''The World's Funniest Moments'' is a

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways. Philosophical questions abo ...

television series produced by

Associated Television International Associated Television International is a television production company mainly specializing in American and international syndication through production and distribution. The company is based out of a facility on Empire Ave in Burbank,

. Taped in front of a live audience, the show features humorous video clips taken from the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

and submitted by viewers. The series results in part from the popularity of

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and is described as "capturing life's most outrageous moments caught on tape". But what makes this show different, according to Hall, is that many of the videos produced are short films produced by aspiring

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

s. A number of the short films come from shortbrain.tv. The series originally ran on

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

, until that network decided to focus on

reruns A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. The two types of reruns are those that occur during a hiatus and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word "repe ...

of older shows, the network did not renew ''The World's Funniest Moments'' for 2009-2010. The show resumed in syndication for the Fall of 2010 with

Erik Estrada Henry Enrique Estrada (born March 16, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his co-starring lead role as California Highway Patrol officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello in the police drama television series '' CHiPs'', which ...

and Laura McKenzie hosting.

Weekly features

On myNetwork, most episodes included an educational film from the 1940s or 1950s whose humor derives from the outdated advice and presentation. Another weekly feature was a segment called, "What's on your

cellphone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...

?" where Hall picked a random contestant and appeared to display video from that person's phone on the big screen. Other videos went under the heading "Have you lost your mind?"

Related series

MyNetworkTV aired a series of holiday specials hosted by Estrada and McKenzie: ''Santa's Funniest Moments'' in 2007; and three specials in 2008: ''Easter's Funniest Moments'', ''Mom's Funniest Moments'' and ''Dad's Funniest Moments''. ''Cupid's Funniest Moments'', which aired Feb. 13, 2008, achieved two milestones for MyNetwork: the most viewers ages 18 to 49 ever in the 8-9 P.M. time period (818,000) and the most viewers in all (1.7 million). All of these specials were produced by Associated Television International, and featured home videos as well as John Ross persuading ordinary people to play pranks in hopes of winning money. For example, with the contestants' help and

hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...

s, Ross tried to rent a car wearing a

strait jacket is a light novel series by Ichirō Sakaki with illustrations by Yō Fujishiro, published by Fujimi Shobo under their Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint. It was published in 11 volumes between 2000 and 2010. The series was adapted into a 3-episode ...

and attempted to rent a hotel room accompanied by a

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

, among other pranks. ''The World's Funniest Moments'' continued to use home videos, but in the myNetwork version, hidden camera pranks were limited to those submitted by viewers or users of web sites. Ross and his hidden camera pranks returned for the syndicated version. Elizabeth Stanton also appeared in that show, usually the victim of pranks before commercial breaks. Estrada, McKenzie and Ross returned Associated Television's syndicated ''Santa's Wild & Wacky Christmas'' in the 2009 Christmas season, with bloopers, funny videos and hidden camera pranks.

References

External links

Official siteWPHL interview with Arsenio Hall
{{DEFAULTSORT:World's Funniest Moments, The MyNetworkTV original programming 2008 American television series debuts 2000s American comedy television series 2010s American comedy television series 2020s American comedy television series 2000s American reality television series 2010s American reality television series 2020s American reality television series 2000s American video clip television series 2010s American video clip television series 2020s American video clip television series Television series by Associated Television International First-run syndicated television programs in the United States American English-language television shows