America's Funniest Home Videos

The show debuted on November 26, 1989 as an hour-long special,[36] produced by Vin Di Bona and Steve Paskay, with actor/comedian Bob Saget (then starring in the ABC sitcom Full House) as its host. Saget was assisted in hosting the special by actress Kellie Martin, then the star of fellow ABC series Life Goes On, a family drama which would serve as the lead-in program to AFHV for the latter show's first four seasons. Prior to the airing of the initial special, during the fall of 1989, Vin Di Bona Productions took out ads in national magazines (such as TV Guide) asking people to send in their home videos featuring funny or amazing moments.[37]

Original logo, which was used during Saget's tenure as host.

John Ritter was Vin Di Bona's first choice as host of the program, but was unavailable.[38] Originally intended as a one-off special, it became an unexpected hit, causing ABC to place an episode order for the show turning it into a regular weekly half-hour primetime series;[39] it made its debut as a regular series on January 14, 1990, with Saget hosting solo.[40] Ernie Anderson, the announcer for several ABC advertisements and shows of the era, was the program's original announcer. He was replaced by radio and television actor Gary Owens in 1995, who stayed in that role until Saget left, but Anderson briefly returned shortly before his death in February 1997. Besides hosting the series, Saget also served as a member of its writing staff, alongside Todd Thicke and Bob Arnott. The success of AFHV led to a spinoff called America's Funniest People, hosted by Saget's Full House co-star Dave Coulier (and co-hosted by actress/producer Arleen Sorkin for the first two seasons, then model Tawny Kitaen for the final two), focusing on videos featuring people intentionally trying to be funny by doing celebrity impressions, committing pranks, and performing short amateur comedy routines, among other things.[41]

During the show's first four seasons, America's Funniest Home Videos aired on Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time;[42] beginning with the fifth season, the show started the Sunday primetime lineup on ABC, airing at 7:00 p.m., followed by America's Funniest People at 7:30 p.m. as part of an hour-long block of funny home videos.[43] In season five, an animated sidekick was introduced named "Stretchy McGillicuddy" (voiced by Danny Mann), who was known for trying to tease Saget and doing other crazy things. In one episode (in season five), he was shown on the two large TV monitors on both sides of the set and Bob had to turn him off with a remote. Stretchy's catchphrase was: "Don't get a little touchy, Bob, I'm just a little stretchy!" The character was dropped from the show at the end of the seventh season.

In 1994, ABC canceled America's Funniest People after four seasons due to declining ratings and had to decide what to do with its Sunday night 7:30 p.m. timeslot. After trying out the short-lived sitcom On Our Own in the timeslot after AFHV during the 1994–95 season,[44] ABC then later chose to expand America's Funniest Home Videos to one hour with back-to-back airings, with that week's new episode being shown in the first half-hour, followed by a repeat from a previous season to fill the remaining time.

On February 1, 1996, another spinoff of AFHV debuted called World's Funniest Videos,[45] which was taped at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida; this series was also hosted by Coulier, along with actress Eva LaRue. Paired with a weekly version of the popular Before They Were Stars specials on Thursday nights, World's Funniest Videos focused on funny and amazing home videos from around the world.[46] However, due to low ratings, ABC put it on hiatus a few weeks after its debut,[47] before cancelling the series outright after only one season and burning off the remaining episodes that summer. For Saget's final season on AFHV, two new episodes would be shown.

Numerous comedy skits were performed on the set during Saget's tenure as host. The set consisted of a living room design (the main set, originally a three-wall design with a bay window, was remodeled for the 1992–93 season as a flatter frame outline with translucent walls – though the furniture featured on the original set remained). The beginning of each episode 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 (usually in the upper part of the audience section or in another soundstage) pretending to get excited watching America's Funniest Home Videos, a technique that was scrapped at the end of the fifth season. Saget always ended each episode by saying "Keep those cameras safely rolling" and then saying something to his wife who was implied to be watching the show at home.

Saget himself soon grew tired of the repetitive format and was eager to pursue other projects as a comedian, actor and director. Producer Di Bona held him to his contract, resulting in a frustrated Saget listlessly going through the motions, constantly getting out of character and making pointed remarks on the air during his last two seasons. Saget's contract expired in May 1997 and he decided to leave the show afterward. However, according to Di Bona, the producers felt a change (and change of hosts) was needed for AFV as a result of ABC going through a change of leadership (hence ABC's ownership transition from Capital Cities to Disney).[48][49][50] His former Full House castmates (except for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) were present in the episode prior to the $100,000 season finale, which was his final episode. Saget returned to America's Funniest Home Videos on three different occasions-- first, to co-host a 20th anniversary special edition episode alongside future host Tom Bergeron, which aired on November 29, 2009 (which was three days shy of AFV's actual 20th anniversary date of its premiere on the air on November 26, 1989); a cameo appearance at the end of Bergeron's final episode on May 17, 2015, where he was driving a golf cart and to co-host a 30th anniversary special edition episode ("AFV: America... This Is You") alongside Bergeron and future host Ribeiro, which aired on December 8, 2019.

