Bob Saget: America's Greatest and Most Controversial TV Dad and Stand Up Comedian #sponsored

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He was a man of contradictions.

This beloved figure on television was playing one of America's most wholesome dads.

At the same time, on stage, in comedy clubs, or in comedy specials,

he was known as one of the filthiest comedians in the game.

Bob Saget was Danny Tanner to millions, the cardiganwearing,

widowed father who anchored the sitcom Full House.

He was also the host of the longrunning hit America's Funniest Home Videos.

But if you saw him on stage,

it was far from what you saw on your television screens every week for

over 8 years.

His life wasn't necessarily the most interesting.

But the man living it truly was.

Understanding someone who played one thing while being the complete opposite is fascinating.

It speaks to the talent Saget had

and helped create the legacy he holds today.

This is the story of a beloved comedian, the Jackal and Hyde of comedy,

who played wholesome and filthy depending on when and where you saw him.

From his early days behind a Super Eight camera to the final moments on

his last tour and tragic finale,

this is Bob Saget, the tender father figure, the unapologetic comic,

the man who lived to make people laugh.

Welcome back to Biographics.

I'm your host, Eric Malikite, and today's script was provided by James CJ.

So, be sure to show them some love

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that help keep the Eldrich beast

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Let's get to it.

On May 17th, 1956 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Robert Lane Saget was born.

We'd come to know him as Bob Saget in later years.

Still, for now, he was just a young boy born into a Jewish family,

the son of a supermarket chain executive and a hospital administrator.

His father and mother, respectively.

Not long into Bob Saget's life, his family left Philadelphia and moved to Norfol,

Virginia, where he'd remain until he was about 14.

It was then that the family moved to Enino in Los Angeles, California.

Although the family would eventually move back to Philadelphia after the 11th grade,

this moment in his history was pivotal to his future.

It was at Moholland Junior High

that he met Larry Fine of the Three Stooges who came to speak at

his school.

Despite being in Los Angeles for only 6 months,

this moment stuck with Saget for the rest of his life.

He'd see Fine numerous times following that visit to his school,

hearing more stories about his life and career.

By the time he was 15, comedy was all he cared about.

Saget always had the entertainer spirit in him.

From his time in kindergarten,

it was clear that there was something special about him.

When he was nine, he began making movies with his Super Eight camera.

Before meeting Larry Fine, Saget believed his future was in medicine.

However, a combination of lackluster grades

and a close relationship with Fine led him to realize

that perhaps his future was in entertainment,

specifically comedy.

The rest of Saget's childhood was, in his own words, not much fun.

He was overweight, covered in zits, and didn't have a great sense of fashion.

He had few friends and continued making movies.

In his senior year of high school back in Philadelphia at Abington Senior High,

he began working at the supermarket deli thanks to his father.

But he was beginning to think seriously about comedy.

While he didn't think he'd become a stand-up comedian,

it sort of just happened naturally.

Maybe he was just born to entertain.

Maybe it was Maybelline.

>> Maybe she's born with it.

In 1975, Bob Saget went on to study film at Temple University in Philadelphia.

It was here that he'd earned his major achievement in entertainment.

Saget created the student film through Adam's Eye.

This black and white movie was about a guy who receives reconstructive facial surgery

and earned Saget a student academy award for young filmmakers.

This was a massive deal

and a significant achievement for Bob to earn at age 22.

During his college years, Saget began exploring standup more and more.

His dedication was clearly there,

seeing as he'd take the train from Temple University to New York City to

perform at clubs like Catch a Rising Star

and The Improv.

Saget was finding his creative voice,

learning what he found funny

and how to share

that humor with others to make them laugh.

These were formative years for any comic.

He was finding that creative voice down any avenue he could.

Just before Saget ended his time at Temple University,

he had a major health scare

that could have proven fatal

if not caught just in time.

In January 1977, Saget was hospitalized with a 104°ree fever after his appendix burst.

