Trends Hut

Ashton Kutcher is planning to revive the hidden-camera reality show “Punk’d” for MTV, potentially with the singer Justin Bieber as the host behind the pranks, New York magazine and Deadline.com reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. The premiere date is unknown.

MTV and Mr. Kutcher’s production company, Katalyst, declined to comment on the reports, so is the press being “Punk’d”? Well, probably not. “Punk’d” is the type of show that is best produced in secret — if it’s too well known, the celebrities who are the target of the tricks might be in on the jokes.

“If we confirm too much detail on this, it’s going to make it harder to punk people,” said an executive familiar with the production, who insisted on anonymity for that very reason.


The original “Punk’d” was a staple of MTV from 2003 to 2007.