America's Funniest Home Videos From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search America's Funniest Home Videos Format Funny videos Created by Vin Di Bona Starring Tom Bergeron (2001-present) John Fugelsang (1998-2001) Daisy Fuentes (1998-2001) Bob Saget (1989-1997) Ernie Anderson (announcer; 1989-1995) Gary Owens (announcer; 1995-1997) Jess Harnell (announcer; 1998-present) Country of origin United States No. of episodes 407 Production Running time Approx. 60 minutes Broadcast Original channel ABC Picture format 480i (SDTV) Original run November 26, 1989 (as a special) January 14, 1990 (regular series) – present renewed through 2008-2009 season External links Official website America's Funniest Home Videos (often simply abbreviated to AFV, though it was 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. The show is based on the Japanese show Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan (aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System). It was announced on February 28, 2008 that AFV had been renewed for its 19th season.[1] For autumn 2008, AFV commands an average cost of $90,044 for a 30-second commercial, according to an Advertising Age survey of media-buying firms.[2] Contents [hide] 1 Synopsis 2 History 2.1 Bob Saget (1989-1997) 2.2 Daisy Fuentes and John Fugelsang (1998-2001) 2.3 Tom Bergeron (2001-present) 3 $100,000 contest 3.1 Voting 3.2 List of satellite cities on the $100,000 show 3.3 Other contests 4 Theme songs 5 Syndication 6 Parody 7 Taping locations 8 See also 9 References 10 External links [edit] Synopsis Produced by Vin Di Bona (with co-executive producers Todd Thicke and Michele Nasraway[3], 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. The episodes are rated TV-PG or TV-14 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. Beginning about the middle of the first 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 spin-off entitled America's Funniest People. [edit] History [edit] Bob Saget (1989-1997) The show debuted on November 26, 1989 (as an hour-long special[4] 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, then the star of Life Goes On, which would be the lead-in show to AFHV in its early seasons. Johnny Carson made both the show and Saget regular targets of his monologues on The Tonight Show. The jokes generally centered on something like a new title for the show, such as "Fluffy Falls into the Food Processor" hosted by Bob 'Where's My Career' Saget. Saget soon grew tired of the repetitive format and was anxious to pursue other projects as an actor and director[citation needed]. 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.[citation needed] His contract expired in 1997, and Saget left the show. [edit] 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. The ratings for the show suffered during this period, and in 2001 they both left the show after three seasons. This version was known for audio problems in the recordings. [edit] Tom Bergeron (2001-present) On May 28, 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 added new segments such as "Tom's Home Movies," where his face is digitally superimposed over the 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 runs for 60 minutes per episode instead of 30 minutes as with the previous two versions. [edit] $100,000 contest Near the end of each season, the $10,000 winners from selected episodes are brought back to participate in a contest called to win an additional $100,000. [edit] Voting Saget Version: ABC Stations (5 on the first season, later reduced to 3 from 1990 to 1993; then to 2 in 1993) around the country were joined via satellite to cast their votes along with the Los Angeles audience. Fuentes/Fugelsang Version (1998-2000): Only the Los Angeles audience voted. Bergeron Version (2001-present): Viewers logged on to abc.com to cast their votes with the LA Audience. [edit] List of satellite cities on the $100,000 show Albany, NY (WTEN) [Season 5-2, Season 7-2] Albuquerque, NM (KOAT-TV) [Season 8-2] Atlanta, GA (WSB-TV) [Season 1, Season 6-2] Baton Rouge, LA (WBRZ-TV) [Season 5-1] Baltimore, MD (WMAR-TV) [Season 6-3] Boston, MA (WCVB-TV) [Season 2-2] Cedar Rapids, IA (KCRG-TV) [Season 5-2, Season 7-3,] Chicago, IL (WLS-TV) [Season 2-1] Cincinnati, OH (WKRC-TV, currently affiliated with CBS) [Season 4-1] Cleveland, OH (WEWS-TV) [Season 1, Season 8-2] Denver, CO (KUSA-TV, currently affiliated with NBC and KMGH-TV) [Season 2-1, Season 6-3, Season 8-1] Des Moines, IA (WOI-TV) [Season 4-3, Season 8-3] Grand Rapids, MI (WZZM-TV) [Season 8-1] Hartford, CT (WTNH-TV) [Season 3-3] Houston, TX (KTRK-TV) [Season 1] Indianapolis, IN (WRTV) [Season 2-2, Season 7-2] Memphis, TN (WPTY-TV) [Season 7-3] Miami, FL (WPLG-TV) [Season 2-1] Milwaukee, WI (WISN-TV) [Season 3-1, Season 4-2] Minneapolis, MN (KSTP-TV) [Season 1] Nashville, TN (WKRN-TV) [Season 3-1] Norfolk, VA (WVEC-TV) [Season 4-2] New Orleans, LA (WVUE-TV, currently affiliated with FOX [Season 4-1, Season 7-1] Walt Disney World (The Disney Channel (due to Co-Ownership with ABC currently) [Season 3-3] Peoria, IL (WHOI-TV) [Season 6-2] Phoenix, AZ (KTVK-TV, now Independent Affiliation) [Season 3-2, Season 4-3] Pittsburgh, PA (WTAE-TV) [Season 