America's Funniest Home Videos:

[stevearino]

  The year is 1988. George H.W. Bush, age 64, is elected U.S. President; the War of the Gulf is in full effect; and rookie TV producer Vin Di Bona (whose Saturday-morning game show "Animal Crack-Ups" is on its way off the air) conceives a game show.

  While on vacation in Japan, Vin caught a glimpse of a variety show called "Fun with Kato and Ken," a segment of which had ordinary citizens send in their funniest moments ever caught on film and videotape; upon his return to Los Angeles, California, Vin decided to turn the segment into a Prime-Time Game Show called "America's Funniest Home Videos."

  Vin soon hired stand-up comic Bob Saget to host the hour-long pilot, which was taped in Summer 1989 and aired on November 26, 1989 at 8 P.M. ET/PT on the ABC Television Network; 7 weeks later, on January 14, 1990, "America's Funniest Home Videos" began airing every Sunday night at 8 P.M. in a format that remains unchanged to this very day: America sends its funniest moments ever caught on tape, with the top 3 funniest home videos competing against each other for a $10,000 weekly prize.

  In addition to the $3,000 & $2,000 the 2nd and 3rd place winners won respectively, during the first season only, those winners received, respectively, an RCA Video Camera and an RCA TV, and the $10,000 winners at the end of each sweeps period competed against each other for an additional $100,000.

  In May 1997, after 8 seasons, original host Bob Saget left the series and was replaced in January 1998 by former MTV VJ Daisy Fuentes (paired with stand-up comic John Fugelsang); during this time, ratings for the show began to slip, and in May 1999, after 10 seasons, ABC canceled "America's Funniest Home Videos" due to poor ratings, with the series finale telecast on August 28, 1999.

  But that wasn't the end of the show. On July 20, 2001, during the Reality TV craze, ABC brought back "America's Funniest Home Videos" as a weekly series, this time with TV personality Tom Bergeron becoming the sole host--a job which he'll be leaving this May, after 15 successful years, with a new host to-be-determined; despite the episodes now being an hour long, with commercials, the show's format has remained unchanged.

  Reruns of what is now Network TV's Longest-Running Prime-Time Game Show have aired in reruns on such cable networks as TBS, USA Network, Nickelodeon, ABC Family, WGN & The Hallmark Channel since 1995, as well as in rerun syndication.

  "America's Funniest Home Videos" is produced by ABC Entertainment in association with Vin Di Bona Productions.

  "America's Funniest Home Videos" is Distributed by Buena Vista Television.

[Kaos]

I don't know if you can really call it a game show, but what the heck, it's all good.

[ladykelsey]

Mom and I used to love America's Funniest Home Videos and I thought the show was really cool and it was so amazing that there really was a game show that people could win money just for sending in their funniest home movies before Youtube came along and America's Funniest Home Videos really showed Bob Saget's talent for game show hosting which would later show in 1 Vs 100. But I think what really gave America's Funniest Home Videos a hit out of the ballpark was when John Fugelsang and Daisy Fuentes came aboard as hosts it really showed how great a star Daisy Fuentes was because {At the time Daisy Fuentes was the spokeswoman for Pantene haircare products in Spanish} But it could be neat if GSN could add reruns of the Bob Saget version of America's Funniest Home Videos because it was a really neat game show that the whole family could enjoy,
Kelsey

[stevearino]

Hello Out There From TV Land,

    I wanna talk to you about "America's Funniest Home Videos," Network TV's Longest-Running Prime-Time Game Show, just renewed TODAY for 2 more years after this.

    For those of you unfamiliar with the show (doubtful, but I may be right about some), here's the Inside Information on what has surpassed "What's My Line?" as Network TV's Longest-Running Prime-Time Game Show, as well as a few Sample Full Episodes courtesy of YouTube.

    The year is 1988. George H.W. Bush, 64, is elected U.S. President; the War of the Gulf is in full effect; and rookie TV producer Vin Di Bona (whose Saturday-morning game show "Animal Crack-Ups," hosted by Alan Thicke, is on its way off the air after 3 seasons) is on vacation in Japan.

