DVD Review: America's Funniest Home Videos Volume 1 with Tom Bergeron
If you live in America, own a working television, and have turned it on sometime within the past 15 years, then odds are you already know what America's Funniest Home Videos is all about. People from all over America dig up the cutest, funniest, and most embarrassing home videos that they can find, and then send them in to the show for a chance to have it broadcast into millions of homes, and possible be chosen as the funniest video of the show, which would net them a cash prize of ten thousand dollars! The show originally started way back in 1989, with Bob Sagat as it's host, and was an instant hit. And with good reason too, as the show was hilarious.
That being said, I stopped watching this show a long time ago. I don't remember exactly why. Maybe it conflicted with something else I wanted to watch. Maybe it was when they switched hosts and I just couldn't stand whoever it was. Maybe the clips just became repetitive. Whatever the reason, I was sure happy that, upon putting in the first disc of this set and pushing play, I found myself laughing at almost every outrageous clip that flashed across the screen. Yes, some were predictable, and my wife and I would constantly be saying "Oh no... no, no, no..." at the beginning of some of those clips. But then there were other clips that were completely unexpected, and yet others where you thought you knew exactly what was going to happen, only to be blindsided by something else. A few were just mean and cruel, and we found ourselves wondering what the hell the producers were thinking, but most were just flat out funny.
This box set, labeled Volume 1, is actually from season 11 of the show, not season 1. Not quite sure why they did this... perhaps Bob Sagat was too "last century". Season 11 is when Tom Bergeron took over as host, and he's not really any better or worse than Sagat. What makes the show funny is the clips, not the hosts, so you might think that it wouldn't matter who hosts the show. Think again. I've seen shows with bad hosts, and I mean really bad hosts, and having one of those can make the time between clips quite painful to watch, sometimes even so painful that you just have to turn the show off, so having a good host is definitely necessary to keep you in the right mood for the show. Tom Bergeron isn't the funniest guy in showbiz, but he gets the job done. Personally, I'd like to see it tried out with Robin Williams, or perhaps even Drew Carry.
Hm... what else can I say. There is no plot, so I can't go over that. Well, the DVD set contains for single-sided DVDs, which I applaud. I always prefer to have single sided DVDs. Then you get nice artwork on the discs, and you don't have to grab your magnifying glass to read the title on that tiny inner ring. Plus, it's easy to keep them clean and free of fingerprints. The first three discs contain the 12 episodes from season 11, which are an hour each, or actually something like 45 minutes each since there are no commercials. The fourth contains the 300th episode, parts one and two, which is a greatest clips compilation. They're packed in a DVD case that folds out, not one of those cases that slaps two DVDs on one side of the case and two more DVDs on some hinged plastic thingy. Anyway, bottom line, if you get this set, there is no doubt that you will laugh until you're sore.
America's Funniest Home Videos Volume 1 with Tom Bergeron is being released by Shout! Factory on DVD starting July 26, 2005, and stars Tom Bergeron as its host.
