player suddenly acting as if he were in a war zone. Even pretending to throw objects at people as if he were throwing hand grenades.
 * Self-Deprecation: The cast members insult themselves, one another and the show itself, as much as they do the dumb people shown on this program.
 * Shirtless Scene: Most of the time it'll be either be Danny Bonaduce or Brad Lokele, but John Enos does it a few times as well.
 * Some men in World's Dumbest Partiers or Brawlers will usually take or have their shirt off.
 * Signature Style: Most of the commentators have unique ways of telling jokes they'll often fall back on, considering most are comedians. Todd Bridges often acts out the ridiculous stunts that happen, Bonaduce will drop incredibly lame puns, Tonya will try to explain what happened in her own twisted logic, while flanked by confused reaction shots of the other commentators; Michael Loftus will use ridiculous sound effects, Frank Stallone will swear a lot and bash other countries, and so on.
 * Brad Loekle will either use pop cultural references or insult one of his fellow commentators.
 * Sir Swearsalot: Judy Gold and Frank Stallone. Actually, Judy's habit of swearing seems more natural as she does it only when she's pissed off (which seems to be most of the time). Stallone, on the other hand, seems to swear every other second, while saying the most innocuous of sentences.
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Frank Stallone seems to believe this of not only himself, but all musicians, including getting angry at a cop for not treating an obviously drunk David Cassidy with the respect Frank felt he deserved.
 * Small Reference Pools: Sometimes averted. Occasionally jokes are made that reference things from World War II to Shakespeare, to obscure trends of the 1940s, and even certain parts of many religions, that most viewing audiences wouldn't know about.
 * World's Dumbest Brawlers has mention of the Japanese glorifying cannibals.
 * Something Completely Different: World's Smartest Inventions.
 * Spoiled Brat: One clip showed a teenaged boy who kept mouthing off to his grandmother who was babysitting him. Finally, to teach him a lesson, she gave him a swat with a wooden paddle, though not very hard. The brat yells in his most obnoxious voice "OW! I'm calling my mom!" Understandably, the commentators wanted her to hit him again.
 * Another clip showed a teenage boy whose parents got him an old jeep/truck for his 16th birthday, saying this would be something he could beat up and ruin. The boy responds by throwing a tantrum like a 5-year-old and beating the truck with a bat. No wonder his parents bought a used car instead.
 * Stupid Crooks
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: Leif Garrett pulls this a lot.
 * As well as many drunks who get pulled over by cops and are asked "Have you been drinking?"
 * The Unintelligible: Frank Stallone. But not for the same reason as his brother, Sylvester. It's because Frank swears a lot, requiring many bleep sounds, rendering most of what he's trying to say incomprehensible.
 * Too Dumb to Live/This Loser Is You: Do we need any examples?
 * Yes, otherwise there wouldn't be a show.
 * What Could Have Been: Todd Bridges had been trying to get Gary Coleman to appear on the show as a guest commentator since the show began in 2008. Coleman refused (and it's now impossible).
 * What Were You Thinking?: The real answer is, "They weren't."
 * Once while imitating something in a previous clip, Danny Bonaduce wound up ripping off one of his eyebrows with superglue and packing tape. His reaction? Other than a shout of pain - "Why would you let me do that?!?"
 * Wise Beyond Their Years: One episode featured a clip, which was number one on the list, where a nine-year-old girl was able to drive her drunk father to a convenience store. The girl's father even tells the store clerk how well his daughter drove for her age.
 * With Friends Like These...: As Chuck Nice once explained, "If your friends are laughing at you while you're being swept down a river... they're not your friends."
 * Another clip involves a group of friends getting another friend drunk. Then the guy whose house it was gets mad and demands the drunken friend leave, "accidentally" pushing the drunk backwards down a flight of stairs, the drunk ending his fall unconscious. One of the friends suggests they give him a pillow and leave him there. They call paramedics (eventually).
 * Wolverine Publicity: You'd think Danny Bonaduce and Tonya Harding are the "main stars" of the show, even though most of the presenters get equal spotlight.