America's Funniest Home Videos (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

America's Funniest Home Videos (often simply abbreviated to AFV, previously AFHV), is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from accidents and mishaps. Other popular videos include humorous situations involving pets or children, while some are staged practical jokes.

Synopsis

Produced by Vin Di Bona (with co-executive producers Todd Thicke and Michele Nasraway), it is currently the second longest-running entertainment program on ABC. It is based on the Tokyo Broadcasting System show Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan, which featured a segment in which viewers were invited to send in video clips from their home movies. The format has since been reproduced around the world, and AFHV-inspired TV specials and series continue to emerge periodically in the United States.

Every week, three videos are chosen by the producers and voted on by the studio audience. The winner wins US$10,000, and is in the running for the $100,000 prize at the end of the season, while the runner-up receives $3,000, and third place banks $2,000. Very early in the show's run, the second and third prizes were a new TV and a new VCR, respectively. On the initial hour-long special, the grand prize was $5,000 with second and third places winning a new camcorder; the producer picked the winner, with no audience voting.

Starting with the third season, the show featured the "Assignment America" segment; which called for a series of videos to be made pertaining to a specific theme. Also, Saget's era produced a memorable segment called "Freeze Frame" which was a montage of videos with the song "Freeze Frame" played by the J. Geils Band. The show was so successful in its first year that in 1990 it spawned a spinoff entitled America's Funniest People.

On January 26, 2007, ABC renewed America's Funniest Videos through the 2007-2008 Season, which will become the show's 18th season.

History

Bob Saget (1989-1997)

The show debuted on November 26, 1989 (as an hour-long special produced by Vin Di Bona and Steve Paskay, later a weekly half-hour primetime series since January 14, 1990) with actor/comedian Bob Saget as host and Ernie Anderson as announcer. (Once Anderson became too ill to continue, Gary Owens took over as announcer.) Saget co-hosted the special with actress Kellie Martin.

Audiences are opinionated about Bob Saget's work as host. The scripted introductions that he had to deliver were often rather weak, but they became so associated with Saget that some viewers found him equally unfunny and tiresome. Other viewers have recognized Bob Saget's quick-witted ad libs and his clever commentaries for the videos (he frequently did celebrity impersonations and trick voices).

Saget soon grew tired of the repetitive format and was anxious to pursue other projects as an actor and director. Producer Di Bona held him to his contract, resulting in a frustrated Saget listlessly going through the motions and making pointed remarks on the air during his last two seasons. His contract expired in 1997, and Saget left the show.

Daisy Fuentes and John Fugelsang (1998-2001)

Bob Saget left the show after eight seasons in 1997, but the show returned on January 9, 1998, with new hosts, model Daisy Fuentes and stand-up comedian John Fugelsang, as well as a completely new look. Their trademark was the "Bad-news, Good-news" segment in which they show a segment of videos (and something funny happens), and in the end, they say something good about it. The ratings for the show suffered during this period due to bad chemistry between Fuentes and Fugelsang. In 2001, they both left the show after three seasons.

Tom Bergeron (2001-present)

In 2001, the show returned again in its third format, this time with new host Tom Bergeron. Unlike Saget, who provided voiceovers to the clips, Bergeron humorously narrates them. The Bergeron version, however, added new segments, such as the feature where he puts his own face over top of faces on the videos, and the "slo-mo gizmo," where a video is played first at normal speed, and then played at a slower speed and telestrated. This version also ran for 60 minutes per episode instead of 30 minutes per episode like the previous two versions.

$100,000 Contest

Near the end of each season, the $10,000 winners from selected episodes were brought back to participate in a contest called "The $100,000 Contest". Bob Saget often calls it "America's Funniest Home Videos Hundred Thousand Dollar Di Bona Palooza". This process was the same as the regular version, except one of the contestants would win $100,000.

The Voting

Saget Version: Two ABC Stations (5 on the first season, later reduced to 3 from 1990 to 1993) around the country were joined via satellite to cast their votes along with the Los Angeles audience.
Fuentes/Fugelsang Version: Only the Los Angeles audience voted.
Bergeron Version: Viewers logged on to abc.com to cast their votes with the LA Audience.

