Episode of the hit
TV game show "
America's Funniest Home Videos," where "
Recovery Room Rambler" wins the $
100,
000 grand prize as "
America's Funniest
Home Video."
The year is
1988.
George H.W. Bush, age 64, is elected
U.S. President; the
Persian Gulf Crisis is in full effect; and a rookie
TV producer named Vin di
Bona is enjoying a relaxing vacation in
Japan with his lovely wife,
Gina.
During the vacation, Vin, whose Saturday-morning game show "
Animal Crack-Ups" is on its way off the air, catches a glimpse of a
Japanese variety show called "
Fun with
Kato and Ken," a segment of which featured local Japan residents sending in their funniest/amazing moments ever caught on tape in the hopes of winning the
Japanese equivalent of the
American dollar.
Upon his return from the vacation, Vin (fascinated by the segment) thought to himself, "That's my
NEXT Game Show!"
Soon afterwards, Vin pitched the concept to the
ABC Television Network, which immediately greenlit the pilot in early
1989.
As he had done 2 years earlier with
Alan Thicke (then starring on
ABC's "
Growing Pains") for "Animal Crack-Ups," Vin hired stand-up comic &
ABC actor
Bob Saget (then starring on "
Full House") to host the pilot.
The pilot, by that time christened "America's Funniest Home Videos," taped in
Spring 1989 and was telecast on
November 26, 1989 on ABC--and became such a surprise hit that 7 weeks later, on
January 14,
1990, the show, by this time trimmed to a 30-minute format, began airing every Sunday night at 8
P.M. in a format that has remained unchanged throughout its long run.
Americans send in their funniest and/or amazing home videos ever caught on tape, with the top 3 funniest home videos of the night winning a combined $15,000: $10,000 for 1st place, $3,000 for 2nd place, and $2,000 for 3rd place (in the 1st season only, in addition to the $5,000 2nd and 3rd place cash prizes, the 2nd and 3rd place winners, respectively, earned an
RCA Video Camera and an RCA Full-Sized
Television Set); at the end of each sweeps period, the $10,000 winners vie for an additional $100,000.
In May
1997, after 8 seasons, Bob Saget left "America's Funniest Home Videos"; he was replaced the following January by
MTV VJ Daisy Fuentes (paired with stand-up comic
John Fugelsang). By this time, however, the ratings took a nosedive, and in May
1999, after 10 successful seasons, ABC canceled "America's Funniest Home Videos," with the series finale (taped live at the
House of Blues) telecast on August 28, 1999 on the ABC Television Network.
But wait, there's more: 2 years later, on July 20,
2001, ABC brought back "America's Funniest Home Videos" in a revival version in an hour-long format.
Other than the expansion, the format remained unchanged; this time,
TV personality Tom Bergeron (then doing double-duty as a game show host with "
Hollywood Squares" and now hosting the reality competition series "
Dancing with the Stars" alongside
Brooke Burke) taking over hosting duties--a job he maintains to this very day.
In 2008, "America's Funniest Home Videos" surpassed "
What's My Line?" (which aired for 17 years on the
CBS Television Network from
February 2,
1950 -
September 3, 1967) as network TV's longest-running
Prime Time Game Show--and is the longest-running entertainment program in the history of the ABC Television Network.
Repeats of "America's Funniest Home Videos" have aired on
TBS from 1995-1998, on the
USA Network from 1998-2000, on the
Hallmark Channel from 2001-2003 and again from January-February
2010, on
Nickelodeon from
April 30, 2007 -
October 28,
2007, on
WGN America since about 2006-2007, on
ABC Family from 2006-2008 (estimated) and in off-network syndication (Bergeron episodes only) since
September 12, 2010.
Distribution rights were bought by
Disney's
Buena Vista Television in
1995 after
The Walt Disney Company bought the ABC Television Network (though the show itself was syndicated by
Fox Television Studios until 2001).
Since its inception, "America's Funniest Home Videos" has been a production of
ABC Entertainment for Vin di Bona Productions.
"America's Funniest Home Videos" is distributed by Buena Vista Television.
©
2012 Buena Vista Television
- published: 21 Aug 2012
- views: 1197052