Daniel Pink Hosts Nat Geo Channel's New Hidden Camera Series CROWD CONTROL, Beginning Tonight

What if we could make the DMV a happier place by adding a little laughter? Or curb America's speeding epidemic without issuing a single ticket? Or reduce the rate of pedestrian collisions by making it worth the wait at the crosswalk?

In National Geographic Channel's (NGC's) new 12-part series Crowd Control, premiering tonight, Nov. 24, at 9 & 9:30 p.m., viewers will discover that sometimes all you need is a little Science to help make the world a better place. Best-selling author and behavior change expert Daniel Pink (@DanielPink) will use behavioral Science to lead a series of experiments that show how we can apply the power of persuasion in our daily lives to reduce stress, minimize annoyances, improve health and increase happiness. Using hidden cameras to record his results, Pink will tackle the seemingly impossible task of righting everyday wrongs - from convincing partygoers to clean up their streets to stopping the senseless RUSH at an airport baggage claim.

Crowd Control will air globally on National Geographic Channels in 440 million homes in 171 countries and 45 languages later this fall. For more information, visit www.natgeotv.com and follow us on Twitter at @NGC_PR.

With 20 years of experience studying why we do the things we do, Pink will draw on academic theories and enlist an elite team of designers, builders and technologists to change bad behavior into good. Using the power of guilt, fear, shame and outright lying, CROWD CONTROL will curate social behavior in fun and eye-popping ways that have real-life applications. He'll introduce targets in men's restrooms to reduce cleaning bills, lie to the elderly to make them stronger and scare the pants off air travelers to reduce their chances of death.

Scientifically based but shamelessly entertaining, Pink travels the country to catch unsuspecting members of the public in the act - from Brooklyn, where he'll calm a long line of patrons waiting to get into a popular pizza joint, to New Mexico, where a "musical road" will reward drivers for obeying the speed limit. He'll also convince New Orleans revelers to clean up Bourbon Street and corral oblivious texting pedestrians with a special cellphone lane in Washington, D.C. Additional stops on Pink's itinerary include Orlando, Dallas, Providence and the Jersey Shore.

"We made a list of the most annoying social situations we face on a daily basis, and then used Science to fix them," said Pink. "Viewers will be amazed at just how much we can influence behavior by slightly altering the situation, and how these small adjustments can actually make a big difference in our world."

About Daniel Pink

Daniel Pink (@DanielPink) is a best-selling author with 20 years of experience studying and covering behavioral science. His books have been translated into 34 languages and debuted to great critical success - the New York Post called him a "gifted writer who turns even the heaviest scientific study into something digestible - and often amusing - without losing his intellectual punch," while Forbes raved, "Pink has a knack for teaching in such an entertaining way that you'll forget you are learning."
Pink is a popular speaker, having delivered more than 1,000 lectures to audiences in 36 countries. His TED talk on the Science of motivation is one of the 10 most-watched TED talks of all time, with 11.7 million views. In 2013, the London-based Thinkers50 ranked him one of the top 15 business thinkers in the world. When Oprah Winfrey was the 2008 commencement speaker at Stanford University, she bought 4,500 copies of his book "A Whole New Mind" and gave one to every graduating student, saying it was a book that everyone should read.

Pink also serves as a contributing editor for WIRED, and has written for the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Washington Post and Sunday Telegraph.
Upcoming episodes of CROWD CONTROL include:

Lawbreakers (series premiere)

Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, 9 p.m. ET/PT
Millions of us routinely break the law by driving too fast, but countless speeding tickets don't seem to make any difference. Thirteen thousand people are killed each year on U.S. roads due to speeding. Behavior change expert Daniel Pink has a radical new approach: What if we were rewarded for NOT speeding instead of punished for going too fast? Pink puts his plan into action with spectacular results. Later, he heads to Austin, Texas, to curb a terrible trend: able-bodied motorists parking in handicapped spots.

Lazy Nation
Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, 9:30 p.m. ET/PT
Millions of tourists descend on the French Quarter in New Orleans every year for good food and good times. It's one of the few places in America where you can drink on the streets, but that brings its own problem: Every night, tons of garbage pile up as people chuck their cans, cups and bottles wherever they please. Trash cans are everywhere, so why are people too lazy to use them? Pink has a plan is to turn revelers into unpaid street CLEANERS using a trivia quiz trash can, but will he succeed?

Travel Tricks

Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, 9 p.m. ET/PT

If only the act of traveling could be as stress-free as your vacation. While that will probably never be the case, Pink attempts to ease some of the more anxiety-inducing aspects of travel - like the ever-tense baggage-claiming process. By drawing a line a few feet away from the conveyer belt and a using a mechanical friend to enforce the boundary, can Pink convince flyers to wait for their bags in an orderly fashion? And travelers dread the always-prolonged hunt for their cars in the parking garage, so he heads to Dallas Love Field Airport to see if a little Science can ease their woes.
Anger Management

Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, 9:30 p.m. ET/PT

At some point in our lives, most of us will have to spend time waiting in line at the DMV, probably one of the unhappiest places in America. Pink likes a challenge, but traveling to Orlando and getting people to actually enjoy a visit to the DMV is his biggest yet. His secret weapons are a laughter expert with an infectious giggle and sophisticated face recognition software that measures how happy people are feeling. Can Pink shift the happiness barometer from a depressing 25 percent just by showing the DMV patrons how miserable they all look?

Additional episodes include Dirty Deeds, Selfishness, Money, Feet First, Time Flies, Do the Right Thing, Food for Thought and Top Takeaways.

Crowd Control is produced by Tigress Productions for National Geographic Channels. For Tigress, executive producers are Belinda Cherrington and Dick Colthurst. Co-executive producers are Daniel Pink and Alex Weresnow. For National Geographic Channels, executive producer is Madeleine Carter, vice president of production & development is Kevin Tao Mohs, senior vice president of production & development is Noel Siegel, and executive vice president of programming and strategy is Heather Moran.

National Geographic Channels
Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channels US are a joint venture between National Geographic and FOX Networks. The Channels contribute to the National Geographic Society's commitment to exploration, conservation and education with smart, innovative programming and profits that directly support its mission. Launched in January 2001, National Geographic Channel (NGC) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the debut of NGC HD. In 2010, the wildlife and natural history cable channel NAT GEO WILD was launched, and in 2011, the Spanish-language network Nat Geo Mundo was unveiled. The Channels have carriage with all of the nation's major cable, telco and satellite television providers, with NGC currently available in over 85 million U.S. homes. Globally, National Geographic Channel is available in more than 440 million homes in 171 countries and 45 languages. For more information, visit www.natgeotv.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.