Wonderful character development!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is a funny TV-series that is a collection of home movies taken by everyday people around the country. Families submit their home videos to the ABC network and winners get first and second place monetary prizes toward the end of each episode.From embarrassing sports moments to wedding ceremony mishaps, and from comical physical oopsies to funny pet moments, this series will send you some side-splitting laughs.Earlier seasons were the funniest, as you could tell much of the home videos were genuine and the "mishaps" were candid. Later seasons featured a lot of videos that were obviously "staged" by people to make their mishaps look funny in order to get themselves onto the show. One video I distinctly remember was this guy getting hit in the eye by a ping-pong ball during a table tennis match, flinching a bit afterward, and then forcing himself onto the floor in an unremarkable attempt to be funny.Overall, some good laughs here. But of course, laugh at the genuine and funnily candid home videos versus the outrageously staged ones.Grade B

Yeah, the most common complaint you hear about AFV is the 'artistic merit' of the show, but who cares -- it's funny. Obviously, it's not funny in a cerebral or enlightening way, it just makes you feel GOOD.I rediscovered this show thanks to KDOC (Orange County) reruns five nights a week, and I'm impressed with how the show is still funny all these years later. C'mon, everybody knows that Bob Saget's jokes were cringe-worthy even back in the day, and Tom Bergeron's antics fare only slightly better. Yet the main draw of the show isn't the host -- it's the videos themselves. That's why AFV is still getting ratings 19 seasons later. AFV (and COPS as well) has a dynamite formula -- it presents content that reflects people from all walks of life, rich, poor, educated or not, and offers a show that anybody can relate to. It is a show for all of us, no matter where we came from or what we believe.I've heard people on the boards complain about how stupid the show is and how the producers pay ABC to air the show, rah bah, bah. But here's the deal, the politics behind the show are irrelevant to the enjoyment it provides to its audience. Let's be reasonable, who in their right mind would expect a program called AMERICA'S FUNNIEST (HOME) VIDEOS to be thought provoking anyhow? So sit back, grab a snack, and the enjoy corny atmosphere of the show, 'cause with AFV, the one thing you can count on is plenty good 'ol fashioned American Cheesy Goodness!!!

Many times we've all been annoyed over staged videos winning money without deserving it, seeing kids smeared in stuff where it's so obvious the parents did it (How the hell did the kid reach the ceiling?!) and we've unfortunately also seen proof of some really poor parenting, just so people could get those 15 minutes of fame.The show's been on for 17 years now and surprisingly it seems through the newest season that someone has opened his eyes. The videos are so much better now, whoever used to pick them out must've either been fired or figured out that he needed to revise his skills. Now it's actually funny! And there ain't so many little babies vomiting on their parents (gross, not funny!), but the usual groin accidents will probably never leave.Personally I think Tom Bergeron is a much better host than e.g. Bob Saget or the sibling couple (those were horrible!).All in all, the show has improved a lot, I think it's worth wasting time on ; )

I agree with everybody else who said they DESPISE this sorry program. I certainly CAN'T stand Bob Saget ("Full House" also stunk), and Tom Bergeron isn't any better. And one critic was right on when he said this show is "just an excuse for people to make asses of themselves to win money" (I have a better title for it: "The Hour for the Artistically Challenged and Money-Hungry"). Simply put, this show is an insult to one's intelligence!I think the only reason "America's Funniest Home Videos" is still surviving is because the producers are PAYING ABC to keep the show on. But, if it's any consolation, the network has pitted it against "60 Minutes" on CBS Sunday nights at 7:00 P.M. Eastern time, so here's hoping "60 Minutes" continues to trounce "America's Funniest Home Videos'" ass in the ratings!Equally surprising was that when "America's Funniest Home Videos" was first syndicated in 1996 (a BIG mistake), the producers tapped MTM Enterprises, which former Chicago Sun-Times TV critic and nationally syndicated columnist Gary Deeb called "the class act of television," to distribute the reruns. Certainly, MTM had much better, and more intelligent, shows during its 28-year history, such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Rhoda," "WKRP in Cincinnati," and "Hill Street Blues." I am VERY certain the only reason why MTM said yes to distributing the reruns of "America's Funniest Home Videos" is because they knew they were then flirting with bankruptcy, and since their other quality shows were failing, they were desperate to stay alive! Since Mary Tyler Moore was then still the Chairperson of the Board of MTM, she herself should have told the producers of "America's Funniest Home Videos" "NO!" to syndicating this show! (MTM was dropped as an affiliated company by the Television South Corporation, better known as TVS, of London, England, near the end of 1995 after seven years - the result of poor management of the property on TVS' part - but was rescued in early 1996 by International Family Entertainment, Inc., a spin-off company of the Christian Broadcasting Network. Two years later, however, IFE itself was purchased by NewsCorp, parent company of 20th Century Fox; that buyout, sadly, meant the end of MTM as it was absorbed into 20th Century Fox Television. Now Fox syndicates the reruns of "America's Funniest Home Videos;" this program, in all honesty, seems more appropriate for a company like Fox to distribute, but if Rupert Murdoch and Co. were smart, they SHOULDN'T pay any more residuals to the untalented and brainless turkeys who submitted the "material" to this waste of time!)Here's also hoping ABC wises up after 16 years and drops "America's Funniest Home Videos" for good. I sure WOULDN'T miss it if and when it goes away!