Kimmel Stunt Shows Just How Far People Will Go to Be on TV

If you're unsure how far people get their mug on the TV, you've probably never seen The Today Show or TRL. Some people are willing to go to absurd lengths for their 15 minutes of fame, even if their 15 minutes only last for about seven seconds on a frigid sidewalk outside of a warm TV studio.

In a recurring stunt called "Fool Release," Jimmy Kimmel Live went onto Hollywood Boulevard outside the show's studio to see what kind of absurd things people would put up with to be on TV.

“From time to time, we like to test the patience of the people passing by our studio to find out just how far they’re willing to go to be on television and what contracts specifically they will agree to enter into without reading any of those contracts,” Kimmel said in the set-up to the segment.

It begins with people being told insane things that are on the release and intensifies from there. One man is given a stress test. A woman from New York is asked to provide voice commands for her bank account. They even try to get a shock collar on one man, who is one of the only people in the segment that refuses to go along with the madness. 

They jumped through the hoops, and now, here they are, on TV. It worked.

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Dustin Nelson is a News Writer with Thrillist. He holds a Guinness World Record but has never met the fingernail lady. Follow him @dlukenelson. dnelson at thrillist dot com