America's Funniest Home Videos

The current title card used since 2015

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).

Originally airing as a stand-alone special in November 1989, it later debuted as a regular weekly series starting in 1990. The show was originally hosted by comedian Bob Saget for the 1989 special and the first eight seasons of the series' incarnation. After Saget's retirement from hosting in 1997, John Fugelsang and Daisy Fuentes later took over as co-hosts for its ninth and tenth seasons. After two years of being shown as occasional specials, hosted by various actors and comedians such as D. L. Hughley, Richard Kind, Stuart Scott, Steve Carell, Mike Kasem and Kerri Kasem, ABC brought the series back for Friday nights in July 2001 with Tom Bergeron, who hosted the show for a total of fifteen seasons.

Season 19 champion and future co-host of Dancing with the Stars, Alfonso Ribeiro took over as host in 2015 after Bergeron's retirement. During the COVID-19 pandemic, host segments of episodes were filmed outside of the studio. These episodes featured quarantined individuals dealing with the lockdown and social distancing, and were called AFV@Home. The last episodes of the thirtieth season featured Ribeiro in an empty studio communicating via the large monitor with virtual audience members, which would be the format used in the 31st and 32nd season. Starting with the 33rd season, a portion of the live audience would return, and the weekly price money would be doubled for the first time in AFV history, from $10,000 to $20,000

On May 16, 2023, ABC renewed AFV for a 34th season which premiered on October 1 of the same year.

Synopsis

AFV is based on the Tokyo Broadcasting System program Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan (1986-1992), which featured a segment in which viewers were invited to send in video clips from their home movies; ABC, which owns half the program, pays a royalty fee to the Tokyo Broadcasting System for the use of the format (although the original parent show left the air in 1992). Contestants can submit their videos by uploading them on the show's official website, AFV.com, on the AFV applications for Android or iOS or on the AFV Official Facebook fan page, or by sending them via mail to a Hollywood, California post-office box address. The majority of the video clips are short (5–30 seconds) and are mostly related to the host's monologues. Videos usually feature people and animals getting into humorous accidents caught on camera; while others include clever marriage proposals, people and animals displaying interesting talents (such as pets that sound like they speak

Vin Di Bona, executive producer of AFV, in 2010

certain words or phrases, or genius toddlers with the ability to name all past U.S. presidents), and practical jokes. As of 1989, the show's production process featured a group of screeners viewing the submitted tapes and grading them on a 1–10 scale based on how humorous they were. The videos graded the highest were sent to the show's producers, and then to Di Bona and another producer for final approval. Videos that feature staged accidents, people being seriously injured, the abuse of animals, or otherwise do not meet ABC network standards and practices are generally not accepted for broadcast.

At the end of each episode, a contest for the funniest home video of the episode is held between three recently submitted videos nominated by the producers, with the submitters of those videos in the studio audience. After all three videos are shown, the studio audience members vote for the one they believe is the funniest.

The submitters are awarded prize money (USD) depending on the amount of votes their videos receive:

Place	Amount (Seasons 1-32)	Amount (Seasons 33-Present)
1st	$10,000	$20,000
2nd	$3,000	$6,000
3rd	$2,000	$4,000

After every half (third in Seasons 2-8, 10, and 15-23) of the season, a contest is held between the first place-winning videos of previous episodes in a dedicated episode. In the contest, the submitter(s) of the winning video is/are awarded $100,000. Beginning in Season 15, the $100,000-winning videos then compete for a grand prize in the season finale, supplied by Disney Parks, Disney Cruise Line, or Adventures by Disney, as the title of "America's Funniest Home Video". The program's studio segments are taped in front of a studio audience (although the specials that aired in 1999 and 2000 only featured pre-recorded audience responses). Audience members are asked to dress in "business casual or nicer".

Show creator Vin Di Bona has produced two similar spinoff programs: America's Funniest People (1990–1994) and World's Funniest Videos (1996). Di Bona also created the syndicated series That's Funny, featuring home videos that were largely culled from those seen on AFHV and America's Funniest People (2004–2006). In 2019, Di Bona also created a spinoff titled Videos After Dark, with more edgy material unsuitable for younger children. Several local television stations, even those not affiliated with ABC, also developed special funny home video segments in their newscasts during the early 1990s, as well as spinoffs inspired by the series.