    During the vacation, Vin and his then-wife Gina caught a glimpse of a Japanese variety show airing on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) titled "Fun with Kato and Ken," a segment of which had ordinary Japanese citizens competing against each other by sending in their funniest moments caught on the then-infant medium of videotape in the hopes of earning the Japanese equivalent of the American dollar; upon his return to America (specifically Los Angeles, California by way of his native Cranston, Rhode Island), Vin decided to turn the segment into a Game Show.

    The Game eventually was christened "America's Funniest Home Videos," with Vin hiring stand-up comic Bob Saget to host the series' hour-long Pilot Episode, which taped in Summer 1989 at Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles, California and subsequently green-lit by execs at the ABC Television Network, which gave the Pilot a Series order as a Mid-Season Replacement Series.

    The Pilot Episode was telecast on Sunday night, November 26, 1989 at 8 P.M. ET on ABC.

    7 weeks later, on January 14, 1990, "America's Funniest Home Videos" began airing weekly every Sunday night at 8 P.M. in a Game Show format that's remained unchanged throughout its run, with 3 Contestants per show competing against each other by sending in their funniest moments caught on video in the hopes of earning a weekly Grand Prize of $10,000, with (in Season 1 only) consolation prizes (specifically an RCA TV Set and RCA Video Camera) given to the 2nd and 3rd place winners (later modified in the 2nd season with both 2nd AND 3rd placers earning the RCA Camera and the weekly $10,000 winners, in addition to the Grand Prize, the RCA TV Set Prize).

    In addition, the weekly Grand Prize winners compete against each other at the end of each sweeps period (November, February and May, respectively) for an additional $100,000 Cash Prize.

    By March 1990, "America's Funniest Home Videos" became a Surprise Hit, the first Surprise hit of the 1990s; soon afterwards, Vin Di Bona discovered that many of the Videos submitted were Staged Stunts, thus convincing himself to quickly create a Spin-Off Game Show that he christened "America's Funniest People," with a 30-Minute Pilot taped later that Spring hosted by Impressionist and Stand-up Comic Dave Coulier, with the half-hour Pilot airing after its parent show "America's Funniest Home Videos" at 8 P.M. ET on May 13, 1990 with a mixed bag of videotaped clips shot by amateurs along with other videos taped across America by Vin Di Bona Productions.

    On September 16, 1990, "America's Funniest People" began airing weekly every Sunday night at 8 P.M. after its parent show on ABC, with the same prize structure used on "Videos": $10,000 for 1st place winners, $3,000 for 2nd place winners, and $2,000 for 3rd place winners; there were some differences between the shows, however, airing as a weekly ABC "Videos" hour.

    On "America's Funniest Home Videos," all clips were shot by amateurs, and in most cases supposedly NOT staged; on "America's Funniest People," however, all clips were deliberately staged, with ordinary Americans performing stunts and gags for the camera. Some clips on "America's Funniest People" were taped by Amateurs, and others by Vin Di Bona Productions.

    In May 1994, after moving up an hour to 7 P.M. the previous Spring, ABC canceled "America's Funniest People" due to low ratings; its parent show, meanwhile, soldiered on--for a while.

    In May 1997, after 8 seasons, Bob Saget exited, stage left as host of "America's Funniest Home Videos," replaced in January 1998 by MTV VJ Daisy Fuentes (paired with comic John Fugelsang).

    By this time, falling ratings were starting for "America's Funniest Home Videos," and in May 1999, after 10 seasons, ABC canceled "America's Funniest Home Videos" due to low ratings.

    The series finale, taped at House of Blues in Los Angeles, was telecast on August 28, 1999.

    But wait, that's not the end: 2 years later, on July 20, 2001, ABC successfully revived "America's Funniest Home Videos" 2 years after its cancellation, expanding to an Hour-Long format--this time with TV personality Tom Bergeron taking over as host in an otherwise unchanged format.

    Tom would maintain his role as host for 15 years until announcing his "AFV" departure, with his final original episode taped at Disneyland in Anaheim, California telecast on May 17, 2015.

    48 hours later, on May 19, 2015 LIVE on "Dancing with the Stars," Tom Bergeron announced that his successor would be Alfonso Ribeiro, who made his debut the following Fall, October 11, 2015, as the new host of "America's Funniest Home Videos," now entering his 4th season as Host.

