March 28, 2017
“Full House, mom’s dead, let’s party,” is how Jay Leno joked about the sitcom, which featured Bob Saget a generation ago.
“That was hilarious,” Saget said while calling from his Los Angeles home.
“Jay is unbelievable. I loved doing 'Full House.'"
Saget received some grief back in the day from pundits for starring in the squeaky clean show by day, while delivering raunchy stand-up by night.
“I led a double life and I don’t regret a minute of it,” Saget said.
“I would be a moron to regret doing that show or hosting ‘America’s Funniest Videos.’ Those shows paid a lot of bills. I was on each of those shows for eight years.”
There was a misconception that Saget got sick of playing straight-as-an-arrow dad Danny Tanner on “Full House.”
“Some people think I was (upset), but I wasn’t,” Saget said.
“I remember one time going home to Philadelphia to pick up an award for being a big Jew. As I was walking down to get my award, a gossip columnist said that it must be frustrating doing ‘Full House.’ And I said, ‘it’s frustrating since I’m this really funny guy, who can do so much more, but it’s a gift to be on a show like this.’ The part about it being a gift didn’t make the paper. That’s how it went when I went back to Philadelphia.”
"As I was walking down to get my award, a gossip columnist said that it must be frustrating doing ‘Full House.’ And I said, ‘it’s frustrating since I’m this really funny guy, who can do so much more, but it’s a gift to be on a show like this.’ The part about it being a gift didn’t make the paper. That’s how it went when I went back to Philadelphia.”
Saget will return to Philadelphia Wednesday to play host at Temple University’s School of Media and Communication, which will be renamed the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication.
“I’m more than happy to honor Lew,” Saget said.
“He’s a lovely man. I owe so much to him and Temple.”
On Thursday, he'll headline the Keswick Theater.
“I always love going back to the Keswick since it’s like going down memory lane,” Saget said.
“I grew up five minutes from the theater."
Saget, who was the narrator of the long-running sitcom, “How I Met Your Mother,” and the director of the cult comedy flick “Dirty Work” is writing, directing and starring in the forthcoming film, “Jake.” Saget also appears on “Fuller House,” which features his daughters from “Full House,” who are now adults.
“It just keeps continuing for me,” Saget said.
“It’s been an amazing ride. The coolest thing is that I get to work with my 'Full House' family again.”
Saget says he hopes to be cracking wise for years. He looks at his old friend, the late Rodney Dangerfield, for inspiration. The bug-eyed comic didn’t hit until he was 59.
“That’s how old he was when he starred in ‘Caddyshack,’" Saget said.
“So I look at it that I still have a lot of career left.”
"Rodney [Dangerfield] excused himself and my daughter told me that he was in the family room smoking pot. He was one-of-a-kind. He did whatever he wanted to do.”
Saget laughs when asked to drop Dangerfield anecdotes.
“He was over for dinner with my family and my mother was a very straight person,” Saget said.
“Rodney excused himself and my daughter told me that he was in the family room smoking pot. He was one-of-a-kind. He did whatever he wanted to do.”
The same can be said for Saget, who has his own style and the ability to call his own shots.
“Doing it my way is critical to what I do,” Saget said.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with how everything has worked out with my career.”
For more information on Saget's show Thursday at the Keswick, click here.
