Chris Aable's "America's Crazy Home Video" by Terry Madison


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Chris Aable's "America's Crazy Home Video" by Terry Madison


At the age of 18, Chris Aable had developed the idea and format for a new TV Show entitled, "America's Crazy Home Videos". Shortly after moving to Hollywood in 1987, Chris met with Director Steve Niles who filmed Aable's introductions to several home videos. Initially, Chris Aable wanted to hire a male and female celebrity team to host the show, such as his acting classmates Lela Rochon and Steve Burton. But Niles suggested that "Chris would make a great host", and thus the pilot was not only produced, but hosted by Chris Aable. He acquired releases for the videos mostly from actor friends, including comedian Steve Moore, Jim J. Bullock, Michael Ray and many others who had been on his local TV Show, “Hollywood Today”.


As a pilot, the show did not air commercially, but instead aired in 1987 on Los Angeles-based Century Cable TV. It was also featured at a Premier Party at the Beverly Hills home of David Thursdale. In attendance were close friends in the entertainment industry, such as actors Jon Cedar, Loren Cedar and Casting Directors Steve Fuji and Barbara Dodd Remsen. At the same time, Chris Aable was pitching the TV pilot to Mark Justin, an executive in Project Development at Fox TV. Mark welcomed Aable's pilot but his superiors at Fox TV did not fully appreciate its potential. Thus, the project was put on hold and Chris Aable went on to pursue two Master's degrees in Psychology and Sociology.



Chris Aable's pilot was produced two years before Vin Di Bona's "America's Funniest Home Videos" first aired in on November 26, 1989. Di Bona has stated that his concept was not based on Aable's pilot, but on a Japan show, "Fun TV with Kato". Is it merely coincidental that Di Bona's show is almost exactly the same in name and format as Aable's and Di Bona began production soon after Aable’s pilot had aired in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and 23 other major cities? Additionally, why would Di Bona's start each show with an unusual disclaimer that his version is based on an unheard of show in a foreign language which aired only a small portion of its show time for actual home videos? It is also curious that in early 1987 Aable's production featured a crack-up segment of Jim J. Bullock's cat, and later that same year Di Bona produced a TV show entitled "Animal Crack-ups." To date it is unknown if a lawsuit has been filed or if there has been an out-of-court settlement.


Aable's agent, Bill Lee with Talent Bank, had considered a lawsuit for copyright and trademark infringement, but his attorney had concluded that although Aable's show had been copyrighted beforehand, it was not commercially aired and therefore the copyright litigation might not hold up in court. To date, it is not known if Aable himself pursued a lawsuit or if there has been an out-of-court settlement.