TBS Unleashes 'World's Funniest Videos' Friday

While funny men and ladies from around the comedy world gathered in Chicago last week for TBS’ Very Funny Festival: Just for Laughs, Kevin Nealon (Weeds, Saturday Night Live) hit the streets with comedians George Lopez, Tim Meadows, and Martin Short to present the World’s Funniest Commercials 2009, which airs Friday at 9 p.m. on TBS.

The show is the latest in TBS’ highly-rated Commercial of the Year specials and World’s Funniest Commercials.  The special was launched in conjunction with VeryFunnyAds.com whose principal, Robert Dalrymple, also serves as the show’s executive producer along with Steve Mayer.

Dalrymple, who also produced the popular Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercialssees VeryFunnyAds.com as a way of repurposing ad inventory that still has value.  On the Internet, fans can rate the commercials they find the funniest and also watch international spots.  What countries put out the funniest commercials.

“I would say there are two countrys that really produce bizarre commercials and we see this trend year after year,” said Dalrymple, whose site adds more than 100 commercials a week and has had over 100 million streams since its inception in 2006.  ”One of them is Thailand and the other is Canada.”  In World’s Funniest Commercials, former SNL comedian Tim Meadows look at a series of inane commercials from Thailand.

Dalrymple began his career in advertising, before moving to documentaries.  In those years he imagined a space where the funniest commercials could co-mingle and be recognized on their own artistic merits.  ”I always felt like there should be a tv show that recognizes either great commercials or funny commercials just like the Emmys do or the Oscars do,” he said.

And of all the laughers that have crossed his path, who does Dalrymple believe makes the funniest commercials?  ”“In the end, I happen to think Budweiser still makes the funniest commercials in the world.”  Vroom vroom party starter.