Alfonso Ribeiro on the Future of ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’: ‘It Can Go On Forever’

Alfonso Ribeiro is going to keep on bringing the funny into the homes of Americans across the country. The America’s Funniest Home Videos host, now in his ninth season, will close out the longest-running primetime entertainment program’s 34th season on May 19.

“We have our grand prize finale, which is a fun episode because we take the top two biggest money winners of the season, and they go up against each other to see which is the best video of the year,” Ribeiro told TV Insider during a recent visit to TV Insider’s studio.

The show has already been renewed for Season 35, which will mark Ribeiro’s tenth season as host. “It’s such an honor, first, to be a part of that legacy. To be ABC’s longest-running primetime show is an honor. Thirty-five years this show will have been on after we get into next season is a really long time.”

He continued, “What really makes it fun is the fact that we’re really a mirror of the country, right? This is you, this is America, these are the people, right? They’re sending videos of themselves. They want you to laugh at them. It’s just a fun show. You’ve got social media, and you have YouTube, and you have all those things where you can go and watch videos, but nobody puts it together quite like our producers. They put the right amount of videos together, and they make great packages. I think people just love coming home to AFV.”

America’s Funniest Home Videos making it to Season 35 is no small feat. Ribeiro told TV Insider that he thinks this show could “go on forever.” He added, “I definitely think it could [go on] at least another 10 more years. There’s no reason why not. The ratings are still good, the people are still watching, videos are still coming in, which is the most important thing.”

For The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum, he’s proud to host the “last remaining true family show that exists. This doesn’t exist anymore. The fact that we get to be the last of the true family shows, I think it can go on forever.”

But will there be major changes in Season 35? The DWTS host set the record straight: “I’m a firm believer of it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The show works. The producers know. We always make slight adjustments, new things, new bits, but ultimately, the videos are the stars of the show. We just want to make sure we showcase them in the best way possible, and we come up with new ways of doing that.”

Ribeiro took over as host from Tom Bergeron (who followed in the late Bob Saget‘s footsteps) in Season 26. “I wouldn’t have this job at all if it wasn’t for Tom,” the host said. “Tom was the one who went to ABC and said, ‘I think Alfonso should be the one to replace me.’ I owe a debt of gratitude to Tom forever.”

America’s Funniest Home Videos, Season 34 Finale, May 19, 7/6c, ABC