Surgeons put ice on the area for 7 hours before moving him to surgery.

While operating, they found the appendix had become gangrous.

This was a turning point for Bob Saget.

Prior to this moment in his history, he'd described himself as a cocky,

overweight 22-year-old.

No longer would he identify with these self-descriptions.

He was done being cocky, and he was done being overweight.

Good thing, too.

He'd need to be in better shape considering the turn his career was about

to take.

In 1978, he graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Arts.

While Bob intended to further his studies by taking graduate courses at the University

of Southern California,

he ended up quitting after just a few days,

choosing to devote his time to standup instead of several more years of school.

He was ready to try his hand at being a comedian for real.

He was ready to figure out what made him laugh

and how he could make others laugh with him.

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Zaget knew he wasn't necessarily a comedian who stood out from the crowd.

He believed himself to be somewhat likable,

but knew he didn't have the type of high energy performances

and material that set him apart from other comedians such

as John Belalushi,

Chris Farley, and many others.

But he loved the job.

He enjoyed crafting a joke

and nurturing it until it was the best possible version of what it could

be.

During these early years, Saget continued his standup both on stage and on screen,

appearing on numerous talk shows, including the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

He also enjoyed a few small roles here

and there in a couple of movies such

as Spaced Out and Full Moon High,

as well as guest spots on television shows like Bosom Buddies,

The Greatest American Hero, and It's a Living.

Perhaps his greatest achievement in the early 1980s was marrying his first wife,

Sherry Kramer, his childhood sweetheart, whom he had met when he was 17.

In early 1987, Saget joined CBS's morning program, where he served as sidekick, announcer,

and co-anchor alongside Marriott Hartley, Rowan Smith, and Weatherman Mark McHugh.

While he wouldn't stay in this role for long

and wait until you find out why,

he did make an impression,

particularly with a memorable segment in which he interviewed a polar bear puppet.

Unfortunately, the job wouldn't last long.

Saget was fired that same year by CBS.

Saget later recounted, "He was too hot for morning TV

because I said some dirty."

His firing was the product of a specific joke one morning where his co-host

Marriott Hartley asked if he was a type A personality

and he said yes,

but I'm working on my anus naturally.

And like I I don't agree with the next sentence in this script

that says naturally she sent him off the set.

But isn't this like really tame compared to current standards?

Like come on.

Like I've I've heard Bob Saget standup.

This is this is so tame.

Like it's a dad joke.

It's a It's a bad and great dad joke.

Like come on.

>> Guy turns to the guy next to him and says, "Boy, this is something."

And the other guy says, "You should have been here yesterday.

Some guy was a chicken."

>> Naturally, she sent him off the set.

He climbed up a fake flight of stairs where he stood at the top

for 15 minutes until the commercial break.

And he knew then and there this job was over.

Well, when one door closes, another opens.

And the door that opened was the most significant break he could have ever

dreamed of.

He was about to be watched by tens of millions of people around the

world every week for 8 years.

The world would know Bob Saget, or at least a cleaner version of him,

as he took on the role of Danny Tanner in a little show called

Full House. 1987 was a good year for Bob Saget

and for me too,

if I don't say so myself.

While yes, he'd gotten fired from his first major job at the CBS morning

show,

it's unclear that anyone could have really seen where his career would go next.

If you consider the reason he was fired by CBS,

it might be hard to fathom

that he'd become the face of a wholesome sitcom about a family in San

Francisco.

Well, regardless of what people might expect or think, that's exactly what happened.

In 1987, after years of short-lived television gigs and one-off appearances,

he was cast as the lead in Full House, a new sitcom for ABC.

Saget was the producers's first choice to play the main character of Danny Tanner,

a widowerower raising his three children.

When they shot the pilot,

Saget was unavailable due to working on the morning program,

leading to the producers casting John Posey instead.

Of course, when his job with CBS came to an end,

he was free to join the sitcom, and the rest, well,

the rest is history.

Full House premiered on September 22nd, 1987, when I was just a month old.