7-1] Philadelphia, PA (WPVI-TV, the only ABC O&O station of the five) [Season 1, Season 4-1, Season 6-1] Providence, RI (WPRI-TV) [Season 4-3] San Diego, CA (KGTV-TV) [Season 3-3] San Francisco, CA (KGO-TV) [Season 3-1, Season 4-2] Scranton, PA (WNEP-TV) [Season 5-3] Seattle, WA (KOMO-TV) [Season 2-2, Season 6-1] Springfield, MA (WGGB-TV) [Season 8-3] Springfield, MO (KSPR-TV) [Season 5-3] Tampa, FL (WTSP-TV, currently affiliated with CBS) [Season 3-2] Washington, DC (WJLA-TV) [Season 3-2] Wichita, KS (KAKE-TV) [Season 5-1] Three $100,000 contests air each season (one in the first season). [edit] Other contests 2002 "Battle of the Best": The Quad Squad ($25,000 and trip to Maui)[5] 2006: Dancing Machine ($100,000 and free vacations to 500+ places for 48 years) "Funniest Video of All-Time": The Quad Squad ($250,000) [edit] Theme songs The long-running theme was "The Funny Things You Do", performed by recording artist and ABC's in-house talent, Jill Colucci. At the time of AFHVs premiere, Colucci was in the midst of performing her vocals on the network's image campaigns, the last two years of the slogan Something's Happening (1988 and '89), and the first year only of America's Watching ABC (1990). Colucci herself occasionally made guest or cameo appearances when referred to by Saget, and even began singing the theme in person in one opening segment. "The Funny Things You Do" accompanied the opening and closing credits for eight seasons. During the middle of the 1996-97 season (the final year with Saget as host), the theme was revamped featuring new vocals, a man and woman duet. The new version was also in a different key than the original. When AFHV returned in January 1998, with Fuentes & Fugelsang and a completely new look, the current arrangement of the theme song made its debut. Since that time, the theme has been an instrumental, composed by Dan Slider, with a faster, ska/reggae beat, with the original key (of the 1989 version) restored, making it sound similar to "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.[citation needed] During the Saget era, the theme song also was tied in with a skit just before the transition was made from the introduction to Saget. This usually consisted of several actors in a fake room pretending to get excited watching America's Funniest Home Videos. This technique was scrapped at the end of Season 5. [edit] Syndication All episodes of AFV are currently in syndication. Repeats of the show aired on TBS from 1995-1998. Until 2003, the Saget version was syndicated by 20th Television, who assumed syndication rights from their purchase of MTM Enterprises, who had syndicated the show from 1995-1998. Currently, Disney-ABC Domestic Television distributes all versions of the series. However, the 1989-1994 Bob Saget are aired only in off-network syndication, while the 1994-1997 Saget episodes, the John Fugelsang-Daisy Fuentes episodes and the Tom Bergeron episodes are all currently/have been aired by ABC Family. [edit] Parody The show has been subject of parody. It was mentioned in Weird Al Yankovic's I Can't Watch This. It was also the topic of a Rugrats episode. The show was entitled "America's Wackiest Home Movies", which was also the title of that particular episode from the Nickelodeon cartoon series. The first known winner was "Baby Mud Slinger", where the video consisted of a baby slinging mud and then falling over. Stu was disappointed in this. He and Drew attempted to create their own videos, only to become the "kids" themselves, as their father Lou entered a video of an accident in Stu and Drew's attempts. It wins the first prize. [edit] Taping locations 1989-1993: ABC Television Center, Hollywood 1993-1997: Hollywood Center Studios, Hollywood 1998-Present: Raleigh Studios, Manhattan Beach [edit] See also Australia's Funniest Home Video Show, a similar show also created by Vin Di Bona You've Been Framed, the UK version of this show, which broadcast 4 months after. Sprockets, which featured an AFHV spoof, "Germany's Most Disturbing Home Videos", narrated by guest Karlheinz Schoeltker (Kyle MacLachlan). The Planet's Funniest Animals, a TV show similar to AFHV, but it mainly involves animals doing crazy things that currently reruns on Animal Planet. [edit] References ^ [1] ^ [2] ^ "America's Funnies Home Videos - About the Show...". Archived from the original on 2007-08-27. http://www.webcitation.org/5RPKaTE3S. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. ^ Moran, James M. (2002), There's No Place Like Home Video, University of Minnesota Press, ISBN 0816638004 ^ The agonizing journey from America's Funniest Home Videos to YouTube. - By Josh Levin - Slate Magazine [edit] External links Official website America's Funniest Home Videos at the Internet Movie Database America's Funniest Home Videos at TV.com America's Funniest Home Videos page from Shout! Factory Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Funniest_Home_Videos" Categories: American Broadcasting Company network shows | Television series by Buena Vista Television | American reality television series | 1980s American television series | 1990s American television series | 2000s American television series | 1989 television series debuts