As noted in the closing credits of each episode, most of the videos are often edited for length due to time constraints. In addition, according to the contest plugs, family members (both immediate or relatives) of employees of Vin Di Bona Productions, ABC, Inc., its corporate parent the Walt Disney Company (and for a good portion of Saget's hosting tenure, its legal predecessor, Capital Cities/ABC) and their related subsidiaries are ineligible for the show's contests and prizes.

The Bob Saget era (1989 - 1997)

A view of the set used during the pilot special in 1989

America's Funniest Home Videos first debuted on November 26, 1989 on ABC as an hour-long special produced by Vin Di Bona and Steve Paskay. Following the success of the special, back then abbreviated as AFHV, it became a weekly half-hour primetime series on Sunday nights, beginning on January 14, 1990, with actor/comedian Bob Saget as the host and Ernie Anderson as the announcer. Once Anderson became too ill to continue, Gary Owens took over as announcer in 1995 until Saget left the show in 1997. Saget originally 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. After becoming a weekly series in 1990, Saget would host the show by himself. In Season 5, Bob Saget introduced an animated sidekick named "Stretchy McGillicuddy" (voiced by Danny Mann), who was known for trying to tease Bob during show breaks in-between showcasing video packages, and doing other crazy things. He was ultimately dropped in 1996.

The original logo from the pilot episode in 1989

The logo from 1990-1997. ALERT: Some of the pilot clips were moved over to the Season 1 premiere.

The logo from January 1997- May 1997 in the last episodes of the Saget era

During the early years of the show's run, 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.

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. In 1994, ABC cancelled America's Funniest People due to declining ratings and had to decide what to do with the Sunday night 7:30 slot now vacant. They decided to expand AFHV to one hour, first showing a fresh new episode for the first half-hour and then showing 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, 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. However, due to low ratings, ABC put it on hiatus a few weeks after its debut, before cancelling the series outright after only one season and burning off the remaining episodes that summer. For Saget's final season on AFHV, most nights would have two new episodes air back-to-back, which caused the season to have 30 episodes produced.

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 season 4 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. Sometimes, Saget would visit these actors and pretend to watch America's Funniest Home Videos (with a pre-recording of Saget appearing on the TV) and would also attempt to interact with them. This technique was scrapped after the fifth season. Saget always ended each episode by saying "Keep those cameras safely rolling" followed by him saying something to his wife who was implied to be watching the show at home.

The set as it appeared from 1992 to 1997

By season 6, Saget began to grow tired of the repetitive format and was eager to pursue other projects as a comedian, actor and director. Producer Vin 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. After his contract expired in 1997, Saget left the show after ending its 8th season.

Saget eventually 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 is driving a golf cart with Bergeron at his side; and finally, to co-host a 30th anniversary special edition episode ("AFV: America... This Is You") alongside Bergeron and current host Ribeiro, which aired on December 8, 2019.

2 years later, on January 9, 2022, Bob Saget passed away while doing a stand-up tour in Florida. News of Saget's death broke during a broadcast of AFV, and the network interrupted the program to announce it. A tribute video was soon posted on the show's official YouTube channel, and a dedication to Saget was added before the credits of the following episode. Clips of Saget's hosting of the show were run from January 16 to the end of season 32 on America's Funniest Home Videos as tribute as well.

The Daisy Fuentes & John Fugelsang era (1997 - 1999)

Outdated version of logo used from 1997-2004

Another version of the full titled logo used from 1997-2004

After Saget's departure from the series, ABC sidelined America's Funniest Home Videos from the network's 1997–1998 fall schedule, choosing to bring it back as a mid-season replacement for Timecop. The show began to be alternately called AFV at this point (though the show still continued to be titled America's Funniest Home Videos). After a TGIF sneak peek on November 21, 1997, 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 up until 2015. Comedian John Fugelsang and model-turned-television personality Daisy Fuentes took over as co-hosts of the show. An unknown announcer succeeded Owens, whom did not last long, and in season 10, he was replaced by Jess Harnell, who 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 airing as part of The Wonderful World of Disney anthology series, the show constantly changed to different timeslots, moving from Monday nights to Thursday nights to Saturday nights. Because of this, 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 August 28, being delayed from the prior episode which aired on April 29-- 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 during the 2-part of the 300th episode special in November 2003 during the early years of Bergeron's run, which also showcased Saget's run of episodes in select segments as well. While Fugelsang has not been seen in new footage related to AFV since leaving the show in May 1999, Fuentes made a few brief cameo appearances in interview segments speaking on behalf of her and Fugelsang (and AFV; especially during their tenure) on the "AFV: America... This Is You" special, and both Fugelsang and Fuentes appeared in further interview segments on the "AFV: America This Is You!" podcast.

