THREE former AFV hosts treat us with a look back at their time on the show—power duo John Fugelsang and Daisy Fuentes, as well as the incredibly charismatic Tom Bergeron!
THREE former AFV hosts treat us with a look back at their time on the show—power duo John Fugelsang and Daisy Fuentes, as well as the incredibly charismatic Tom Bergeron!
AFV ep 4 TRANSCRIPT
Nate Beverwyk: Dad can you get in here so we can get this podcast going.
Bernie Beverwyk: Okay. My name is Bernie Beverwyke.
Nate Beverwyk: And I'm Nate Beverwyk.
Bernie Beverwyk: The kids were, you know, nine and 11, 12, something like that. And I told them not to watch a R rated movie that was on HBO and it was called the Texas cheerleader chainsaw massacre or something like that. I got up the next morning, I noticed all the lights are on upstairs and I thought that's kind of odd and checked the TV and sure enough, the TV was on HBO. That means that they watched the movie. So I told my wife to go get the video camera and I'll be right back. And I went on the to the garage and got the chainsaw. I was going up the stairs and it just happened to be a mask laying on the stairs from Halloween. So I had to bring that of course. And I started that thing up and then come out of bed pretty good. So we sent it in and I think it was on in 95 or maybe even 96 then. We never really heard anything until 2004 the video that changed the world.
Brittany High: Hello and welcome back to America, This is you! If you haven't heard episodes one through three yet, you got to go back and listen to those first. So we've established that from the onset. AFV was a smash hit, a big success, every nineties family's favorite show, but the show experienced some growing pains with Bob gone the show would need a new host or two. And with new hosts there'd be even more changes, a new time slot, new theme song, new overall vibe, if you will. So let's drop in. I'm your host, Brittany High, and America, this is you.
Vin Di Bona: Saturday night was just just becoming the death slot. Nobody watched TV and Saturday night. And so the show is as funny as it still was, you know, really kind of lost its audience. Bob left the show and there was an executive at ABC who will remain nameless because I've wiped her out of my memory. She didn't understand the show, but she asked us to, to change talent. And we did. And we were very fortunate to find Daisy Fuentes and John Fugelsang and we did two years with them.
Brittany High: It turns out the exec wanted to make AFV younger, edgier and hipper. But in 1998 what did that even mean?
John Fugelsang: Hello, my name is John Fugelsang and I was co host of America's Funniest Videos with Daisy Fuentes for a couple of seasons… or so they tell me. It's kind of funny cause I mean we were there briefly. I'm, I'm sort of like the George Lazenby of America's Funniest Videos host. That's the bond guy that only did one film, I guess Timothy, Timothy Dalton, maybe Timothy Dalton. I was in New York. I signed on to do I think I signed on to do just a six week thing. They would, there was going to be a replacement. The show had left, Bob had left and they said they were going to bring it back. But my understanding from my reps was they were just looking for someone to do half a season. I thought, okay, well that'll, you know, come out to LA and have some fun. I was already doing a lot of TV in New York and but I, I thought, okay, I'm not the guy you're looking for, but let, let's try it. And then it wound up lasting two years and I wound up having a really unexpectedly lovely time.
Brittany High: An Unexpectedly. Lovely time. Wow. Thanks John.
John Fugelsang: I was in New York doing a lot of standup comedy and I was working for VH1 and I was having kind of a crazy time. They, they had just sent me to London to do a special live with Paul McCartney. I had just done an event with George Harrison that wound up being his last public performance and the last time he was interviewed on camera and I was doing lots of stuff with rock stars. I was going on Bill Maher's show. I was really, really busy. And in the middle of it, I got a call saying, they want you to come in to read for Funny Home Videos. And I thought, Oh, I'm, I'm, I'm not the guy for that. But it wasn't he me for, Hey, they don't really want to see me. They're being nice, but I had a great time and I went onto the set and there's Daisy and I kind of knew Daisy cause we were VJs together.
She was at MTV, I was a Vh1, so we had to do events together, didn't really know her that well. And I just remember walking into the soundstage and there was Vin Di Bona sitting in the front row and I just made fun of everything and I thought, all right, well thanks for the trip. And then the next thing I knew, my agents called me and said, I got it. I've never before had that experience of like just breezing through it, just thinking, Oh, there's no chance here. It'll be just play. And then suddenly that was what they wanted because I didn't take it too seriously. They thought I was playful.
Brittany High: Part of what made the gigs so fun was co-hosting with Daisy Fuentes. John and Daisy recently reminisced about it during an interview on SiriusXM.
John Fugelsang: But looking back on your time at Funny Home Videos how do you feel about the experience overall?
Daisy Fuentes: I thought it was great. I thought it was a really easy gig. Fun! Like I genuinely enjoyed it!
