For three episodes in late 2008, Joe Arpaio — the living gremlin who was pardoned by President Trump for being “America’s Toughest Sheriff”— acted as the ringmaster of a Fox reality-TV show that was a cross between Punk’d and To Catch a Predator. On Smile … You’re Under Arrest! (yes, punctuation included), Arpaio helped devise elaborate humiliating ruses to trick people with outstanding felony warrants into getting arrested on television. “Tricking people into arrest for your own amusement is a terrible idea for a reality show,” Oliver says on Last Week Tonight. “The only worse idea is not making Peter Kraus the Bachelor.” Also worse: the crime Arpaio was convicted of (racial profiling), Arpaio bragging about using chain gangs, and the abuse inmates at his Maricopa County jail suffered under his leadership. But if you’d prefer to stick to terrible television disasters, a clip of SYUA was preserved below:
John Oliver Revisits Joe Arpaio’s To Catch a Predator Knockoff, Which Is Actually Called Smile … You’re Under Arrest!