List of Satellite Cities on the $100,000 show

1990: Atlanta, GA, Cleveland, OH, Houston, TX, Minneapolis, MN, Philadelphia, PA
1990-91 (a): Miami, FL (in which people are wearing sombreros, and Bob mentions "OJ" during voting), Chicago, IL (in which people are wearing windbreakers, and Bob mentions pizza during voting), Denver, CO (in which people are wearing skiing outfits and Bob mentions omelets during voting)
1990-91 (b): Boston, MA (in which people are wearing clothes that are the sports of Boston), Indianapolis, IN (people holding steering wheels, and one person waving a checkered flag), Seattle, WA (people holding umbrellas)
1991-92 (a): Nashville, TN (in which some people hold guitars), Milwaukee, WI (in which lots of people are holding beer mugs/or beer bottles/or sausages), San Francisco, CA (people are audience, and 1 holds a cable car bell)
1991-92 (b): Washington, DC (people are wearing Redskins clothing, and George Washington, and Abe Lincoin), Tampa, FL (people wearing sombreros, and some dressed as pirates), Phoenix, AZ (in which people are wearing visor hats and 2 chairs had cactuses sitting in them)
1991-92 (c): Orlando, FL (Walt Disney World in which people are wearing caps from Disney characters), Hartford-New Haven, CT (in which most people are wearing Yale clothing, and some people are in graduation caps and gowns, San Diego, CA (some people wearing marine outfits, some females wearing swimwear)
1992-93 (a): Cincinnati, OH (in which people are mostly fans of the Cincinnati Bengals), New Orleans, LA (in which people have trumpets and some people hold Mardi Gras beads), Philadelphia, PA (in which one person in the audience looks like Ben Franklin and a Liberty Bell was in the picture)
1992-93 (b): Milwaukee, WI, Norfolk, VA, San Francisco, CA
1992-93 (c): Providence, RI, Des Moines, IA, Phoenix, AZ
1993-94 (a): Baton Rouge, LA, Wichita, KS
1993-94 (b): Cedar Rapids, IA, Albany, NY
1993-94 (c): Springfield, MO, Scranton, PA
1994-95 (b): Atlanta, GA, Peoria, IL
1994-95 (c): Baltimore, MD, Denver, CO
1995-96 (a): New Orleans, LA, Pittsburgh, PA
1995-96 (b): Albany, NY, Indianapolis, IN
1995-96 (c): Memphis, TN, Cedar Rapids, IA
1996-97 (a): Denver, CO, Grand Rapids, MI
1996-97 (b): Albuquerque, NM, Cleveland, OH

At the end of the show, the $100,000 winner is announced. Three Grand Prize episodes (one in the 1990-91 season) were done each season. A set of $10,000 winners were eligible for the grand prize.

List of number of $10,000 winners

1990: All $10,000 winners [15]
1990-91: 7, 7, 8, $10K Winners
1991-92: 8, 7, 7, $10K Winners
1992-93: 6, 9, 7, $10K Winners
1993-94: 7, 8, 5, $10K Winners
1994-95: 7, 7, 6, $10K winners
1995-96: 7, 7, 5, $10K winners
1996-97 and Beyond: 3 sets of 9 $10K Winners

Ernie Anderson made an appearance on the 1st $100,000 Show from season 3.

Dropping Objects

When the $100,000 winner is announced:

Saget Version: Red, White, and Blue 12" balloons
Fugelsang and Fuentes Version and Bergeron Version (until 2006): Confetti and Streamers (from a confetti cannon)
Bergeron Version (2006-present) Confetti only (from the confetti cannon); confetti and streamers are shot when the credits start rolling.

On the original version with Saget, when the $100,000 winner(s) was announced, a variety of bands/singers performed the AFHV theme song, or non-bands/singers appeared.

List of bands/singers on the Saget Version

1989-90 and 1990-91(a): Regular Theme Song
1990-91(b): Marching Band Version performed by the University of Southern California Marching Band
1990-91(c): 1920's Jazz Band Version
1991-92(a): Regular Theme Song
1991-92(b): Same as 1990-91(b) (But with a Color Guard-Like Drill Team performs at the end of the show)
1991-92(c): Kazoo Band Version
1992-93(b): Space Band Version
1992-93(c): Same as 1989-90 (But with Dancers from the Edge Performing Arts Center from Los Angeles danced at the end of the show)
1993-94(a & b): Marching Band Version (But a Different Marching Band, this time)
1993-94(c): Mariachi Band Version
1994-95(a): Hawaiian Steel Drums
1994-95(b): Pipe Band Version performed by the Los Angeles Scottish Pipe Band
1994-95(c): Dixie Band (Bob often calls it an Oomm-Pah-Pah band) performed by the Dominos
1995-96(a): Disco Version
1995-96(b): Bluegrass Version performed by the Cousin Brothers Bluegrass Band
1995-96(c): Rock and Roll Version performed by Freddy Cannon
1996-97(a): Choir Version performed by the Riverside Community College Gospel Choir
1996-97(b & c): 1997 Version of AFHV Theme (except for 1996-97(c) in which the Claddagh School of Irish Dancing danced to this theme)

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