Main logo, used from 1998 to 2015.

Original version of alternative logo, used from 1998 to 2015.

After Saget's departure from the series, ABC sidelined America's Funniest Home Videos from the network's 1997–98 fall schedule, choosing to bring it back as a mid-season replacement for Timecop.[51] The show began to be alternately called AFV at this point (though the show officially continued to be titled America's Funniest Home Videos). The series returned for season nine on January 5, 1998, with new hosts, an overhauled look and a new rendition of the theme song, which remained in use with the guest hosts on the specials in 2000, with all episodes of Bergeron's run as host and was still heard on Ribeiro's audition tape as the new host of AFV in 2015. Comedian John Fugelsang and model-turned-television personality Daisy Fuentes took over as co-hosts of the show.[52][53] Jess Harnell also succeeded Owens as the show's announcer and still holds this position to this day. They humorously narrated the clips they showed. With the Sunday night 7:00 p.m. Eastern timeslot occupied by Disney films aired as part of The Wonderful World of Disney,[54] the show constantly changed timeslots, moving from Monday nights[55] to Thursday nights[56] to Saturday nights.[57] The ratings for the show suffered during this period and both Fuentes and Fugelsang left the show after two seasons in 1999. Their last original new episode-- which aired on May 6-- was taped at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California. Until "AFV: America... This Is You," showcasing footage from Fugelsang and Fuentes' tenure, as well as all of the other AFV hosts, the only honorable mention of Fugelsang, Fuentes and segments showcasing their run was the 2-part 300th episode AFV special in November 2003 during the early years of the Bergeron run, which also showcased Saget's run of episodes in select segments as well. While Fugelsang has not been seen in new recent never-before-seen footage on the road or in the studio on AFV since leaving the show in May 1999 after only two years co-hosting it together, Fuentes made a few brief cameo appearances in interview segments likely taking place at her house speaking on behalf of her and Fugelsang (and AFV; especially during their tenure) on the "AFV: America... This Is You" special.

In May 1999, ABC announced that it would discontinue America's Funniest Home Videos as a regular weekly series,[58] but the show returned occasionally as a series of specials hosted by various ABC sitcom stars including The Hughleys star D.L. Hughley and Spin City co-star Richard Kind. The show moved to a much smaller soundstage and the set featured various video screens and monitors (resembling iMac computers) placed on shelves. A special sports version of the show called AFV: The Sports Edition, that was hosted by ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, was rebroadcast every New Year's Day and aired occasionally before NBA playoff games with a post 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time tip-off until 2008. A special entitled America's Funniest Home Videos: Deluxe Uncensored (which was released only on home video and featured somewhat more risqué content than that allowed on the television broadcasts) was hosted by Steve Carell and taped on the set used from the 1998–99 season. These specials (except for the special sports edition) were not taped in front of a live studio audience, with pre-recorded applause and laugh tracks were used during commercial bumpers and just before, during, and after video packages being used instead.

In October 2000, ABC announced its decision to return America's Funniest Home Videos as a regular weekly series, ordering 13 new episodes.[59] On July 20, 2001, the show returned in its third format, this time with Bergeron, who was also hosting Hollywood Squares at the time. The show was expanded to a single full hour-long episode, instead of two consecutive half-hour episodes, and was shown Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. Eastern; however, it went on hiatus for two months due in part to the September 11 attacks and also because of ABC airing specials and trying a new Friday night lineup (The Mole II: The Next Betrayal, Thieves and Once and Again), which was ultimately short-lived (Thieves ended after only ten episodes, the first eight of which aired) and the show returned to the schedule in December 2001. In his earlier episodes, Bergeron used the set (with the bulky see-through iMac computers) from the AFV specials that aired in 2000, until the latter part of his first season, when a new set (with a studio audience) was introduced featuring a round video screen with several monitors. In September 2003, the show returned to its former Sunday 7:00 p.m. Eastern timeslot, still an hour long (though special episodes occasionally aired on Friday nights until 2007). Unlike Saget, who provided voice-overs to the clips, Bergeron humorously narrated them, though he did lend his voice to some clips from time to time. Changes of the set were replacement of the round video wall by a curved video wall, changing the color of the pillars to blue (sometimes other colors), addition of curved light borders hanging through the set, lights under the center with return of the letters "AFV."