The era of specials (1999 - 2001, 2005)

After Fugelsang and Fuentes left the show, America's Funniest Home Videos 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. Also during this period, a season was taped with Kerri and Mike Kasem as hosts for foreign markets. Future AFV host Tom Bergeron also hosted a few specials during this era (Namely Matrimony Mania and Nincompoop-a-rama, both of which would later become part of the 11th season). Among these was a special sports version of the show called AFV: The Sports Edition, which aired in 2005, that was hosted by ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, which was rebroadcast every New Year's Day and occasionally aired 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 Fugelsang and Fuentes era. These specials (except for the special sports edition) were not taped in front of a live studio audience, instead using pre-recorded applause and laugh tracks which were used during commercial bumpers and just before, during, and after video packages were shown.

The Tom Bergeron era (2001 - 2015)

On July 20, 2001, the show returned again in its third weekly format, this time with its new host Tom Bergeron. The show now had a consistent timeslot, being seen on Friday nights at 8:00pm, on top of airing as a full hour-long series since the premiere of the pilot special in 1989. However, after several season 11 episodes began airing, the show was stalled for a few months, partially due to the September 11, 2001 attacks and partially due to ABC simultaneously trying a new Friday night line-up consisting of movies and other TV shows. The new line-up was short lived and the show once again returned to its regular Friday night timeslot in November 2001. Starting with season 14, in September of 2003, the show returned to its former timeslot of Sunday nights at 7:00pm, remaining as an hour long show. Unlike Saget, who provided voiceovers to the clips, Bergeron humorously narrated them, though he did lend his voice to some clips from time to time (especially in his earlier years as host). During Bergeron's tenure, the show added new segments such as "Tom's Home Movies," where Bergeron's face was 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 in fast motion. Another one is "Head, Gut, or Groin" where someone from the audience comes up and he plays a part of a clip, stops it, and then the person has to guess if the person will get hit in the head, gut, or groin. Yet another is "What Will Their Kids Look Like?", where two videos are played, and the third video does something from both at the same time. There were also many changes made to the set as a whole during Bergeron's run as host of AFV. These included the replacement of the round video wall to a curved video wall, changing the color of the pillars to blue (sometimes using other colors), the addition of curved light borders hanging through the set, and lights under the center stage with the return of the letters "AFV".

Starting with season 18, the series began allowing viewers to upload their funny home videos online at ABC.com, but since 2012, AFV launched their own website that same year, urging viewers to upload their videos instead to AFV.com, in addition to sending their videos via standard mail. During the 22nd 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. 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 was the final $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 from 1989-2015. 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," also celebrated AFV's 25th anniversary, as well as the Disneyland Resort's 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration that began on May 22, 2015 -- 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 Bob 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 what would be the show's final on-air audience participation game, "Who Breaks It?". He'd win a Ribiero AFV pillow and socks. Bergeron made his second AFV guest appearance alongside Ribeiro, 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 the show's 30th anniversary.

The Alfonso Ribeiro era (2015 - present)

The current stage used during the Ribeiro era from 2015 to the present

On May 19, 2015, two days after Bergeron's final episode aired, ABC announced that Alfonso 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). 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 most of Ribeiro's tenure as host, the stage featured a new metal floor layout and stairway connected to a cube screen put together like a Rubik's cube using smaller sized flat-panel TV screens. A new rendition of the theme song was made and new segments 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 such as the arrow screens with flat-panel monitors and light-up color-changing versions of the tables where some of the studio audience members sit when not in the bleacher areas made their debut to the AFV set starting in season 30. Much like his predecessor, Ribeiro also humorously narrates the clips, though he usually 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 8, 2019, AFV: America, This is You! aired, a 30th anniversary special episode showcasing interviews about the show's run and it's impact in pop culture, with Ribeiro, joined by other previous hosts Bob Saget (which would be his final appearance on the show before his death in 2022), Daisy Fuentes and Tom Bergeron, as well as several families of funny videos that have won over the years.

On Sunday, May 17, 2020, AFV@Home aired, a quarantine themed special which showcased videos impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing stay-at-home quarantine isolation and socially distancing related videos. The on-set segment was replaced by filming at Ribeiro's house.

