On April 1, 1957 the British news show Panorama broadcast a three-minute segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed both to an unusually mild winter and to the "virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil." The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show's highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched video footage of a Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets. The segment concluded with the assurance that, "For those who love this dish, there's nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti."
The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest hoax generated an enormous response. Hundreds of people phoned the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this query the BBC diplomatically replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

　　To this day the Panorama broadcast remains one of the most famous and popular April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time. It is also believed to be the first time the medium of television was used to stage an April Fool's Day hoax.

　　1957年4月1日，英国的Panorama新闻频道播出了一段关于瑞士南部地区盛大的意大利通心粉收获节的三分钟的新闻报道。备受尊敬的该频道的节目主持人Richard Dimbleby在节目中说这次的大丰收主要归功于罕有的温和天气以及“象鼻虫的消除”。电视机前的观众一边观看着电视里面播放的一个瑞士家庭的全家人收获意大利通心粉的场景。该短片最后还言之凿凿地声称，“对于那些喜爱吃意大利通心粉的人，没有比正宗的，自家出产的意大利通心粉更好的选择了。”

　　这个意大利通心粉收获节的闹剧引发了巨大的反响。许多观众纷纷打电话到BBC电视台询问如何才能种植一棵意大利通心粉树。对于这些问题，BBC的外交式答复是，“放一根意大利通心粉到番茄酱的罐头里面，然后就等着看结果吧。”

　　直到今天，Panorama的愚人节玩笑始终是最著名和受欢迎的恶作剧之一。也被认为是第一次电视台这种大众媒体上演的愚人节恶作剧。