Nick at Nite's latest series lets real parents have the last laugh.

In "Hi-Jinks," the jokes are on the kids in a new hidden-camera series that younger viewers may liken to "Punk'd" and older ones could think of as a juvenile "Candid Camera."

"Hi-Jinks" is family viewing for the transitional hour when kids network Nickelodeon passes the baton to late-night sitcom recycler Nick at Nite. The new series is part of an original-programming effort for a network that usually gets its pranks from the fictional families of "The Cosby Show," "Full House" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," Nick at Nite president Larry Jones says.

"Kids are constantly playing jokes on parents, and parents are thinking, 'If I could just get them back.' It's fantasy fulfillment for adults," says Jones, the father of two. "We target it toward adults, but kids will want to watch, too."

For example, phony salespeople try to sell giant cell phones, a tricked-out, giant-claw machine with elusive iPods tempts and frustrates, and actress Vivica A. Fox auditions youths for a commercial featuring a fake perfume that smells horrible.

Hosted by Leila Sbitani, the show also goes behind the scenes, showing the elaborate camera and microphone setups that record the action. The kids range in age from grade school to mid-teens.

The lighthearted pranks feature reaction shots from surprised children and gleeful parents. In a zoo segment, a bear — actually an actor in costume — dances and waves to children while parents who are in on the joke deliberately look away.

"What I like are some of the reactions you get from parents. They're (yelling), 'I got you!' and jumping up and down," Jones says.

Each episode of "Hi-Jinks" features one celebrity: Fox, Oscar winner Susan Sarandon, NBA star Chris Webber, "The View" host Meredith Vieira, actor Richard Kind or comedian Gilbert Gottfried.

Jones says getting the celebrities to participate was "surprisingly easy."

Sarandon, who surprises children by "coming to life" when she fills in for own wax figure at Madame Tussaud's, related to the way families play jokes on each other.

"She said her kids do this to her all the time," Jones says.

Webber, who plays for the Philadelphia 76ers, made believe he was distraught when children at an autograph session "broke" a rigged facsimile of his rookie-of-the-year trophy. Webber, who made crying sounds as he left the room, said he felt bad fooling the children, but their parents said "go as far as you want."

"I really felt guilty," he says. "But I could see the parents in the corner laughing."

The camera-savvy kids took it in stride. When one worried girl was told the broken trophy scene was a practical joke caught on film, "she started posing like Madonna," Webber says.