Starting with the 2007–08 season, the series began allowing viewers to upload their funny home videos online at ABC.com, but has since the 2012–13 season; launched their own website that same year and has viewers upload their videos instead to AFV.com, in addition to sending their videos via standard mail.[60] During the 2011–12 season, the AFV iOS app was released on the App Store, allowing users of Apple mobile devices to record and upload videos for submission to the show; a version of the app was released for Android devices the following season. In the final six seasons of Bergeron's run as host, the show started its "Funny Since 1989" campaign in 2009 and had two anniversary seasons. Season 20, in 2009, had a special 20th anniversary episode that aired on November 29, with Saget returning to AFV for the first time in 12 years as a guest. Both Saget and Bergeron ended that episode with a pinata party skit and a nod to the Star Wars lightsaber fight scenes when the credits started rolling. The pinatas resembled the looks of the two hosts. On March 7, 2014, Bergeron announced on his Twitter account that his tenure as host of AFV would end after season 25.[61] AFV aired a 25th Anniversary Celebrity Celebration special in February 2015. Bergeron's final new episode from his in-studio stage home of 15 years (which was really his second to final episode) aired on May 10, 2015 (and for the final time in rerun form on September 13, 2015) and was the final (and season 25's second) $100,000 show of his tenure and featured at different times of the episode a look back at classic and modern funny home videos that defined the show's then-25-year run. Bergeron's "real" final new episode aired on May 17, 2015, the season finale, ending his run as host after 15 seasons (the longest hosting tenure for the series to date). The episode-- taped on-location at Disneyland for that season's edition of the annual "Grand Prize Spectacular," AFV's 25th anniversary and the Disneyland Resort's 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration that began on May 22, 2015 (which has appeared in various formats since 2005, in which one of the two (formerly three) $100,000 winners from the current season wins a Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, or in earlier seasons, an Adventures by Disney vacation package)-- featured an auto-tuned montage of clips and outtakes from Bergeron's run as host and closed with him being escorted after walking off the outdoor stage near Sleeping Beauty Castle following the grand prize presentation on a golf cart driven by Saget in a special cameo appearance. Bergeron made his first guest appearance in the studio on the season 26 "Grand Prize Spectacular" finale of Ribiero's AFV on May 22, 2016 and played the show's final on-air audience participation game "Who Breaks It?" and won an Ribiero AFV pillow and socks. Bergeron made his second AFV guest appearance alongside Ribiero, Saget and (from the John and Daisy-era) Fuentes for an AFV 30th anniversary special called "AFV: America...This Is You" on Sunday, December 8, 2019 to celebrate AFV's 30th anniversary.[62][63]

Current version of alternative logo, used since 2015.

On May 19, 2015, two days after Bergeron's final episode aired, ABC announced that Ribeiro (known for playing Carlton Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) would take over as host of AFV beginning with the season 26 premiere on October 11, 2015. Bergeron formally introduced Ribeiro's new role as host during the latter's guest performance on the season 20 finale of Dancing with the Stars (Ribeiro appeared as a DWTS competitor and won the previous season).[64][62][65] Before becoming the current host of the show, Ribeiro made his only guest appearance in the studio on a season 25 episode of AFV playing one of the show's audience participation games with then-host Bergeron called "Who's Makin' That Racket?". While some of the Bergeron-era clip segments, the in-studio audience and background parts of the Bergeron-era set props remained intact and/or continued to air for all five years of Ribiero's tenure as host, the stage featured a metal floor layout and stairway connected to a cube screen put together like a puzzle using smaller sized flat-panel TV screens and new segments (especially for Ribiero's run) continued to be added and aired on the show. The show also introduced the Squares-era (probably in reference to the cube screen) with Ribiero's entrance as host in 2015. Additional set props like the arrow screens with flat-panel monitors on them and light-up color-changing versions of the tables where some of the studio audience sit when not in the bleacher areas made their debut to the AFV set starting in 2019. Ribeiro also humorously narrates the clip, much like his predecessor, though he makes extensive use of rhyming in his speeches.

