# America's Funniest Home Videos **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743 "2015-01-13T20:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/1 "2015-01-13T20:13:13Z")
I have noticed something about the Top three. I have een able to predict the winner almost every time. Cute Kid= #1 Funny Animal= #2 Guy getting hurt, falling etc= #3. And if no “cute kid”? Then cute pet, the usual #2. If _two_ cute kids, the dog wins. anyone else notice this? Or am I crazy? Could that be because the studio skews heavily female? Do many of them vote for “cute” as opposed to “funny”? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/2 "2015-01-13T23:04:22Z")
I noticed the same thing and always figured the kid won because the audience reasoned “they need the money more”. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/3 "2015-01-14T01:30:27Z")
Is this show still on TV? I haven’t watched it in decades. Back when I was still a fan, I learned very soon that any video featuring a baby will win, no matter how stupid, insipid, unfunny, annoying, or obviously staged the video is. In particular there was one season where the $100,000 grand prize went to a baby rocking back and forth while watching aerobics on TV. That’s all – it wasn’t even dumb enough to be ironically funny. And yet the pointless baby video won, yet again. :smack: In fact, the only time I recall a baby video NOT winning the $10,000 prize is when there were two such vids in the final three, and they split the vote. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/4 "2015-01-14T01:45:52Z")
Yeah, it is always a cute kid. By the time the voting starts we’ve usually out on something else. ---
**Author:** ![Coffeecup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Coffeecup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coffeecup)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/5 "2015-01-14T02:57:08Z")
I stopped watching it a long time ago because they had so many videos of people getting hurt. I didn’t think those videos were very funny. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/6 "2015-01-14T17:00:24Z")
Yeah, when I think someone really got hurt, it’s never funny. Myself, I love the “crazy pet” vids, but there’s not enuf of them. Thus it’s just something I turn on before a fave show come on. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/7 "2015-01-14T17:08:14Z")
Dog on fire! Dog on fire! > [@](#): > > ```auto > > Announcer: Our $50,000 home video finalists are... > Man Breaking Hip. [sound of bowling pins, followed by a scream] > Homer: [chuckles] > Announcer: [chuckles] > Dog On Fire. > [doing a doggy voice] > Ruff, anybody order a hot dog? > Homer: [laughs uproariously] Oh, look at him! > Announcer: And finally, Baby With a Nail Gun. [kachunk] > Homer: Aww.... > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/8 "2015-01-14T20:12:39Z")
We don’t watch the show but I was channel surfing and landed there just as they announced the finalists. I told my wife who would win, and who would always win from the formulae above. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/9 "2015-01-14T22:29:45Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I have noticed something about the Top three. I have een able to predict the winner almost every time. > > Cute Kid= #1 > Funny Animal= #2 > Guy getting hurt, falling etc= #3. > > And if no “cute kid”? Then cute pet, the usual #2. If _two_ cute kids, the dog wins. > > anyone else notice this? Or am I crazy? My wife and I noticed this ages ago. We still watch AFHV (recorded, so we can FF through the inevitable dud spots) but never bother watching past the 50 minute mark. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/10 "2015-01-14T22:36:13Z")
I remember once, the Grand Winner for the entire season was some kid who was shouting his ABCs. Not only did I never find that one remotely funny, I’ve never even seen what the humor was supposed to be in it. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/11 "2015-01-14T22:52:05Z")
I recently clued my sis in on this. It’s been rigged this way even back when the audience got to “vote” on those hand-held gadgets. At least they quit that charade. I figure the reason why the kid always gets the money is because it’s a Disney program. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/12 "2015-01-15T03:49:05Z")
I recall an episode back in the 1990s that was called “Entries We Disqualified Because They Were Clearly Faked,” or something like that. After years of cute kids, silly animals, and guys getting hurt, this was a refreshing change. It was a lot of over-the-top acting when things went wrong (as they were clearly planned to). I cannot remember the show very well, but I found it to be funnier than the original. Does anybody else remember this episode? ---
**Author:** ![pipperroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@pipperroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pipperroo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/13 "2015-01-15T04:34:54Z")
My daughter around age 3 would ask to watch “the Funny Animal Show where People Fall Down” Since that very accurately summed up the clips on AFHV, we’ve called it that ever since. As per most PP, we never bother to watch the end. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/14 "2015-01-15T06:14:51Z")
_Talkin’ 'bout sick shows Of America’s Funniest Home Videos I can’t believe my eyes When I see the kind of stuff that wins first prize Somebody’s poor old mom Falls down off the roof, lands right on the lawn Face first on a rake I hear they’ve got it on the seventeenth take That’s funny as a kick in the crotch And that kind of show, uh, I can’t watch_ “I Can’t Watch This” — Weird Al Yankovic ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-funniest-home-videos/709743/15 "2015-01-15T18:08:10Z")
> [@pipperroo](#): > > My daughter around age 3 would ask to watch “the Funny Animal Show where People Fall Down” Since that very accurately summed up the clips on AFHV, we’ve called it that ever since. > > As per most PP, we never bother to watch the end. May I ask how long ago that was?