Carlton himself, Alfonso Ribeiro (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) is taking over America’s Funniest Home Videos hosting duty from Tom Bergeron. But is the show still relevant in the age of YouTube?
After 14 years as the host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, Tom Bergeron is passing the crown over to Alfonso Ribeiro for Season 26. The news was announced on the Tuesday finale of Dancing with the Stars, where Bergeron hosts and Ribeiro performed. Yes, ’90s kids, this news means Carlton Banks will be hosting a show about adorable animals and people getting hit in the crotch. Should there be rejoicing?
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If we let nostalgia lead our hearts, then the news of Ribeiro’s latest hosting gig (he also hosts Unwrapped 2.0 for the Cooking Channel) is enough to make any Fresh Prince fan giddy. Ribeiro has proven himself a capable host thanks to his unstoppable energy and penchant for breaking out his classic “Carlton Dance” moves at opportune moments. It is AFV I’m not so sure about. When the show started 26 years ago, the only place families could gather together to watch people embarrass themselves for their amusement was on AFV. These days, YouTube fulfills our constant need for cat videos, baby videos and stupid human tricks gone awry. The internet gives us a steady stream of unscripted cuteness and hilarity, so in many ways AFV is a relic from simpler times.
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The show’s ratings have been dropping steadily, but on a good night, it still draws around 6 million viewers on Sundays. It remains one of the few shows on network TV families can enjoy together. Granted, they could gather around their laptops and get a similar effect, but AFV still has one thing to offer that YouTube does not: a competition element. The best part of AFV is not the videos, it is arguing with your grandmother over which video should take home the grand prize.
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Ribeiro is inheriting a show that is likely not long for this world. AFV is simply not relevant anymore, but there is still a bit of life left in the show as long as grandparents and children are looking for alternative Sunday evening programming. For however long AFV has left, it will be nice to know Ribeiro will be giving it his all to make sure we get our people-taking-a-bat-to-the-crotch kicks from the small screen instead of the… smaller screen.
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