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Bob Saget, Behind The Velvet Rope TV

Bob Saget, AFHV's first host

Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 - January 9, 2022) was an actor, comedian, and television host. He was the actor who played the role of Danny Tanner on the ABC series, Full House and its sequel Fuller House. He also provided the voice of the future Ted Mosby on the CBS comedy series, How I Met Your Mother. On top of this, he was also known for his adult-oriented stand-up comedy.

For America's Funniest Home Videos, he hosted the show for the first 8 seasons, from the pilot episode premiere in 1989, until leaving the show in 1997. Afterwards, he would occasionally return to the series for special cameos such as the show's 20th anniversary special. He would eventually return as the host for an AFV-based spinoff series in 2019, titled Videos After Dark, a series meant to showcase clips that were not considered suitable for the original show, however, after the show's premiere in March, no more episodes were ever broadcast.

Career[]

Following a short stint as a member of CBS' The Morning Program in early 1987, Saget was cast as Danny Tanner in Full House, which became a success with family viewers, and landed in the Nielsen ratings' Top 30 beginning with season three.

In 1989, Saget began as the original host of America's Funniest Home Videos, a role he held until 1997. During the early 1990s, Saget worked on both Full House and AFV simultaneously. Preceding his final episode, six of his fellow Full House alumni co-stars made guest appearances (John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Lori Loughlin, and Andrea Barber). He made a special guest appearance on the show in 2009 to celebrate its 20th anniversary and even did his voice interjections (as heard in the clips).

After Full House ended, Bob continued to do various projects, including directing the 1996 ABC TV movie For Hope, which was inspired by the real-life story of his sister, Gay Saget, who passed away from scleroderma three years earlier. He also directed his first feature film, Dirty Work, in 1998. During that same year, Bob portrayed the role of a cocaine addict in the movie, Half Baked.

It was during this time when Saget began to grow tired of the repetitive format from AFHV (as it was called back then) and was eager to fully pursue on other projects. The show's producer, Vin Di Bona, held him to his contract, resulting in a frustrated Bob listlessly going through the motions, constantly getting out of character and making pointed remarks on the air during his last two seasons. Saget's contract expired in May 1997 and he decided to leave the show afterward. However, according to Vin Di Bona, the producers nonetheless felt an entire renovation (including a change of hosts) was needed for AFHV as a result of ABC going through a change of leadership (since ABC's ownership transitioned from Capital Cities to the Walt Disney Company in 1996).

In 2001, Saget starred on the WB series, Raising Dad, where he portrayed the role of a widowed dad raising two daughters on his own. The show was canceled after one season. Bob has guest-starred on TV shows such as Huff and Listen Up. In April 2009, Saget starred on another short-lived television series, Surviving Suburbia, on ABC. The show was canceled on August of that same year due to low ratings. Bob was also the director, writer, producer, and voice on the 2007 direct-to-video movie, Farce of the Penguins.

In 2014, his book Dirty Daddy was released, in which he writes about his career, comedy influences, and experiences with life and death. He embarked on a small tour in support of the book, including the Pemberton Music Festival, where he introduced Snoop Dogg prior to performing his own set. In the same year, he toured Australia for the first time with a stand-up show called Bob Saget Live: The Dirty Daddy Tour. The show was performed in the major cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth. In 2015 and 2016, he guest-starred in two episodes of Grandfathered, starring and produced by his Full House co-star John Stamos. From 2016 to 2020, Saget reprised his role as Danny Tanner for fifteen episodes of Full House's sequel series, Fuller House, including the series premiere and finale. In 2017, he released another stand-up special, Bob Saget: Zero to Sixty. In 2019, he was announced as host of ABC's Videos After Dark. Saget also hosted the game show Nashville Squares on CMT, and made his first of three appearances as a panelist on To Tell the Truth. In 2020, Saget competed in season four of The Masked Singer as "Squiggly Monster". Saget also launched a podcast titled Bob Saget's Here for You with Studio71. Its 130th and final episode, with comedian Dane Cook, was released posthumously on January 31, 2022. He would also make an appearance on Nikki Glaser's E! series Welcome Home Nikki Glaser in an episode that aired on June 5, 2022.

Stand-up comedy[]

In his book Dirty Daddy: The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian (2014), he mentions that he started doing stand-up comedy at the age of 17. His first talk show appearance was in 1981 on Template:WL. He is known for his very vulgar sense of humor. While on the set of Full House, he would often say inappropriate things on set in front of Candace Cameron, Jodie Sweetin, and the Olsen twins. Some of the parents got angry with him about this, and there came a point where Bob had to be more careful about what he said, especially in front of the kids. His TV daughters have stated in interviews that they vividly remember his wild sense of humor. After the series ended, sometimes he has toured on the stand-up circuit with co-star Dave Coulier (who he knew years before the show began). He frequently parodies his "Danny Tanner" character in his stand-up routine.

Personal life[]

Saget was married to Sherri Kramer from May 1982 to November 1997. Together, they have three daughters: twins Aubrey & Lara (born in 1989) and Jennifer (born in 1992). He was later married to television presenter Kelly Rizzo from 2018 until his death in 2022

Saget was the son of Dolly (who died in 2014) and Benjamin M. Saget (who died in 2007). He had two other siblings who died in childbirth. His sister, Andrea died of an aneurysm at the age of 34. His sister, Gay, died of scleroderma at the age of 47. Bob is a board member of the Scleroderma Research Foundation.

