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The Movie: ABC's longest-running comedy series and admittedly a guilty pleasure of mine, "America's Funniest Home Videos" has been on-air for about 15 years now, and has gone through a few different hosts - first Bob Saget, then the pairing of Daisy Fuentes and John Fugelsang and finally, "Hollywood Squares" host Tom Bergeron. The series itself has also gradually changed over the years, moving away a bit from the kind of humiliating videos that it previously showcased, which often involved people getting hit in very uncomfortable places, often while doing sports such as golf, baseball or some sort of winter sport. Instead of watching people act like complete idiots, the show has gradually steered a lot of its material towards the cute, such as pet videos and babies doing things that usually result in an "awwww..." from the studio audience. Despite this dismaying turn of events, "AFV" is still enjoyable mindless television and despite the cuteness meter on the show being turned up, there are still some good clips of people getting hurt doing stupid stuff every episode. One of the best of such clips aired recently, as a guy tried to get ice off his roof, and, while working too close to the edge, fell off the upper floor deck onto the ground below. What does he do? Tries again, falls again. He starts to have a snowball fight with his friend...and gets bumped over the side of the deck once more. Although Bergeron has been criticized by many, he makes a pretty respectable host, trying his best to deliver the between-clips jokes, many of which are as corny as they were when Bob Saget was hosting ages ago. Overall, this set isn't the full-season set that fans were likely hoping for, but it does offer 12 Bergeron-hosted episodes plus the 2-part "best of" 300th episode. The DVD VIDEO: It's AFV, what do you expect? Shout Factory presents the episodes in their original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio and, in a way, they look pretty good. The videos themselves are obviously going to look like someone's grainy camcorder footage, but the in-between segments with Bergeron look crisper and cleaner than broadcast quality. Of course there are faults and issues with the video footage, but the other elements of the show are cleanly presented, with no concerns. SOUND: The stereo audio is perfectly fine for delivering Bergeron's lines, and although the videos don't always offer great sound, their audio is at least easily understood. EXTRAS: If you don't count the 2-part 300th episode included on a fourth disc, then nothing. Final Thoughts: Although it won't please fans who were looking for full season sets, this compilation of episodes definitely offers some amusing moments and is worth picking up. The DVD offers the kind of audio/video quality one would expect from episodes of the show and the supplemental section is a bit of a missed opportunity (some clips that didn't make it into the show, maybe?) Still, recommended. |