Friday Night Cranks, sometimes abbreviated as "FNC", was an internet show made by Jared McMullin with his cousins Kristin and Joe which ran from 2007 to 2016. Airing on Friday nights, they would prank call businesses and people while streaming live from their now-defunct website. The show can be found archived on their YouTube channel here.
This web show provides examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Kristen's unnamed drunken character who debuted in the Drunk in Disney Hotel call.
- Ambiguously Gay: The "Brendan" character, although he pretty much qualifies for CampGay in most cases.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Michelle has been this to both Jimmy and Ralphie.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Michelle is definitely this, and Brendan often is as well.
- Black Comedy: The show uses a lot of this, actually.
- Black Comedy Rape: The World Warcraft Prank, where Jim claims his daughter is using the term "getting raped" and wonders if it is slang or an actual part of the game.Kristin [as daughter]: So, if I go to a magic show and a magician pulls out his wand, is he gonna rape me?Jim: It depends on what the magician looks like. But in most cases you would not say that in the real world; in the video game world, he definitely would, because he would beat you, with his magic spell. But in the real world, that's fake.Kristin: So magicians rape rabbits when they pull them out of their hats?
- Blind Without 'Em: Jared prank calls a TV manufacturer claiming to be an old man who believed his TV's 3D glasses were prescription and crashed into a tree after wearing them while driving. After, he couldn't figure out which glasses were his and which came with the TV.
- Catchphrase: Jared: "He/she hung up."
- Michelle's "Helloooooow?" at the start of her calls.
- Chroma Key: Shows around 2010 and 2012 were shot in front of a green screen so that when the call was uploaded to YouTube their logo could be inserted behind them. The logo is not always inserted in the live stream however, and viewers who watch the show live sometimes simply see Jared and Kristin in front of the green screen.
- Cloudcuckoo Lander: Every character tends to be this at one point or another.
- Cool Old Lady: The "Gertrude" character.
- Didn't Think This Through: They admit to this after using Craigslist to find the victim for their in-person prank, where they pranked a woman who had responded to their ad for a babysitter. While it might have seemed funny while they were planning it, they didn't think of how the victim might feel if a dozen people burst in the room screaming and shouting while babysitting alone in the house of a stranger.
- Double Entendre: So, so, so many of them in the The World Warcraft Prank. Also, from the Netflix Prank, where they call Netflix and tell them they shipped a pornographic cartoon version of the Titanic...Jared: A different kind of ship was sinking, if you know what I mean.
- Dude Sounds Like a Lady: People seem to mistake both the Brendan and Barney characters for women a lot.
- Frothy Mugs of Water: During this prank that they used beer bottles filled with apple cider for the party.
- Fun with Acronyms: One prank to Walmart mentions a Students Together Rationing Interesting Plants club.
- Genki Girl: The "Michelle" character.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: The #RIPGEORGE prank call, in which Kristin (as Michelle) attempted to call and interview people named George Washington for a school report. It didn't end well for two Georges...
- I Have a Family: The victim of their in-person prank said this as Jared and Kristin were attempting to calm her down after revealing it was a prank.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: During a prank to a Disney resort's room service line:Operator: We don't serve small pizzas here, only large pizzas.Kristin: See, dad? I told you: she's not Minnie Mouse, she's Meanie Mouse.Jared: ... That was actually kind of clever.
- Imaginary Friend: Michelle has one named Kelly.
- Karma Houdini: Somehow, they've gotten in no trouble for the hundreds of prank calls they've done.
- Loudness War: The theme song at the start of episodes that include it are always rendered extremely loud.
- Manipulative Bitch: Ruth, the Walmart Employee, who was apparently on to Michelle's prank about losing her imaginary friend Kelly, started confusing Michelle, claiming it was Target, Best Buy, a gas station, and McDonalds.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Implied in the Life Alert call. Jim browses through testimonials on Life Alert's website.Jim: "Mother in law fell in the middle of the night." Pshh, if my mother in law fell I'd be really excited.
- Once an Episode: 12 - 6 cloud
- Put on a Bus: Joe the Camera Guy is no longer a part of the show, but he may return in the future.
- Kristen currently, for personal reasons
- Kristen currently, for personal reasons
- Screw Yourself: The Mitch Loves Mitch call also somehow manages to combine this with twincest.
- Serial Killer: Mitch
- Shout-Out: Stu Stone, who has recently been a guest in some prank calls, voiced the character of Ralphie on The Magic School Bus and his character uses the same name. In the Baby S**tter Prank Call he also mentions that his old teacher was called Mrs. Frizzle.
- Shutting Up Now: In the Netflix Prank, Jared, as the father who accidentally rented a cartoon porn edited into Titanic, tells Kristin, playing as a daughter mimicking the porn noises from a dolphin and walrus in the background, to shut up very loudly. Kristin's character shuts up... for ten seconds.
- Spell My Name With An S: "Brendan" vs. "Brenden"
- Surreal Humour: A lot of pranks like to use this. A good example is a prank that was not put on YouTube, but involved a hurt baby giraffe at a Disney resort.
- Tastes Like Chicken: Michelle says this about the sound component of the Build-a-Bear she ate.
- Victims are Goldfish "It stars Denzel Washington and it's about him trying to stop a train, but the train actually resembles his career. And he's with this white guy, Nicholas Cage, and both of their careers are headed to the shitter, but Denzel Washington saves the train. At the end of the movie you find out Nicholas Cage's career cannot be saved."
- Yandere: Mitch seems to be this, or at least have tones of it.
- You Are Number 6: One call to a company has the operator include her agent number in her opening greeting along with her name. Jared addresses her by the number.
