Harry Hill's X Factor spoof 'I Can't Sing' arrives in the West End next year, and here are the moments from the show we hope feature.
18/04/2012 17:49 | By Emma Roberts, Entertainment reporter, MSN Entertainment
I'm Spazticus: Channel 4's new prank show
Channel 4's roster of acquisitions and commissions for the summer includes new prank show, I'm Spazticus.
Lewis Whyld.PA Wire
Channel 4 logo
I'm Spazticus, Channel 4's forthcoming prank show, hasn't even aired yet and already it's landed the broadcaster in hot water.
Hot on the heels of the controversy generated by The Undateables, I'm Spazticus, commissioned to tie in with the London Paralympics, features disabled performers pranking able-bodied members of the public.
However, one of its sketches has been withdrawn after police were called when a blind man groped a model. The disabled man and the model were in on the joke, but students at Southend Adult Community College were unaware they were being pranked.
College principal Stephen Layman said they were "shocked" by the filming.
A Channel 4 spokesman admitted that students didn't see the funny side. "As a gesture of goodwill we won't be broadcasting the footage," the broadcaster has said.
A mix of hidden camera show and mock doc, with a studio-based element, I'm Spazticus will feature a number of recurring characters as well as one-offs.
A pilot, first aired on Channel 4 in 2005, won a Superfest International Disability Award.
The Guardian said of the pilot: "As well as being very funny, it does highlight the fascinating and problematic interface between disabled and able-bodied people... More important, though, is that it's the funniest thing that's been on TV for a long time. Absolutely hilarious".
The National Disability Arts Forum said: "And if disabled people are seen to be doing TV with panache and flair this has got to be an improvement on the usual investigative 55 minutes of misery that is offered up as our lives."
I'm Spazticus airs this summer.
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25Comments
18/04/2012 18:41
Im in a wheelchair, wish i had been invited to be involved, us crips like a laugh as well !!!
18/04/2012 21:44
so hang on. if it's ok and even hilarious for disabled people to prank able bodied people will it be ok and hilarious for able bodied people to prank the disabled?
or is this another misguided example of political correctness?
Like it's ok to call someone gay, but it's not ok to call someone black and gay because that of course is racism!
crazy world!
or is this another misguided example of political correctness?
Like it's ok to call someone gay, but it's not ok to call someone black and gay because that of course is racism!
crazy world!
18/04/2012 19:18
Not a great title, but Ian Dury and the Blockheads also had a song called Spasticus Autisticus it didn't go down that well even though Dury was a polio sufferer, it's all down to your personal taste, me personally I'm not bothered, we live in a country that's gone too politically correct, we need to lighten up a bit more and lay off the "Lets all jump on the bandwagon and complain" critique.
18/04/2012 20:36
"students at Southend Adult Community College were unaware they were being pranked"
Um, isn't that the point of a hidden camera prank?
18/04/2012 19:28
If Disabled people are at the centre of Producing and appearing in this.Good on them. They can call it whatever they want. Prejudices need to be challenged -censorship doesn't do any good.
18/04/2012 20:20
david (daveharpley) - people that can laugh at themselves are the best kind of people!!
18/04/2012 22:33
A bit doubtful about the title, but I'll wait and actuallywatch the show before I decide whether or not it's funny
18/04/2012 21:07
People had no problem with it when it was originally released, so why have a problem now?
-Search for it on youtube!
It's a bit of fun, and if the people in it didn't agree with the ethics, they wouldn't have done it!
19/04/2012 02:32
Channel 4, you were always my favourite station :D
18/04/2012 21:52
Channel 4 back on form. Good on ya!
18/04/2012 23:07
Bring it on 
19/04/2012 10:44
sounds like good harmless fun to me.
who are these people who ring ofcom and complain if it doesn't suit them?
stop moaning and ge out of the house more!
18/04/2012 22:20
i was sparticus but then i took an arrow to the knee.
19/04/2012 10:39
Candid Camera by any other name. Tired format, give it a rest!
19/04/2012 09:06
Comment from contributor ("No, it's not OK to call somebody gay, if they don't want to be identified as gay")
It is not possible to define a Gay person from looks alone, So how does anyone know he/her is gay if he does not wish to be defined as such. It is only him/her who can put the information into the public domain surely?
19/04/2012 05:54
bring back frankie boyle channel 4
19/04/2012 10:41
Whilst I think that the idea is great, channel 4 could of handled it better.
19/04/2012 10:35
this sort of pranking program is basically nasty. You take advantage of peoples good nature to humiliate them or make them look foolish. I am sorry to say that if someone came up to me in the street and did a grope or worse, groped my daughter,they would be looking at the floor. dump this rubbish and go for something with at least a tiny bit of culture.
19/04/2012 09:31
I agree the title is rather offensive, i don't think the term 'spaz' is ever acceptable.
18/04/2012 23:16
Was Ian Dury either spastic or autistic? No.
The question is the equivalent of asking "Is a black lesbian OK to call someone a Paki bastard?"
No, it's not OK to call somebody gay, if they don't want to be identified as gay, but it's perfectly fine to call them 'black' if they are and are happy with that fact.
Where did this assumption come from that people are only offended if white or able-bodied people think they are allowed to be, but that white, able-bodied people have the right to be racist irrespective of who is offended?
Political correctness is massively exaggerated by bigots, including much of the tabloid press, but not that much of an issue for real people without any particular agenda.
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