John Fugelsang: You taught me how to have fun with it cause I went in there really serious. I was like the angry young political comedian from New York and I, I feel like now I can do it. I know how to be breezy now, but you taught me so much about how to just be on camera and just have fun.
Daisy Fuentes: Oh thank you. I'm so glad.
John Fugelsang I mean I learned so much working with you about how you can just stand there, do your job and make the choice that I'm going to enjoy this.
Daisy Fuentes: Yeah, I mean at the end of the day it's, it's entertainment at its purest form. You're just making, you're helping people forget their problems for a little while. And that show was so successful because of that cause you could really disconnect from your life and just laugh and there was no better therapy in life than having a good laugh. And it was that simple.
[AFV Clip of John and Daisy. Daisy Fuentes: In this world, a hundred grand is a lot of money for a piece of video, don’t you think?
John Fugelsang: Not for Jim Carrey. That guy makes like 20 million bucks a movie.
Daisy Fuentes: OH FOR Goodness sake. Just like roll the clips quickly.]
Daisy Fuentes: What I love about the show is that it did go through so many incarnations, so many changes and that says a lot about about who they are, you know, their ability to survive. The strongest of the species is the one with the ability to evolve and change. And I think that that's, that's what's happening here.
Brittany High: And like John, Daisy had fond memories of the show too.
Daisy Fuentes: So it was really just about me really figuring out if it was the right move for me really in what I wanted to do moving forward. And honestly I, the whole, my entire career has kind of been a like really? like, “is this really my life?” kind of thing where I just welcomed opportunities, wonderful opportunities that came my way and this was one of those great opportunities.
Brittany High: No wonder Daisy got John to lighten up. She was always laughing.
Daisy Fuentes: I would just watch what was in front of me and it would make me laugh and I would laugh and I would, and then he would laugh at me laughing at the videos. I for some reason really still always get a kick out of the videos where someone gets hit in the balls. Those are always great and then the wedding ones that go wrong whenever there's, say there's one that I'm thinking about where the bride's haircut literally just like blows up on and like a ball of fire, which is really horrible. I don't know why. I don't know why It always makes me laugh, but it just does.
[AFV Clip of Bridal party cheering then shrieking then chuckling.]
Brittany High: John tells me what he loves about the show.
John Fugelsang: And it was a show that my left wing loved ones and my right wing loved ones could all watch and enjoy together and that was the beauty of it. To me that was the power of it because it's about something that's true comedy because it's real and it's about something much deeper than ideology or tribalism.
Brittany High: When John and Daisy helped the show ring in its 10th season, he couldn't understand why everyone on staff was so surprised they made it that far.
John Fugelsang: I said this back then and I still say it really one of the best, if not the best group of professionals I've ever worked with in network and cable, anywhere in television or broadcasting, I mean from the PAs right up through Vin and, and Vin’s exec producers. I mean, I, I just, it was so supportive. It was so lovely. If they had notes, they would give it to you in the best way. They would hear me out if there was stuff that I didn't feel comfortable with, they would listen to me and I felt listened to. So for me, they were all like so shocked. The show had gone 10 years. I was like, why would you ever doubt it? I didn't understand like this show is going to run forever.
Brittany High: Unfortunately, during this era of AFV, the network was constantly changing time slots, which really affected the show's viewership.
Vin Di Bona: And then when the show really lost its audience because of, of being on a Saturday night, we were off the air for about three to four months. And then my dear, dear friend, Jeff Bader, who was the programmer of the networks that we need to bring this show back. And so we did specials with DL Hughley and Richard Kind and the numbers went through the roof. So they said, you know, we want to bring the show back, but who's going to be your host?
[Sound effect: Record Scratch]
Tom Bergeron: My name is Tom Bergeron and I hosted AFV for 15 of its 30 years… for half of its 30 years! Can those other people say that? No.
Brittany High: That's right. Tom is the longest running host of the show. He like, Daisy, welcomed me into his home to recall his time on AFV. Yes, I got to go to Tom Bergeron’s house.
Tom Bergeron: It happened quite by accident back in 2001. When I was hosting the new England Emmys and Vin Di Bona was getting an award. He like me, worked at WBZ television in Boston. He was there before I was, but we had that in common. We knew each other, you know, at industry events and things. I was hosting this thing, it wasn't televised. I was ad libbing as I am prone to do and Vin’s lovely late mother Jean leaned over to him and said, you should hire him.
Brittany High: Here's Vin. Recalling that same moment
Vin Di Bona: I was sitting there with my, with my wife and my mom, he was hosting this Emmy award dinner and it was basically mostly news and Tom was just, he was really funny in a time when you're talking about news events and my mother turned to me and said “Get that guy.” And I did.
Tom Bergeron: And at that point ABC was thinking of bringing videos back as a regular weekly show. It had been a series of specials for a couple seasons and we basically with, with the exception of some of the deal points, agreed to do it there and the next 15 years, you know, just were a complete pleasure. I mean it really has been one of the great gifts of my career. I have an affectionate term for AFV that is still accurate, even though I haven't hosted it in over four years. I call it the annuity. It is the gift that keeps on giving.
