Season 5
Laugh Out Loud is a South African hidden camera comedy television series produced by Imani Media (Seasons 1 and 2) and Stepping Stone Pictures (since Season 3) which involves pranking celebrities, the cream of society, average Joes and everyone in between. There are 48 half-hour episodes in two seasons.
The series originally premiered on M-Net on Wednesday 17 August 2005, at 20h00. It later aired on DStv's M-Net Series channel. Although only two seasons aired on these channels the show was revived after a four-year hiatus on DStv's Mzansi Magic channel, where it has aired ever since.
See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 5 premiered on Mzansi Magic on Wednesday 5 September 2012, at 19h00. After 13 episodes the series moved to Fridays at 19h30, beginning with Episode 14 on Friday 7 December, 2012. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are 26 episodes in the fifth season.
Synopsis
Laugh Out Loud's formula involves pranking celebrities, the cream of society, average Joes and everyone in between. Through elaborate set-ups and plausible pranks, we see real people reacting to unreal situations.
No one is safe from the Sucker Squad - even the show's hosts get pranked.
In the first two seasons, 94.7 FM team Jeremy Mansfield and Darryn Simpson were the presenters, while Ferdinand Rabie was out in the trenches, coaxing more comedy, action and suspense out of a myriad of unwilling participants.
Johan van der Walt (played by Alan Committie) presented live from the M-Net studios.
The show was revamped for Mzansi Magic in 2011 with new hosts Kenneth Nkosi and Tumi Morake. Tumi left the show after Season 4 and was replaced by Siya B, Tall A$$ Mo and Lihle Lindsay Msimang, who joined Kenneth for Season 5.
The first two seasons were produced by Imani Media and were directed by Bobby Heaney. Since Season 3 the show has been produced by Stepping Stone Pictures.
The character of Johan van der Walt was given a spin-off series on M-Net called Van der Walt's Fault, which aired from April to May, 2008.
The series chronicled Van der Walt's ancestors' actions as they unwittingly yet irrefutably changed the course of South African history.
Seasons
Note: the first two seasons aired on M-Net and repeated on M-Net Series. After a four-year hiatus the show was resurrected and moved to Mzansi Magic.
Season 1 (13 episodes)
Channel: M-Net | Premiere: 17 Aug 2005 | Finale: 9 Nov 2005 | Wednesdays, 19h30
Channel: M-Net Series | Premiere: 15 Jan 2009 | Finale: 26 Feb 2009 | Thursdays, 23h00
Season 2 (24 episodes)
Channel: M-Net | Premiere: 16 Aug 2006 | Finale: 24 Jan 2007 | Wednesdays, 20h00
Channel: M-Net Series | Premiere: 26 Feb 2009 | Finale: 21 May 2009 | Thursdays, 23h00
Season 3 (13 episodes)
Channel: Mzansi Magic | Premiere: 13 Apr 2011 | Finale: 6 Jul 2011 | Wednesdays, 19h30
Season 4 (13 episodes)
Channel: Mzansi Magic | Premiere: 7 Oct 2011 | Finale: 30 Dec 2011 | Fridays, 19h30
Season 5 (26 episodes)
Channel: Mzansi Magic | Premiere: 5 Sep 2012 | Finale: 1 Mar 2013 | Wed, 19h00/Fri, 19h30