The 31st season soon after premiered on October 18, 2020. Instead of hosting a physical audience, episodes were shot in-studio with a virtual audience displayed on video screens on set. This technique was used for the last three episodes of season 30, which were filmed at the beggining of quarantine. In June 2021, AFV: Animal Edition premiered on Nat Geo Wild, as the first official AFV spinoff in over 15 years, and on Disney XD in September. On May 13, 2021, ABC renewed AFV for a 32nd season, which premiered on October 3, 2021. The end of the January 9, 2022 episode was interrupted by a special report from ABC News about Saget's death. The January 16, 2022 episode opened with Alfonso Ribeiro's dedication to him, clips of Saget's tenure as host, and a brief discussion between Bob Saget and Tom Bergeron from the 2009 20th anniversary special. A standard pre-credits dedication was also featured. Clips of Saget's shows were put in the rest of the 2021–22 season.

On May 13, 2022, ABC renewed AFV for a 33rd season. This season notably marked the return of a physical studio audience for the first time in 2½ years. The weekly prices were also raised for the first time in the show's history, from $10,000, $3,000 and $2,000 to $20,000, $6,000 and $4,000, respectively, for each of the 3 nominees from this season onward.

On May 16, 2023, ABC renewed AFV for a 34th season. The 34th season premiered on October 1, 2023.

$100,000 contests and Grand Prize winners

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.

Voting

• 1989–1997 (Saget era): ABC stations (5 in season one, 3 from 1989 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).
• 1997–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 or the grand prize winning clip.

Other contests

• 2002: "Battle of the Best": The Quad Squad: $25,000 and trip to Maui
• 2005: Disney Dream Vacation: Dog Eat Dog: $100,000 and free vacations to all 11 Disney theme parks around the world
• 2006: AFV Goes On Vacation: Dancing Machine: $100,000 and free vacations to 500+ places for 48 years
• 2006: Top 20 Countdown: The Quad Squad: $250,000 and The Funniest Video of All Time
• 2007: Grand Prize Spectacular: Plugged in Pug: Disney Dream Vacation
• 2008: Grand Prize Spectacular: Not So Thrilled Ride: Adventures by Disney vacation to one of 10 places around the world
• 2009: Grand Prize Spectacular: Birthday Blowout: $100,000 and free vacations to 500+ places for 50 years
• 2010: Grand Prize Spectacular: The Great Escape: Trip to the Walt Disney World Resort with exclusive private time at Magic Kingdom Park
• 2010: Top 20 Videos that Changed the World: Chainsaw Brothers: Disney Cruise Line vacation
• 2011: Grand Prize Spectacular: Crying Camera Kid: Disney Vacation of a Lifetime
• 2012: Grand Prize Spectacular: Recovery Room Rambler: $100,000 Disney Vacation Club Membership for 40 years
• 2013: Grand Prize Spectacular: Accidental Cup Crime: Disney theme parks & Adventures by Disney
• 2014: Grand Prize Spectacular: Mail Slot Menace: Trip to Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida
• 2015: Grand Prize Spectacular: H2O No-No: Trip to Disneyland for 60 people (to celebrate Disneyland's 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration)
• 2016: Grand Prize Spectacular: Donkey Delights Lil' Dude: Trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and the new Shanghai Disney Resort in China
• 2017: Grand Prize Spectacular: Sedated & Elated: Collection of Disney Family Vacations
• 2018: Grand Prize Spectacular: Sedated Saber Skirmish: Trip to the Walt Disney World Resort to experience Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios
• 2019: Grand Prize Spectacular: Blast with the Laughing Gas: Trip to the Aulani Disney Resort & Disneyland Paris
• 2020: Grand Prize Spectacular: Shallow Show Stealer: Adventures by Disney river cruise
• 2021: Grand Prize Spectacular: Rambling About Ambling: Disney Cruise Line vacation
• 2022: Grand Prize Spectacular: Camera Confuses Canines: Trip to Walt Disney World for 10 people (to celebrate Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary)
• 2023: Grand Prize Spectacular: The Running of the Bulldog: Disney Cruise Line vacation to the Bahamas for 4 people aboard the Disney Wish

Theme songs

The original theme was titled "The Funny Things You Do", written in 1989 by Jill Colucci and Stewart Harris. An instrumental version of the theme music was used during commercial breaks. "The Funny Things You Do" accompanied the opening and closing credits for eight seasons.