Brittany High: Tom wanted to be a part of AFV, but at first he didn't know how exactly it was going to work.
Tom Bergeron Well, I said to Vin at that first conversation of the new England Emmy awards, I said, I'd love to do it. It would have to be different Bob’s a standup comedian. I'm a broadcaster, I'm fine with getting a laugh every so often. I'm, I'm apt to ad lib quite a bit. But my feeling about the show was it was almost like the videos and I are a comedy team and I'm the straight man and the videos are the funny person, you know, old Martin and Lewis or whatever comedy team you want to use. So that was the approach I took. And, and very quickly we found out that even though I, Can do character voices, it wasn't a good fit for me. Whereas that's how Bob, you know, made his signature character voice thing on his version. It quickly became apparent to us that I needed to go more to my natural approach, which is more dry commentary, sort of snide, snarky, you know dad jokes. And so that's, that's where we settled in.
Brittany High: AFV had taken its new form and the show was running like a well oiled machine. So it was hard to imagine an episode without Tom.
Tom Bergeron: You know, it was important to me that there was time. I knew I wanted to take it to the 25th season and the last contract I signed was only for two years because we were at year 20 coming up to year 23. I'm pretty sure they knew that I'd be 25 and out, that would be 15 for me. And it just felt like the right time. And, and I didn't want to overstay my welcome and I'd had a really wonderful run. That 25th anniversary just had a certain lovely symmetry to it. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, how, how many employees give you a year and a half notice?
Brittany High: So Tom gave his one and a half years notice who would go on to be the next host?
Tom Bergeron: Alfonso has proven to be a wonderful person to have passed it on to, first of all, he had just recently won dancing with the stars, but more to the point I thought his, his whole image, his whole personality was perfect for the show because it's a family show and I think Alfonso’s personality and persona was a, was a great fit.
Brittany High: So what does Tom Bergeron take with them after 15 years of funny videos?
Tom Bergeron: The videos that I, I always mentioned the two are the golden retriever on the couch eating a bone and thinking his own rear Jimmy leg is trying to attack the bone and get it from him. So he would growl at his own Jimmy leg until it stopped shaking. He would eyeball it for a little longer and then go back to the bone and then the leg would start shaking again and he'd get angry at his own leg. That was pretty funny. But my ultimate favorite is a older woman. Tandem skydiving is obviously somebody falling along with them to shoot it. She's got this ear to ear grin on her face. I have written a backstory for her where this is something that she's always wanted to do and finally some of the courage to do it and is absolutely beaming at having achieved it. And as she's smiling, the wind current because she's falling, takes her teeth out and her false teeth disappear from her mouth. And the expression on her face as she realizes her teeth have left the building is hilarious. So those are the two videos.
The absolute best memory I have interacting with an audience member. There was this one woman, no matter what I said, she laughed hysterically. I mean she was like your dream audience member. So I decided to sit next to her and not say anything and just let her laugh. And then when she stopped laughing, I'd like put my head on her shoulder and she'd start again or I'd look to her and arch an eyebrow. And we did about two or three transitions from videos to me where I didn't say a word. It just came back to this woman. She's still laughing, I'm looking sad sack. She laughed some more. We'd go to more videos. Vin was wonderful about saying, okay, this, we didn't plan it like this, but it's happening. Let's use it. The audience interaction for me was always the best part.
Brittany High: Isn’t Tom Just great? I'm going to assume you said yes. You know who else is great? Alfonso Ribeiro.
Alfonso Ribeiro: I was the tap dance kid. I was the Pepsi kid. I was on silver spoons. I was, you know, Carlton. Fresh Prince. You know there's a generation that’s like, you know, Dancing with the Stars and then all of a sudden you know, I might go out of this world being the funny video guy.
Brittany High: Next episode we are going to hear from Al and talk about dun, dun, dun! YouTube! and how AFV has continued to thrive in the digital age. Stay tuned for the final episode of America, This is you!
America, This is You! is brought to you by AFV in partnership with SiriusXM. This episode is produced by my producing partner and best bud Rob Schulte plus me!… and wow, Jim Bilodeau You mastered the heck out of this episode and Andrew Gruss did the audio engineering. We had additional help from Andrew Emmer, Chris Tyler, Michael Fische, and Kelsey Albright. Thank you to the even cooler in person John Fugelsang, the even sweeter in person Daisy Fuentes and the iconic and, even legendary-er in person Tom Bergeron for taking the time to interview with me and thank you Michele, for helping me make this podcast.
[ AFV CLIP Tom Bergeron: Thank you for being part of our video village. It is time to bid you adieu. We'll see you soon. And remember, upload to us. Get rich, get famous, get well-dressed. good night everybody.]