The premiere drew 21.7 million viewers,

and throughout its 192 episode run across eight seasons,

it remained a consistent ratings juggernaut.

The same year that Saget began working on CBS

and then Full House was also the year he started his family.

Bob and Sherry would have three kids together.

Aubrey in 1987, Laura in 1989, and Jennifer in 1992.

He was living the dream on and offcreen like he couldn't believe.

However, that doesn't mean it was easy.

It may come as a surprise to learn

that critically the show was not wellreceived.

I mean, everyone I knew hated it.

Children hated this show.

One review called it a hackneed and saccharine family sitcom.

Another wrote, "Archetypically average,

hiding behind a ubiquitous laugh track and obnoxiously on then life lessons,

and they just got worse from there."

But while the critics weren't falling for Full House, and the Tanner family's antics,

audiences were falling in love with them every week.

Saget, despite his dirty humor, loved the role he played on Full House,

stating in his autobiography, "Danny Tanner, or DT as I now call him,

was a guy I am still proud today.

I got to play.

I still knew even back

then and I know it more today

that portraying a good father for hundreds of millions of people is valuable.

He called it a Jackal

and Hyde experience considering he played this silly character

that was a part of this super cleancut show

which for him was outside of his usual sticktick.

He knew it was a strange fit but it just worked.

A couple of years later in 1989,

Saget would take on another television gig with ABC.

This time he wasn't playing a role, but instead playing host.

He began working on America's Funniest Home Videos, which premiered on November 26th, 1989,

and was seen by 32.8 million people.

Unlike Full House, Saget was actually not the first choice,

as John Ritter was producer Vindy Bona's preferred host.

Ritter turned it down

as he began trying to transition from sitcoms

and television to feature films.

Saget was hesitant to join the show at first,

but Dona convinced him

that it was the chance to show another side of himself to viewers

so he wouldn't just be known

as the dorky dad.

So, he took the job and for eight seasons from 1989 to 1997,

he was the host.

As a result of these two popular shows,

Bob Saget became one of the most recognizable faces in television and America.

Come 1995, Full House had wrapped with its 192nd episode in its eighth season

on May 23rd.

A year later, on May 18th, 1996,

he'd stepped down as host of America's Funniest Home Videos.

He stated, "After 8 years of hosting, I decided to move on.

I wanted to get back to my standup and pursue other projects.

As grateful as I was for the show's success,

I didn't want to be known only

as the guy introducing people getting hit in the crotch with baseballs.

I mean, that seems on brand for him, though.

With the end of his time in the spotlight of prime time,

something else ended.

His marriage.

Saget and Sher Kramer officially ended their marriage in 1997.

In hindsight, Saget wrote, "It was painful,

and it was my fault that the marriage didn't work out.

I loved her very much,

but I wasn't mature enough and I was too consumed with my career.

While his marriage ended, he remained a present father in his children's lives,

taking the role of being a father very seriously.

Despite the unfortunate end to their marriage,

Saget and Kramer remained good friends and co-parented effectively,

which Saget emphasized in his book and in interviews throughout the years.

So, what was next for the man who'd been a constant fixture in millions

of Americans lives for the last near decade?

Would his departure from network television stardom pan out the way he expected?

Before he left his prime time success,

Saget capitalized on his name power to make a movie near

and dear to his heart.

And to do so,

he was going to revisit a dark moment in his life.

In 1996, he directed the film For Hope.

It was a television movie heavily inspired by the death of his sister,

Gay Saget, in 1994.

He had been profoundly affected by his sister's death.

Saget wanted everyone to understand the disease she had.

So, for hope was created

as a way to initiate

that conversation and educate people about scaraderma.

This condition causes the hardening

and tightening of the skin

and internal tissues due to excessive collagen production.

The movie when it premiered was heavily watched, topping the Neielson ratings,

and viewers rated the film highly.

It was successful on all fronts in terms of metrics,

garnering greater awareness and showcasing Saget's skill as a director.