    In addition to airing new episodes Sunday nights at 7 P.M. on ABC (where it's had its weekly timeslot since September 2003, after 2 years airing Friday nights at 8 P.M.), reruns continue to flourish on TBS, Up TV, Hallmark Channel, Nickelodeon, USA Network and TV Land among others.

    As promised, here are a few sample episodes.

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc8ateB5Y28

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=igg7IPN-Pmo

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Wi4oJgm0I

[palmer7]

It's not really a game show, IMHO.

[stevearino]

Dear Brian,

    I have a proposal for SHOUT! Factory: in loving memory of Bob Saget (who died Sunday night at age 65), it's my Humblest of Suggestions that SHOUT! Factory make a deal with Disney Platform Distribution (a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) for SHOUT! Factory to issue, for the first time EVER on DVD, "America's Funniest Home Videos: The Complete First Season," a loving showcase of all 16 episodes (including the original Hour-Long 1989 Pilot Episode and the Hour-Long $100,000 1st Season Finale) of the hit '80s TV Game Show "America's Funniest Home Videos" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way they originally aired on the ABC Television Network.

    In case you've forgotten, Brian, here's the Inside Information.

    The year is 1988. George "Daddy" Bush, age 64, is U.S. President Elect; the Soviet Union pulls out of Afghanistan; and rookie TV producer Vin Di Bona (whose Saturday-morning Game Show "Animal Crack-Ups," hosted by Alan Thicke, is on its way off the air) is on Vacation with his then-wife, Gina, in Japan; during the Vacation, Vin caught a glimpse of a Japanese Variety show titled "Fun with Kato and Ken," a segment of which featured ordinary Japanese citizens sending in their funniest moments caught on film in the hopes of earning the Japanese equivalent of the U.S. American Dollar.

    Upon his return to his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, California by way of his native Cranston, Rhode Island, Vin decided to turn the segment he saw in Japan into his next Game Show, eventually Christening his Game Show Concept as "America's Funniest Home Videos" and hiring Bob Saget (then appearing on TV's "Full House") to host the Series' Hour-Long Pilot, which taped in Summer 1989 at Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles, California.

    The aforementioned Pilot was telecast on November 26, 1989 at 8 P.M. ET on ABC as an Hour-Long Special; 7 weeks later, on January 14, 1990, "America's Funniest Home Videos" began airing regularly and weekly every Sunday night at 8 P.M. ET on ABC in a Game Show format which remains little changed as of this writing, with 3 Contestants per show competing against each other in the hopes of earning a weekly Grand Prize of $10,000 by sending in their Funniest Moments caught on Film, with the 2nd and 3rd Place Winners, respectively, earning an RCA TV Set and an RCA Video Camera (later amended in Season 2 to the 2nd and 3rd place winners earning the Camera and the weekly $10,000 winners earning the RCA TV Set) during the series' first 2 seasons.

    In addition, the weekly $10,000 Grand Prize winners compete against each other every 3 months (November, February & May) for an additional Grand Prize of $100,000; by March 1990, "America's Funniest Home Videos" was such a Huge Hit that upon realizing that many of the Videos sent in were set-up clips, Vin decided to create a Spin-Off Game Show in "America's Funniest People," hiring Bob's good friend and fellow Comic Dave Coulier as host.

    The Pilot for "America's Funniest People" aired on May 13, 1990 at 8 P.M. ET after "America's Funniest Home Videos" and was soon picked up as a Regular Series, beginning on September 16, 1990 airing Sunday nights at 8 P.M. ET after "America's Funniest Home Videos" as part of an ABC "Videos" Hour, with Dave paired on "America's Funniest People" with Arleen Sorkin for the series' first 2 seasons and later Tawny Kitaen for the rest of its run.

    While ABC cancelled "America's Funniest People" in May 1994 after 4 seasons due to poor ratings (with its Series Finale telecast on August 28, 1994 at 7 P.M. ET after it and "America's Funniest Home Videos" moved permanently to 7 P.M. ET on Sunday nights opposite "60 Minutes" on CBS), "America's Funniest Home Videos" soldiered on--for a while, anyway.

