Trickmaster

Trickmaster was a reality television show which aired on TV4. The series aired every Friday at 11:00pm from September 13, 2002, uninterrupted up until April 22, 2006, after it was cancelled because of a big number of criminal lawsuits signed by those whom their houses/flats were vandalized.

The series involved people breaking into (usually) neighbors' houses/flats, often with the reasons being causing streetwide problems, and vandalizing them, while neighbors were away. Some of vandalism acts involved were smashing of portraits, misplaced furniture, destroyed props and broken windows. These acts were all set to last maximum fifty minutes, and if the acts were caught by nearby citizens, vandals had to end them early and to lose cops until they hide in a shelter or a place where cops can hardly find them.

Because of the show's offensive nature, it met an extreme number of criminal lawsuits against TV4 and/or the show's creators. The network was taken off air around 15 times with intervals of blackout lasting even up to two days, because of airing the show. Despite the aftermaths, it became a success in ratings and is considered responsible for highening TV4's reputation.

Background
Trickmaster involved one or two vandals breaking into neighbors' flats or houses by request, and under accompanying by requesters, were told to do chores that would result in damaging property of neighbors. Usually, these acts involved destroying of all glass things, stealing money and eye-catching items, misplacing of furniture, replacement of portraits with faces that may be scary, and destroying of doors and even poisoning of the surfaces. Personal things were those unaffected by the acts.

Acts were often carried around early morning hours, in a range between 12:45am and sunrise (varying from 4am on summer solstice to 7:30am during winter), and had a time limit of fifty minutes. Usually, at the end of an act, an electricity supply for the affected flat or house was required to be turned off. This limit was increased to 55 in episodes filmed around May 2005 (which were aired starting late March 2006 until the show's end). These acts were, when broadcast, broadcast in full without any skips.

Episodes were filmed infrequently, but in a period when the airing period was balanced. It was more common to film episodes as early as March 2002, and then that was stopped until May, and so on. There was a tradition to change vandals after one was charged of vandalism which was later broadcast.

The show had 400 episodes. 212 were aired, and 188 were unaired after the show was cancelled. The 213th episode, which involved destroying a luxury house, was scheduled to air on April 28, 2006, and still remains unaired until the near future. Circa 2018, criminal lawsuits against the vandals which were signed on in 2005, are set to expire, so the show's episodes from 213 up until 265 might return on the air in late 2018.

W.I.P.