In 1998, he went on to direct his first feature film starring Nor McDonald

and Arty Lang titled Dirty Work.

It was not wellreceived critically or at the box office.

However, it has since become a cult classic due in part to Arty Lang's

success on the Howard Stern Show.

The years following Saget's directorial debut were relatively quiet on screen with his focus

largely shifting to his stand-up work.

It was a period of reinvention for Saget.

However, despite this reinvention,

he'd returned to network television to play a role not far from his turn

as Danny Tanner.

Saget and the networks were hoping to capture Lightning in a Bottle twice.

The results perhaps not what they expected.

The early 2000s were a weird time for TV in general.

They also weren't the easiest years for Saget.

On the one hand, he was this slightly edgy comedian,

but to millions who'd tune in every week for eight seasons of Full House,

where he played the lovable single dad Danny Tanner,

he was still the gold standard for television fathers.

So, it's no surprise

that Saget and the networks were looking to capitalize on this image in popularity.

Through these ideals and desires, his next sitcom, Raising Dad, would be born.

The show starred Saget playing yet another single dad with his two daughters,

played by a young Cat Dennings and Brie Larson.

While Full House closed to an audience of nearly 25 million viewers,

Raising Dad opened to just over 4.5 million

and never surpassed its week 1 numbers.

While the show ultimately received a full season order of 22 episodes,

which was standard for sitcoms at the time, it was cancelled in early 2002.

Reviews for the show weren't necessarily negative, but instead muted.

The show didn't have the same comedic presence or charm that Full House did.

Nobody could separate Saget from Danny Tanner, making his show a hard cell.

Following Raising Dad, Saget had numerous small roles in films

and TV shows over the years.

Then over three years after his failed TV return,

Saget landed another iconic role

and this time it was his voice

that was the star.

It was 2005 and a new sitcom was coming to TV

and Saget was going to use his powers

as a TV dad in a new

and exciting way.

He provided the narration for a little show called How I Met Your Mother,

playing older Ted Mosby

as he recounts the tales of his 20s to his two children.

It's unclear if anyone knew at the time

that the show would go on to be a massive success,

lasting nine seasons and 208 episodes, but for every episode for 9 years,

Saget's voice was there.

He may not have appeared on screen once in the entire series,

but everybody knew whose voice guided the story for 9 years.

>> And that kids is the true story of How I Met Your Mother.

>> What?

I'm kidding.

Today, How I Met Your Mother remains one of the most culturally significant

and relevant shows,

possibly even surpassing Saget's earlier work on Full House.

Regardless, Saget had been a part of two major pieces of television history.

Three, if you include America's Funniest Home Videos,

it remains an achievement that not many can claim.

While lending his voice to How I Met Your Mother,

Saget was enjoying being the type of comedian he'd always wanted to be.

He was finding success of varying kinds in just about every avenue he wandered

down.

In 2005, he appeared in The Aristocrats, a documentary where he delivered filthy jokes,

shocking fans who didn't know Danny Tanner had a dirty mouth.

This was a turning point,

solidifying the duality of the runchy comic and America's Dad.

He continued doing standup

and in 2007 starred in his own HBO special

that Ain't Right.

Even after all this time,

people were still finding themselves shocked by the contrast between network television's Bob Saget

and The Real Deal,

the runchy live inperson no holds bar comic.

Saget also became a regular on Comedy Central roasts, podcasts,

and other edgy comedy spaces and continued to appear in numerous guest television spots,

including shows like Entourage, where he played a shocking fictionalized version of himself.

He did attempt a third sitcom return in 2009 with Surviving Suburbia,

playing a father and husband trying to survive their obnoxious neighbors.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long, airing 13 episodes and officially ending on August 7th,

4 months after its premiere on April 6th.

In 2016, Bob Saget returned to the role that put him on the map.

Netflix in the latter half of the 2010s revived Full House,

creating the sequel series Fuller House.

