America's Funniest Home Videos (John Fugelsang/Daisy Fuentes and Alfonso Ribeiro eras; Seasons 9, 10, and 26-Present)
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This page is unfinished, but dedicated to Bob Saget (1956-2022), the first host of the show.
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America's Funniest Home Videos, often abbreviated as AFV since Season 9, is an American comedy and clip show television series created by Vin Di Bona. It is based on the "Home Videos" segment from the Japanese variety show "Kato-chan Ken-chan Gokigen TV." It first aired as a special on November 26th, 1989, hosted by comedian Bob Saget. The special was intended to be a one-off, but due to its popularity, AFV became a regular weekly show. Saget hosted the show's first eight seasons, then comedian John Fugelsang and model Daisy Fuentes hosted Seasons 9 and 10. Between Seasons 10 and 11, four specials, "Unwrapped for the Holidays," "Stupid Cupid," "A Tribute to Moms," and "Matrimony Mania" were released. The first special was hosted by comedian Richard Kind, the next two were hosted by comedian D. L. Hughley, and the last special was hosted by TV personality Tom Bergeron, who later hosted Seasons 11-25. During Season 15, a special hosted by sportscaster Stuart Scott, "AFV: The Sports Edition," was released. The current host of AFV is actor Alfonso Ribeiro, whose tenure began in Season 26.
The Fugelsang/Fuentes (also referred to as John/Daisy) and Ribeiro eras are regarded as the worst of the show.
Premise
As implied by the title, each episode is a showcase of mostly unintentionally funny clips from home videos that are submitted to the show. Examples of these videos include people falling, sports bloopers, kids saying funny things, and pets being funny. However, some videos are intentionally funny, examples of such being practical jokes and creative marriage proposals. Production videos are also shown, mostly during the Saget era.
At the end of each episode, the studio audience votes for the funniest home video of the episode out of three recently submitted videos chosen by the producers, with the video submitters in the audience. Beginning in Season 31, the video submitters join the audience remotely.
The submitters are awarded prize money (USD) depending on the amount of votes their videos receive:
Seasons 1-32:
- 1st Place: $10,000
- 2nd Place: $3,000
- 3rd Place: $2,000
Seasons 33-Present (All Amounts are Doubled):
- 1st Place: $20,000
- 2nd Place: $6,000
- 3rd Place: $4,000
The 1st Place winners then compete for a prize of $100,000 in a dedicated episode after each block of episodes. Beginning in Season 15, the $100,000 winners then compete for a grand prize in the season finale.
The Bad (News) Qualities
- The main criticism of these eras is that the hosts, John Fugelsang and Daisy Fuentes in Seasons 9 and 10 and Alfonso Ribeiro in Seasons 26-Present, are not as funny or entertaining as Bob Saget in Seasons 1-6 and Tom Bergeron.
- Some of the home videos may not be funny but rather bland, disgusting, inappropriate, or even disturbing to some viewers. This is the case for many of the home videos shown in Season 10. Note that this is also a flaw of the Saget and Bergeron eras and submitted videos involving serious injuries and animal cruelty are typically rejected.
- Some of the home videos may also appear to be staged, although those of such nature are typically rejected as well.
- Compared to the jokes told by Saget and Bergeron while the clips are playing, those told by Fugelsang, Fuentes, and Ribeiro are usually either bland, non-sensical, or unnecessary.
Fugelsang/Fuentes era:
- Fugelsang and Fuentes do not have the best chemistry.
- Like Saget in Seasons 7 and 8, Fugelsang and Fuentes appear to be disinterested in hosting the show.
- The "Bad News, Good News" segment is very corny and appears in almost every episode. This segment is also used in 6 episodes of the Bergeron era.
Ribeiro era:
- Most of the home videos shown are either bland or dull, including the videos nominated at the end of each episode.
- The theme (instrumental track) is not as memorable as the previous ones.
- The show tries to be "hip," but fails.
- Ribeiro's extensive use of rhyming in his speeches, similar to that in Dr. Seuss' children's books and the Sharon Miller era of Thomas & Friends, is annoying.
The Good (News) Qualities
- Fugelsang/Fuentes era only: The theme, an instrumental track that sounds similar to "The Impression That I Get" by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones is memorable. The use of this theme continued through the specials and the Bergeron era.
- Occasionally, the videos are hilarious, unintentionally or not.
- Ribeiro era:
- Even though the theme is not as memorable as the previous ones, it sounds faithful to the Saget era theme, "The Funny Things You Do."
- The segments and music montages, the former mostly from the Bergeron era, are still creative.
- Ribeiro paid tribute to Bob Saget at the beginning of the first episode that aired after the latter's death.
- The weekly prize money is doubled beginning in Season 33.
Trivia
- To date, submitters from all 50 United States, Washington, DC, and 9 Canadian provinces (all except for Prince Edward Island) have had a video nominated at least once.
- Some of the production music used for the segments and music montages has been featured in "SpongeBob SquarePants." Both productions use the same library, APM Music.
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