In May 2017, ABC renewed AFV for a 28th season and, in June 2017 (and continuing that summer scheduling format even in 2018), started airing summer reruns of current season episodes of AFV on Saturday nights at 8/7 central (until college football starts up in the fall) and Sunday nights at 7/6 central. For the start of the season on October 8, 2017, instead of leading off Sunday nights, it aired Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT and was led into at the start of the season by The Toy Box. During some parts of the holiday season starting on November 26, 2017 and remaining that way for almost the first two months of 2018 through January 21, 2018 (and final 'repeat/repeat' on February 4, 2018), AFV aired in a 'repeat/new episode' scheduling format. AFV returned with new episodes in the 7/6 central time slot (still an hour-long on Sunday nights) due to holiday movie presentations and specials airing on ABC on Sunday nights at 8/7 central during the holiday season on December 10, 2017, and then permanently starting on February 11, 2018. ABC repeated the 'repeat/new episode' scheduling format for AFV on January 6, 2019, with new episodes returning to the 7/6 central time slot on March 3, 2019, when American Idol premieres with AFV likely to be pre-empted in some time zones when American Idol airs the live (in all time-zones) finale episodes in May 2019. ABC renewed AFV for a 29th season on March 13, 2018, which premiered at its regular 7/6 central Sunday night timeslot (and was the lead-off starting on October 7, 2018 to Dancing With The Stars Juniors) on September 30, 2018.

On Sunday, December 8th, 2019, at 8:00pm local times, AFV: America, This is You! aired, a 30th anniversary special episode, with Ribeiro joined by Bob Saget and Tom Bergeron.[66]

On Sunday, May 17th, 2020, at 7:00pm local times, AFV@Home aired, a quarantine themed special, with videos impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home quarantine isolation and socially distanced videos. The on-set segment was replaced by filming at Ribeiro's house.[3][4][67]

• 1990–97 (Saget era): ABC stations (5 in season one, 3 from 1990 to 1993, and 2 from 1993 onward) around the country are joined via satellite to cast their votes along with the Los Angeles studio audience (the final $100,000 show of season two was decided by a telephone vote).
• 1998–present (post-Saget era): Three formats have been used at various times:

1. The Los Angeles studio audience votes to determine the winner.
2. Viewers log onto the show's website to cast their votes.
3. The show declares the winner by going to the Disney Parks and asking park-goers, as well inviting characters like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, to determine the $100,000 winning clip.[6]

• 2002: "Battle of the Best": The Quad Squad ($25,000 and trip to Maui)[68]
• 2005: Disney Dream Vacation ($100,000 and free vacations to all 11 Disney theme parks around the world)
• 2006: Dancing Machine ($100,000 and free vacations to 500+ places for 48 years)
• 2006: The Quad Squad ($250,000) (The Funniest Video of All Time)
• 2009: Birthday Blowout ($100,000 and free vacations to 500+ places for 50 years)
• 2015: H20 NO-NO: Trip To Disneyland for 60 People (to celebrate the Disneyland Resort 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration)
• 2016: Donkey Delights: Trip to Disney World Florida and Shanghai Disneyland China
• 2018: Sedated Saber Skirmish: Trip to Walt Disney World to experience the new Toy Story Land
• 2019: Blast with the Laughing Gas: Trip to Aulani: A Disney Resort in Hawaii
• 2020: Shallow Show Stealer: Trip to Adventure by Disney

America's Funniest Home Videos became an instant hit with audiences, with the original special in November 1989 averaging a 17.7 rating and 25 share, finishing at ninth place in the Nielsen ratings that week. When it debuted as a weekly Sunday night series in January 1990, the show averaged an 18.0 rating/27 share, finishing at 16th place.[69] It placed within Nielsen's Top 5 highest-rated weekly series within weeks of its debut;[39] by March 1990, AFHV became the #1 primetime series for a short time, causing CBS' 60 Minutes to be unseated for the top spot in the Nielsen ratings for the first time in 12 years. Indeed, there was at least one week in 1990 when America's Funniest Home Videos, when put in the same time slot as 60 Minutes, actually beat 60 Minutes for a win in the time slot. AFHV finished the 1989–90 season in the Top 10 most watched shows, with an approximate average of 38 million viewers[70] for each episode. AFHV finished the 2009–10 season in 55th place, with an approximate average of 7.52 million viewers and finished in 69th in viewers 18–49, with 2.0/6.[71] In 2016, a study by The New York Times of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that "if you could pick a safe show that appeals to almost everyone, this might be it".[72]

ABC, Shout! Factory, and Slingshot Entertainment have released numerous compilation releases of America's Funniest Home Videos on VHS and DVD in Region 1 (North America).

Parker Brothers released a board game in 1990. Graphix Zone released a hybrid CD-ROM titled America's Funniest Home Videos: Lights! Camera! InterAction! in 1995.[77] Imagination Games released a DVD game in 2007.

An America's Funniest Home Videos micro movie viewer was released in 1990. [78]