So “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (somehow abbreviated AFV) is basically my favorite show. Particularly now that Sagat is gone.
But why is it they show 20 or 30 brief and hysterical clips and then reward the money to the stupid ones? A guy falling off, then back on, then back off a diving board (which nearly had me peeing myself) gets the pass in favor of some farting child.
Somebody needs to look into this.
The one that ticked me off, way back in one of the first seasons, the Big Prize at the end of the season (from the “best” of all the shows), a hundred grand, went to… A kindergartner who was shouting his ABCs. Now, farting, I can see the humor in it. It’s not necessarily the funniest thing, but there’s at least something there. But shouting ABCs? Huh?
Yeah, I remember that one. Couldn’t believe it myself. Shout the alphabet and he won a 100 grand.
The whole voting system is fixed, I tell ya.
If you notice, they always have the first three finalists IN THE STUDIO when they do the voting. So, it might just be a case of the people who shot the geniunely funny clips, not being able to show up for taping. Or, maybe AFHV just sucks.
What really grates my craw is how the freakin BABY VIDEOS always win, no matter how stupid and pointless they are. Ooh, lookie! The baby’s making funny faces while trying to eat! How cuuute! NO! IT’S NOT CUTE! IT’S STUPID AND BORING!!! Give the 100 grand to the postman eaten by rabid monkeys instead…now THAT is entertainment!
A WAG … it’s an appeal to the glurge crowd. Everr notice that, given two childless funny videos and a funny video with a child, the one with the child will ALWAYS win? Consider the studio audience; I bet there are plenty of middle aged administrative assistants in there.
Here is my WAG … there are two types of videos you see on the show; the ones people actually send in and the ones they cull from different sources. The former are eligible for the money prizes, the latter make up the bulk of the show and are where the true gems are.
Geoge C. Scott hit in groin with football!
hmmm… well, Barney’s film had heart, but Football-In-The-Groin had a football in the groin…
The animal clips are never funny either.
And a lot of those kid clips seem staged. I thought they were supposed to be spontaneous.
I’ve wondered if they’re trying to discourage people from staging dangerous stunts, because the kid one who wins (and it IS always some stupid child) is invariably doing something innocuous. Yesterday it was some bald toddler whose parents had drawn Charlie Brown on the back of his head. Big deal, not funny. Whereas the truly funny kid clips usually include either a fall (sledding downhill into a stationary object), getting bopped on the head by a ball, or a shot to the groin (I believe it was a farm pig who nabbed a recent tyke). But one doesn’t want to actually encourage such moments.
“Dog on Fire!” “Dog on Fire!”
But they baby with a nailgun was so cute!
I think that leafrog may be on to something. Most of the really funny ones are probably “filler” material that isn’t eligible to win.
And for whatever demographic reasons, the studio audience is always a sucker for cute kids doing something cute (but usually not funny). And far too many of the kid and animal videos look like they’re staged.
They’re still making new episodes of this? I thought it was cancelled way back in the 70s, or whenever it was that I stopped paying any attention.
There’s a possibility, as a legend similar to the following appears in the credits:
Based on “Fun with Kato-Chan and Ken-Chan”
and some footage courtesy of
Tokyo Broadcasting Company, Inc.
if you look at the dates, some of the videos are from the 80s even now, many from the early 90s. I think only a small amount of the videos are actually new and eligible, the rest are out of a store room.
The funny thing is sometimes, the tapes that are borderline child porn (girl getting depantsed by her brother, naked girl reclining on couch with closed legs on table) or voyeurism (women get caught drying herself and her dress in beach locker) wins the 100g.
I’m just pissed ‘Dip Head’ didn’t win.
Exactly. Football In the Groin works on so many levels…
I looked at the show’s IMDB page, mobo85, but I couldn’t find any mention of its being based on another show, Japanese or otherwise. And the IMDB always mentions on the “movie connections” page if a show or movie was based on another show or movie. Could that “Fun with Kato-Chan and Ken-Chan” or whatever be a joke?
The funniest was the fat 4-year old doing the macarena in his bathing suit. Hilarious, because he was real mean and PO’d at the lady filming him, but he still did it.