Off their Rockers: Pier Plaza Pranksters
A prank from Season One on Pier Plaza featured actor Michael Yama sitting by women on a bench waiting for his ‘old lady.’ When executive producer Kathleen Burns picks a victim to prank on the NBC Betty White television show “Off their Rockers,” she hopes the casualty will react in an entertaining way. It is the crew’s job to blend into the background and make sure the interactions they’re filming are genuine. “You take a gamble and a lot of times people don’t react or don’t engage, and then we just move on to the next person,” said Burns. The show, which has set up hidden cameras and microphones on the pier and on Pier Plaza in Hermosa Beach, features a cast of humorous elderly characters, such as Michael Yama, Ann Benson, Michael Alaimo and Reatha Grey. They set up goofy and awkward situations to prank younger people. The production team picks a ‘mark,’ gets in position and sets the elderly prankster loose. “We don’t use actors or anything; the people we go up to are real people just living their lives,” Burns said. After someone has been pranked, a producer follows for permission to use the footage on TV. “Ninety-nine percent of people sign,” said Burns. “But it’s completely…
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