"The Funny Things You Do" was the theme song to the Australian version between 1991 and 2004. "The Funny Things You Do" was replaced by an instrumental version (not the song) as part of the 2005 major revamp.

In the middle of the 1996-97 season, the final year with Saget as host, "The Funny Things You Do" was re-recorded by adding more vocals to it, sang by Peter Hix and Terry Wood. When AFHV returned in November 1997, with Fuentes & Fugelsang and a completely new look, a new arrangement of the theme song made its debut. The new theme, composed by Dan Slider, contained a faster, ska/reggae beat, with the original key of the 1989 version restored.

In 2015, when Alfonso Ribeiro took over as host of America's Funniest Home Videos, a new theme was recorded replacing the 1998 theme. This versions returned to the slower tempo of the original "The Funny Things You Do" version, although it still remained instrumental, and the ska/reggae beat was replaced by the use of trumpets, as well as the use of an electric guitar riff that played during the credits.

Syndication and streaming services

Repeats of the show began airing in broadcast syndication starting in September 1995.

The initial off-network syndication package from the Bob Saget era consisted of the entirety of seasons 1-5, as well as the first 12 episodes of season 6, and was distributed by MTM Enterprises. This package aired on various local channels: TBS from October 2, 1995 to circa 1998, and USA Network from 1998 to 2001. 20th Television then assumed syndication rights from their purchase of MTM Enterprises in 1997, and continued on with the initial package, also issuing a new package with the remainder of seasons 6 through 8. Hallmark Channel notably aired both packages from August 5, 2001 – 2003, and various other channels throughout the 2000s carried the new package as well, but most stuck to the initial 5½ season deal. Seasons 6–8 aired on ABC Family (now Freeform) from January 2002 to October 2007, usually on Tuesday through Saturday mornings, and occasionally on Sunday nights if a movie was not shown, being the last to air said seasons. After 2001, Buena Vista Television began distributing the show, and with it came two revamped packages: seasons 1-5 and 6-8. The first 5 seasons aired among networks such as PAX TV (now Ion Television) every Monday through Thursday night (later Monday through Friday night) from October 6, 2003 to 2005, and Nick at Nite for a short time from April 30 to October 2007. The Saget era continued in local syndication for some time, finally ending up again on Hallmark Channel beginning on January 4, 2010. They were due to air all 8 seasons of the Saget run, but due to constantly changing timeslots, never got past the tail end of season 5. The Saget era ceased its syndication run in February 2010. Internationally, all 8 seasons aired on DTV in Russia, TVB Pearl in Hong Kong, and the 5 season package aired on networks including SUN TV, Omni, and CMT in Canada.

The John and Daisy seasons (seasons 9-10) aired on WGN America (now NewsNation) from 2006 to 2014. At least one of the specials from the 1999-2001 period is known to have been syndicated on WGN as well. Both eras were never offered in off-network syndication, and the foreign market Kasem season was not syndicated abroad. Internationally, all 3 eras aired on various networks, including the Kasem season on TVNorge, and the John/Daisy seasons on DTV in Russia.

The Tom Bergeron seasons began airing on both WGN and ABC Family in fall 2004, with seasons 15-19 gradually being added to syndication as they completed their original runs on ABC. WGN continued its run until 2018, while ABC Family gradually replaced the Saget run with the Bergeron run in October 2007, airing up until 2014 on Tuesday through Saturday mornings, and occasionally on Sunday nights if a movie was not shown. Disney-ABC Domestic Television (the successor of Buena Vista Television) began offering seasons 11-19 to off-network syndication in 2009, airing on select Fox, MyNetworkTV, The CW, and various independent stations. Various local stations replaced the Saget runs with this run as well. In 2014, after the introduction of the widescreen remasters, a new package was introduced, with all 15 seasons of the Bergeron run. WGN aired seasons 11-19 from this package, TBS began reruning the show with seasons 20-25 from 2014-2016, and seasons 18-19 from October 2016-January 2017. UPtv then picked up seasons 20-25 from 2016-2019, with UPtv's last airing being on December 31, 2019, marking the end of the Bergeron years in syndication. Internationally, hour long episodes in the USA and Canada are split into two half hour parts, with a new opener and closing taped for each part. All references to the show being an hour long are also edited out. This practice continues into the Ribeiro years. This era has aired among networks such as RTL Klub in Hungary, TVB Pearl in Hong Kong, DTV in Russia, and it currently airs on PRVA Plus in Serbia, along with the Ribeiro era. In Canada, seasons 11–25 aired on ABC Spark, CMT, DejaView, YTV and Yes TV in some capacity until sometime in 2022.