Death[]

Saget performed a stand-up show in Jacksonville, Florida on the evening of January 8, 2022. The following afternoon, on January 9, he was found unresponsive at a Ritz-Carlton hotel in Orange County, Florida at around 4 P.M. EST. Upon the arrival of emergency responders shortly thereafter, he was pronounced dead. The cause of death was not immediately present, but no prior drug and alcohol use or foul play could be detected. The investigation into his death, which concluded on February 9, 2022, found that Saget suffered an accidental head injury that was not treated prior to him falling asleep on the night of January 8. Saget died during his sleep as a result of the head trauma.

News of Saget's death broke during a broadcast of America's Funniest Home Videos, of which he was the original host, and ABC interrupted the program to announce it. A tribute video was soon posted on the show's official YouTube channel, and thereafter, a dedication to Saget was added before the credits of the following episode. Clips of Saget's hosting of the show were then run from January 16 to the end of season 32 on America's Funniest Home Videos as tribute for his lasting impact on the show.

Following the announcement of his death to the public, numerous tributes poured in from celebrity friends of Saget. John Stamos, a co-star of Saget's from Full House, released a statement on Twitter, writing that he was "broken," "gutted," and "in complete and utter shock." Tom Bergeron, who hosted America's Funniest Home Videos following the departure of Saget, as well as that of John Fuglesang and Daisy Fuentes, wrote that they were all "devastated," and that they would dearly miss him. Additionally, Bergeron shared a clip from his own final episode (Season 25, Episode 23), in which Saget made a special guest appearance.

Filmography[]

Year Film Role Notes
1978 Make Me Laugh Himself
1979 Outer Touch Voice of Wurlitzer Voice/Writer
1980 Devices Therapy Patient
1981 Full High Moon Sportscaster
Bosom Buddies Bob the Comic Episode: "The Show Must Go On"
1983 The Greatest American Hero Cook Episode: "Wizards and Warlocks"
1985 New Love, American Style Comedy Vignettes 4 episodes
1986 It's a Living Dr. Bartlett Episode: "The Doctor Danny Show"
1987 Critical Condition Dr. Joffe
1987–95 Full House Danny Tanner 192 episodes
1989–97 America's Funniest Home Videos Himself/host 191 episodes, plus guest-hosted 1 episode in 2009
1989 MMC Himself Episode: "Guest Day"
1992 Quantum Leap Macklyn 'Mack' MacKay Episode: "Stand Up - April 30, 1959"
1993 For Goodness Sake Surgeon
1994 Father and Scout Spencer Paley TV film; also executive producer
1997 Meet Wally Sparks Reporter #4
2000 The Norm Show Mr. Atkitson Episode: "Norm vs. Schoolin'"; also director
2001–02 Raising Dad Matt Stewart 17 episodes
2003 Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd Jessica's Dad
2004 Huff Butch Episode: "Flashpants"
2005 Listen Up Mitch Coach Potato
Madagascar Zoo Animal Voice role
The Aristocrats Himself Documentary
2005–14 How I Met Your Mother Ted Mosby (2030) Voice-over; 206 episodes
2006 Casper's Scare School Dash Voice; TV film
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Glenn Cheales Episode: "Choreographed"
2006–08 1 vs. 100 Himself/host 28 episodes
2007 Farce of the Penguins Carl (voice) Direct-to-video; also writer, director and producer
Howard Stern on Demand Himself Episode: "Brad Garrett"
The Tuttles: Madcap Misadventures Barry Tuttle Video game
2008 The Life & Times of Tim Tim's Cincinnati Partner Voice; episode: "Mugger/Cin City"
2009 Surviving Suburbia Steve Patterson 13 episodes
2010 Conan Himself Episode: "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Dead Fish"
Strange Days with Bob Saget Himself/host 6 episodes
2011 Law & Order: LA Adam Brennan Episode: "Van Nuys"
2016–20 Fuller House Danny Tanner Recurring role
2019 Videos After Dark Himself/host 2 episodes
2019 Nashville Squares Himself/host
2020 The Masked Singer The Squiggly Montser/Himself 2 episodes

Trivia[]

  • Height: 6' 4"
  • In 2006, comedian Jamie Kennedy released a rap song called "Rollin' with Saget" (Bob appeared in the music video as himself)
  • Bob Saget...
    • ...is a graduate of Abington Senior High School in Abington, Pennsylvania
    • ...studied at USC's film school for three days
    • ...was overweight when he was 22 until a gangrenous appendix was taken out
    • ...attended Temple University and performed in a sketch comedy group there
    • ...was the winning bachelor when he made his appearance on The Dating Game in 1979
    • ...won a "Student Academy Award" in 1977 for his documentary, Through Adam's Eyes
    • ...originally wanted to be a doctor, but his honors English high school teacher saw his creative potential and urged Bob to seek a career in performing
    • ...has appeared (along with Dave Coulier and John Stamos) in a series of commercials for Dannon Oikos (a line of Greek yogurt)
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