Ferris gets top laughs on AFV

The whole country thought so, too.

A clip of an interaction between a parrot and her dog, Ferris, won the top prize of $20,000 on the long-running ABC show America’s Funniest Home Videos. The video actually took place in 2018, but Hunt uploaded the file this past November while sitting a stop light in Raleigh.

The episode featuring an interview with Hart, her fiance and Ferris was shown this past Sunday, but was filmed in early December – and the winners had to be pretty hush-hush about what was happening.

“I signed a (non-disclosure agreement) so I had to keep my mouth shut, which was really hard,” Hart said. “I could share with people that (Ferris) was going to be a finalist, and I could tell them to watch the episode, but I couldn’t share with friends or family (that they won). Technically, no one was supposed to know.”

A friend, a parrot and an obedient dog

Ferris, a Whippet named after the 1980s movie character Ferris Bueller who is known for being a mischievous kind of guy, had a co-star for his video.

The video consisted of a parrot talking to Ferris ­ ­– and the dog doing what he was told. The parrot told Ferris to “come here” and he raced over to the cage and listened and stepped away when the parrot said, “go outside.”

“He’s a character for his breed,” Hart said. “He is an extremely smart dog. Usually, you have to be diplomatic with what you do with them and they’re not known to be obedience dogs. They are known to catch rabbits for the stew pot. That’s what they are bred for. This dog is all about the snacks. He is notorious for getting into trouble. He’s a smart, charming little troublemaker, and sometimes plays by his own rules, just like the character Ferris Bueller.”

According to Hunt, Ferris is an obedience training dog and was simply following directions from his new friend.

“Every time that parrot would call him over, he’d come,” Hart said. “(The parrot) was so confused, but it was so funny so I got my phone out and got a video. He’s a very smart, calculating dog. It’s really funny that the video that won was with him doing nothing more than coming when called. 

The $20,000 winning video was recorded while Hunt was visiting her friend, Deanna, in Maryland in 2018. 

A couple of weeks after uploading the video at the stop light, Hart got word that Ferris and the parrot might actually be on TV ­— and she could get T-shirt for her contribution to the long-running show, which she thrilled about.

Two days later, the ante was raised when the call came that the video was going to be a finalist. 

Five years after her visit to Maryland, Hart gave her friend the heads up.

“When I submitted the video in the very beginning, I called up my friend and said, ‘ha-ha, I submitted this funny video and they said it may be on TV,” Hart said. “And I promised that I’d split whatever winnings there were.”

Worldwide Ferris

Ferris and the parrot’s antics had a worldwide audience of fans. Deanna currently lives in Maryland but is originally from Canada and set up a Facebook watch party for her friends north of the border. Hart’s parents made the cross-state trip from Hendersonville to watch and she set up a Zoom party and she said there were friends cheering them on from all over the globe.

“Because we compete (in dog competitions) all over the country and are on social media all of the time, (Ferris) is known all over the world,” Hart said. “People were streaming in from England and Australia and other places, too.”

There has been huge support here locally, as well.

The videos of Hart, her fiance, and Ferris being interviewed by AFV host Alfonso Ribeiro and the winning moment have been viewed more than 15,000 times since Sunday on The Courier-Times Facebook page and shared nearly 200 times.

For Hunt, who’s only lived in Roxboro for a short time, the outpouring of support from her new home has been wonderful.

“I grew up in sort of a small town in Florida, but I’m obviously not from here,” Hart said. “It’s funny how it got picked up so quickly and I think that’s the small town thing that’s just so fantastic. I got so many messages and calls and texts from people. It’s really been entertaining.”

Ironically, this is not the first time Hart has seen one of her fur babies highlighted on TV. Several years ago, Hunt put a video of another Whippet, Bella on YouTube that was later picked up by another popular TV show. When Hunt asked Bella what she liked to do, her pup clearly said, “run around.”

That video was featured on Animal Planet’s America’s Cutest Dog contest, winning third place.

Roxboro takes over AFV

Person County was able to cheer for and laugh with two local clips Sunday evening.

Lauren Hair submitted a video to AFV of her son, Preston, swiping an extra piece of his birthday cake away from him mom.

According to Hair, the video was taken in September 2021 during Preston’s second birthday party and was submitted to the show in July 2022.

The video garnered big laughs from throughout the community.

“Our family (husband Chandler, daughter Caroline) were blown away by the outpouring of excitement in advance of the video airing,” Hair said. “So many people shared our post about the upcoming video, sent us pictures of their family watching, and celebrated the fun of seeing this on TV. We never expected the overwhelming  response, but appreciated and loved it. It was fun to hear our daughter report back from teachers and friends at Helena Elementary who viewed it, Preston’s teachers at Small World, and family friends. It was just so fun.”

People can upload their funny clips to the AFV website here: https://afv.com/upload/ or upload a video using the official AFV app.