The Game Shows of Vin Di Bona

[grundoontv]

1. Animal Crack-Ups -- A Saturday-morning game show hosted by Alan Thicke that ran for 3 full seasons, August 8, 1987 - September 1, 1990. A production of ABC Entertainment in association with Vin Di Bona Productions, "Animal Crack-Ups" had 4 celebrity guests guess the answers to questions about comical oddities of the animal world, with the celebrity with the most questions correctly answered earning $2,500 for their favorite animal charity. The first 5 episodes aired in prime-time before moving to Saturday mornings.

2. America's Funniest Home Videos -- The classic prime-time game show that has surpassed "What's My Line?" as network TV's longest-running prime-time game show. A production of ABC Entertainment in association with Vin Di Bona Productions, "America's Funniest Home Videos" is a game show where America presents the most hilarious and funniest home videos ever caught on tape--the majority of which are purely coincidental. The top 3 funniest home videos of the night walk away $15,000 richer--$10,000 1st place, $3,000 2nd, and $2,000 3rd. The show originally aired from November 26, 1989 - August 28, 1999 and was originally hosted by Bob Saget, who left after the first 8 seasons, only to be replaced the following January by former MTV VJ Daisy Fuentes (paired with stand-up comic John Fugelsang), a move that proved fatal, as ABC canceled the series in Spring 1999, after 10 full seasons. On July 20, 2001, less than 2 years after its cancellation, "America's Funniest Home Videos" returned to the air, this time with Tom Bergeron taking over hosting duties--a job he's dutifully held ever since.

3. Off the Wall -- A short-lived Disney Channel original game show airing from 1998-1999 for a single season. Produced for The Disney Channel by Vin Di Bona Productions, "Off the Wall" was hosted by Larry Zino (paired with Kelli Kirkland) and had three teams of three children compete in a series of weird, outrageous and unusual events, all played against nine pre-videotaped on-the-street contestants. In the first two rounds, one player from each team chose a video on-the-street player from the wall (hence the name of the show) to play against in a stunt. A brief videotaped interview, was then played, after which host Zino explained the stunt. The stunt began with Larry and the audience counting down (5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GO!), and the in-studio player's job was to beat the videotaped on-the-street player (sometimes within a time limit). If successful, the contestant earned points for the team, if unsuccessful, no points were awarded (ties always went to the on-the-street player). One of the on-the-street players was dubbed the "Double Trouble" player, so-called because if the in-studio contestant wins the stunt, he/she earned double the points for the team. The final two players from both teams competed against each other and one last video player in this deciding round called "The Head-to-Head Challenge". To start, the video challenger's interview was played, then the challenge was explained and played. The first studio contestant to beat the video challenger earned 300 points, with an additional 250 points awarded for beating the studio opponent. (In the event of a tie between studio players, no points were awarded.) The team with the most points won the game, and went on to play for a grand prize. The theoretical maximum score was 1,050 points (100 in round 1, 400 in round 2 [via "Double Trouble"], and 550 in round 3). In the bonus game, known as The Ultimate Showdown, the winning team played one last game, this time against a member of the studio audience. After the game was explained, the round began. If any member of the winning team could beat the audience member, the team won a grand prize for each team member; if not, the winning team took home a consolation prize. Plus the audience member get a chance to come back to the show with two other teammates. (Show description from Wikipedia)

4. America's Funniest People -- A prime-time game show spin-off of "America's Funniest Home Videos," "America's Funniest People" ran for 4 full seasons, from May 13, 1990 - August 28, 1994. Hosted by Dave Coulier (paired with actress Arleen Sorkin), "America's Funniest People" was a production of ABC Entertainment in association with Vin Di Bona Productions and had Vin's employers search the streets of America for "America's Funniest People." Skits and gags within the show were deliberately staged, and as with its forerunner, "America's Funniest People" had the top 3 funniest people become $15,000 richer--$10,000 1st place, $3,000 2nd place, and $2,000 for 3rd place. In Fall 1992, after being fired by Di Bona (whom she subsequently unsuccessfully sued), Sorkin was replaced by the former lover of David Coverdale (Tawny Kitaen). As with the first 8 seasons of "America's Funniest Home Videos," Ernie Anderson was the announcer on this series.

5. The Big Moment -- During a time when game shows were unheard of on primetime television, Vin Di Bona Productions introduced this brilliant twist on an old formula. Each week, the producers would locate a family willing to take a risk. Given a budget of $25,000, each family selected a group of prizes that they really wanted. Then, one member of the family, or perhaps everyone, was given a challenging task, such as memorizing the square root of 3 or learning to identify 30 ice cream flavors by taste alone. The following week, the family would come to the studio and attempt the feat in front of a studio audience. Producers gave each family a video camera to document the days of rehearsal and the accompanying family dynamics. Comedian Brad Sherwood hosted the game show, which ran on the ABC Network in the spring of 1999. "The Big Moment" was produced by Vin Di Bona Productions.

6. The World's Funniest Videos -- A 2nd prime-time game show spin-off of "America's Funniest Home Videos," "The World's Funniest Videos" (hosted by Dave Coulier and Eva La Rue) was a game show that aired for 13 weeks in the spring of 1996. The game had people from all over the world send in their funniest home videos in the hopes of becoming $10,000 richer. Shot entirely on location at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, "The World's Funniest Videos" was an ABC Entertainment Production for Vin Di Bona Productions.