    In May 1997, after 8 seasons as Host, Bob Saget decided to bow out as host of "America's Funniest Home Videos," replaced as host in January 1998 by former MTV VJ Daisy Fuentes (paired with stand-up comic John Fugelsang); by this time, however, ratings began to plummet, and in May 1999, after 10 seasons, ABC cancelled "America's Funniest Home Videos" due to low ratings.

    Its series Finale, taped at House of Blues in Los Angeles, was telecast on August 28, 1999; 2 years later, on July 20, 2001, ABC successfully brought back "America's Funniest Home Videos" as a Regular Series Revival, this time with TV personality Tom Bergeron as Sole Host.

    The Revival initially aired Friday nights at 8 P.M. ET on ABC after the series expanded to an Hour before moving permanently in September 2003 to Sunday nights at 7 P.M. ET on ABC--a timeslot its held ever since then.

    In March 2014, Tom Bergeron announced he was stepping down as host of "America's Funniest Home Videos" after 15 seasons in 14 years, with his final original episode telecast on May 17, 2015; 48 hours later, on May 19, 2015, live on the Season Finale of "Dancing with the Stars," Tom Bergeron announced that his successor on "America's Funniest Home Videos" would be Alfonso Ribeiro, who made his debut as Host the following Fall, on October 11, 2015.

    Currently, Alfonso Ribeiro is in his 7th year as Host of the show, and presumably is set to return for Season 33--his 8th Season--next Fall.

    Tentatively, SHOUT! Factory shall issue "America's Funniest Home Videos: The Complete First Season" on DVD on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 (what would have been Bob Saget's 66th Birthday this year) at a cost of only $19.99 wherever DVDs are sold, with all DVD proceeds going to the Scleroderma Foundation, a Charity close to Bob Saget's Heart, considering his older sister, Gay, died very young of Scleroderma at age 47 in 1994, in loving memory of Bob Saget, himself having died too young at age 65 Sunday night.

                                                                                                                Sincerely,
                                                                                                            Steve Arino

[johnnyo]

A good summary, just one nit pick.

Your comment on the Gulf War is probably unnecessary, as it is inaccurate in this context. Iraq did not invade Kuwait until August 2, 1990, and US Ground Troops did not invade until January 17, 1991. Which means that AFHV was already established as a series before the Gulf War was even a thing.

Otherwise, a good post, I never watched it regularly, so I learned a lot.

[stevearino]

Thanks for correcting me about the Gulf War, Johnnyo; I amended the Post to replace the Gulf War line with a line about the Soviet Union pulling out of Afghanistan.

[stevearino]

Dear Brian Ward,

    I have a proposal for SHOUT! Factory: to make a deal with Buena Vista Television (a  wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) for SHOUT! Factory to issue and release, for the first time EVER on DVD, "America's Funniest Home Videos: The Complete First Season," a loving showcase of all 16 episodes (including the hour-long Pilot episode and the hour-long 1st-season $100,000 Finale) of the hit TV game show "America's Funniest Home Videos," each episode showcased 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way each episode originally aired on the ABC Television Network.

    In case you aren't familiar with it, Brian, here's the Inside Info from a life-long Avid  Viewer: The year is 1988. George "Daddy" Bush, age 64, is U.S. President-Elect; the War of the Gulf is in full effect; and rookie TV producer Vin Di Bona (whose Saturday-morning game show "Animal Crack-Ups," hosted by Alan Thicke, is on its way off the air) is on vacation in Japan.

    During the vacation (which he had with his then-wife Gina), Vin caught a glimpse of a Japanese variety show called "Fun with Kato and Ken," a segment of which had ordinary Japanese citizens competing against each other for the Japanese equivalent of the U.S. Dollar.

    Upon his return to his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, California (by way of Cranston, Rhode Island, where he was born on April 10, 1944), Vin Di Bona decided to turn the segment he saw in Japan into his NEXT TV Game Show, eventually naming the show "America's Funniest Home Videos" and soon afterwards hired stand-up comic Bob Saget (then appearing as an actor on the hit '80s sitcom "Full House") to host the Hour-Long Pilot.