The Alfonso Ribeiro seasons (seasons 26–31) began airing on TeenNick on September 12, 2022, and finished airing in April 2023. This era aired internationally on TVB Pearl, and currently airs on PRVA Plus in Serbia, along with the Bergeron years.

Generally, a few to most AFV episodes from seasons 11-present are often available on Disney+ and Hulu, with the Bergeron run in its remastered form, and with availability varying at random based on platform's publishing decisions.

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 (TV channel)|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.

In the animated comedy series South Park (Episode: Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut) Stan and Kyle send a video of Cartman to America's Stupidest Home Videos, an obvious parody of America's Funniest Home Videos.

On a couple episodes of The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest, the Bob Saget era of this show was parodied as "America's Dumbest Home Videos".

International versions

• 1986-1992 Fun With Kato & Ken Chan (Japan)
• 1986-2003; 2014: Pleiten, Pech und Pannen (Germany)
• 1990: Les Mordus dela Videos (France)
• 1990-1998: Bitte lacheln (Germany)
• 1990-1998: Isto Só Video (Portugal)
• 1990-1995: New Zealand’s Funniest Home Videos (New Zealand)
• 1990-1997: Videos de primera (Spain)
• 1990-2000: Drôle de vidéo (Canada)
• 1990-2004: Videodinges (Belgium)
• 1990-2004: De Leukste Thuis (Netherlands)
• 1990-2008: Video Gag (France)
• 1990-current: Paperissima (Italy)
• 1990-2023: You’ve Been Framed (Great Britain)
• 1990-2021: Domingão do Faustão (Brasil)
• 1990-2014: Australia’s Funniest Home Videos (Australia)
• 1991-1993: Klipp Klapp! Der Clip Club (Germany)
• 1991-1993: Olé Tus Videos (Spain)
• 1991-1997: Låt Kameran Gå (Sweden)
• 1991-2002: Video Loco (Chile)
• 1992-2019: Сам Себе Режиссёр (Russia)
• 1992-1992 Caught In The Act (Great Britain)
• 1993?-???? Video Totalmente Oculto(Chile)
• 1994-2009: Śmiechu Warte (Poland)
• 1995-1998: Naurun Paikka (Finland)
• 1995-2010: Neváhej a toč (Czechia)
• 1996-?: Det' Ren Kagemand (Denmark)
• 1998-2003: Csíííz! (Hungary)
• 1999-2016: Ay, caramba! (Mexico)
• 1997-current: La Cara Divertida (Spain)
• 1999-?: Natočto! (Czechia)
• 1999-2000: Schwupps (Germany)
• 1999-2003: Smiechoty (Slovakia)
• 1999-2011: Animals Do The Funniest Things (Great Britain)
• 2000-2003: Olhó Video (Portugal)
• 2000-2005: Kirsty’s Home Videos (Great Britain)
• 2001-2002; 2010: Videos, Videos (Spain)
• 2002-current: Lachen Om Home Videos (Netherlands)
• 2004-2009: Bitoy’s Funniest Videos (Philippines)
• 2004-2006: K7 Pirata (France)
• 2005-2018: Upps! Die Pannenshow (Germany)
• 2005-current: Die Lustigsten Schlamassel der Welt (Germany)
• 2005-2009; 2013: Upps! Die Superpannenshow (Germany)
• 2005-2006: Bitte lachen (Germany)
• 2007-2008: Snutter (Norway)
• 2007-2013: Вусолапохвіст (Ukraine)
• 2010: Süper Matrak (Turkey)
• 2012: Top Gag (France)
• 2013: Sveriges roligaste klipp (Sweden)
• 最滑稽的家庭视频 (China)
• Ta a Gravar (Portugal)
• Hauskat Kotivideot (Finland)
• A Mourir De Rire (Canada)
• Rire & Delire (Canada)
• America's Funniest Videos Latinoamérica (Peru)
• America’s Funniest Videos Brazil (Brasil)
• Laida Lalaila (Lithuania)
• Beesten Bloopers (Netherlands)
• TBA (Argentina)
• TBA (Greece)
• TBA (Israel)
• TBA (Japan)
• TBA (Thailand)

By 1991 the show would be air in 49 different countries.