The show was Candace Cameron Buret's return to DJ Tanner in the role of

a widow and mother of three boys,

creating an almost gender swap version of Full House.

Saget wasn't a part of the main cast,

instead playing in a recurring capacity

and appearing a total of 15 times in the show's 75 episode run from

2016 to 2020.

In 2020, he launched his podcast, Bob Saget's Here for You,

which ran for 41 episodes and featured high-profile guests such as John Ham,

Nicole Kulkin, and Tiffany Hattish, among others.

On the personal front, he continued his advocacy for the Scaraderma Research Foundation.

In 2018, he married Kelly Rizzo.

The two started dating in 2015

when Saget slid into her DMs after he'd asked her mutual friends about her.

While he'd stated he'd never get married again,

he proposed to Rizzo in November 2017.

The two married less than a year later.

The two would remain happily married until 2022 when tragedy struck.

Unlike so many comedic legends,

Bob Saget's death wasn't brought on by an illicit substance,

health issues from substance abuse, or even taking his own life.

Instead, his end was accidental.

While in Orange County, Florida, Saget was staying at the Ritz Carlton near Williamsburg.

He'd performed in Ponte Vedra Beach the previous evening for his stand-up tour,

I Don't Do Negative.

At 4 p.m. on January 9th, 2022,

Saget was found dead in his room, having died in his sleep.

The autopsy confirmed that his death was the result of blunt head trauma caused

by an accidental blow to the back of his head.

It was likely the result of a fall, although nobody can be sure.

As a result of the blunt head trauma,

Saget likely suffered a subacoid hemorrhage and subdural hematoma,

causing him to die in his sleep,

which is the same thing that killed Akira Toriyama, the subdural hematoma.

That is at the time of his death.

He was also found to have had COVID 19,

which coroners confirmed did not appear to play a part in Bob Saget's death.

On January 14th, a little under a month before the autopsy would be released.

On February 9th, a funeral for Saget was held at Mount Sinai Memorial Park

Cemetery.

He was buried near the graves of his parents and sister.

His gravestone reads, "He brought people together and made them laugh.

A very great man."

Following the release of the autopsy,

the Saget family sued to prevent further documents from coming out from the investigation

into his death.

They were concerned that the graphic content presented privacy violations.

By March 14th, a permanent injunction was issued prohibiting the release of further documents.

His final words may be unknown,

but he did post to social media before his death saying,

"I had no idea I did a 2-hour set tonight.

I'm happily addicted again to this."

He died not long after finding the joy in what he was doing all

over again.

There's no denying that Bob Saget was an incredibly beloved actor and comedian.

His role in Full House is his major claim to fame.

And combined with his work on How I Met Your Mother

and as host of America's Funniest Home Videos,

it's what he will likely be remembered for as long as he is remembered.

Saget fully enjoyed both sides of his Jackal and Hyde comedy routines,

and millions loved him for it.

Whether they were drawn to his wholesome dad persona

or wanted to laugh at his off-the-cuff humor,

he was always able to find his audience.

In 2014, he wrote his book Dirty Daddy:

The Chronicles of a Family Man turned filthy comedian.

From the first page,

you'll find that a dirty sense of humor is unbelievably present.

Regardless of the reason you love Bob Saget, and there are many,

his legacy remains one of fascination.

A man who played both roles, clean and dirty, with such ease,

you didn't know which came more naturally.

While his end was sudden and tragic,

his career lives on through reruns of his shows, old episodes of his podcast,

clips of his comedy,

as well as his important philanthropic work in honor of his sister.

Bob Saget wasn't a complicated man.

He loved being many different things to many different people.

Whether you loved him cleancut on television or uncut and filthy on stage,

he was the everyman's entertainer.

I hope you learned something today.

And if you enjoyed this video, be sure to deploy your likes,

comment a historical figure we haven't covered yet, subscribe, and ring that bell,

and share this video with someone who loves learning about history's most important people.

I'm Eric Malikite, and we'll see you next time.