    The Pilot Episode was Videotaped in Summer 1989 at Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles and was immediately picked up to series for the ABC Television Network, which telecast the Pilot on November 26, 1989 at 8 P.M. ET opposite "Murder She Wrote" that night.

    7 weeks later, on January 14, 1990, "America's Funniest Home Videos" became a regular series airing weekly every Sunday night at 8 P.M. ET in a Unique TV Game Show format remaining little changed throughout its long run, with 3 Contestants per show competing against each other for a weekly Grand Prize of $10,000, with an additional $100,000 given away at the end of each sweeps period (November, February and May); by March 1990, the series was such a hit that, soon after realizing that MANY of the videos submitted were set-up clips, Vin Di Bona decided to create a spin-off Game Show called "America's Funniest People," hiring Dave Coulier (Bob's co-star on "Full House") to host the Pilot episode, which aired on May 13, 1990.

    On September 16, 1990, "America's Funniest People" began airing weekly on Sunday nights at 8 P.M. ET as part of an ABC Television Network "Videos" hour; whereas the clips on "AFHV" were shot entirely and submitted by amateurs, on "People," however, sequences were deliberately staged, with ordinary Americans performing stunts and gags for the camera.

    Some clips on "People" were shot by amateurs, while others were shot by Vin Di Bona and company; for series, Dave was joined by actress Arleen Sorkin ("Days of Our Lives") for the first 2 seasons and afterwards by former MTV Video Vixen Tawny Kitaen thereafter.

    In May 1994, after 4 seasons, ABC pulled the plug on "America's Funniest People," with its unceremonious series finale telecast on June 5, 1994; meanwhile, "America's Funniest Home Videos" carried on--for a while, anyway: in May 1997, after 8 seasons, Bob Saget left "America's Funniest Home Videos" and was replaced in January 1998 by former MTV VJ Daisy Fuentes (paired with stand-up comic John Fugelsang) with unfortunately disastrous results.

    In May 1999, after 10 seasons and 4 different timeslot changes in a year (including Monday, Thursday & Saturday), ABC cancelled "America's Funniest Home Videos" due to low ratings, with its Series Finale (Videotaped at House of Blues in Los Angeles) telecast on August 28, 1999 at 8 P.M.; but wait, that's NOT the end: 2 years later, on July 20, 2001, ABC successfully revived "America's Funniest Home Videos," this time with TV personality Tom Bergeron (then doing double Game Show duty as "Hollywood Squares" host) becoming sole permanent host.

    The revival initially aired on ABC (expanded to an Hour per episode) on Friday nights at 8 P.M. ET before moving back permanently in September 2003 to Sunday nights at 7 P.M. ET

    In March 2014, Tom Bergeron announced that after 15 seasons, he was stepping down as host of "America's Funniest Home Videos," with his final original episode airing on May 17, 2015; 48 hours later, on May 19, 2015, LIVE on "Dancing with the Stars," Tom announced that his "America's Funniest Home Videos" successor would be actor Alfonso Ribeiro, who made his debut as Tom's successor on October 11, 2015--a role he maintains currently in his 8th season.

    In October 2022, the grand prize money given away on "America's Funniest Home Videos" doubled from $10,000 to $20,000 for the show's 33rd combined season.

Tentatively, Brian, "America's Funniest Home Videos: The Complete First Season" shall be issued and released on DVD on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at a cost of only $19.99 wherever DVDs are sold, with TONS of Bonus Features including, but not limited to, the following: "The Summit with Saget," a 20-year Retrospective of the show where then-host Tom Bergeron had Bob Saget return for one night only for the show's 20th Anniversary in 2009.

    "America's Funniest Home Videos" is produced by ABC Signature (credited as ABC Entertainment and originally ABC Productions) in association with Vin Di Bona Productions.

    "America's Funniest Home Videos" is Distributed by Disney's Buena Vista Television.

                                                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                                                        Steve Arino

[Mandoli]

I merged four AFV threads into a solitary AP thread. Please, stevearino. You did this for Win, Lose, or Draw. Please keep all AF(H)V talk here.