Bob Saget

Robert Lane “Bob” Saget (born May 17, 1956) is an American actor, stand-up comedian,television host, and filmmaker. Although he is best known for his past roles in the family-oriented shows Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos, Saget is known outside of television for his starkly blue stand-up routine.^[1] He most recently starred in the ABC sitcom Surviving Suburbia.

Early life and career

Saget was born in Philadelphia. His father, Benjamin, was a supermarket executive and his mother, Rosalyn, was a hospital administrator. Saget lived in Norfolk, Virginia and Encino, California before moving back to Philadelphia and graduating from Abington Senior High School.[2][3][4] Saget originally intended to become a doctor, but his Honors English teacher, Elaine Zimmerman, saw his creative potential and urged him to seek a career in films.[1]
He enrolled at Temple University’s film school, where he created Through Adam’s Eyes, a black-and-white film about a boy who received reconstructive facial surgery. In 1978, the film was honored with an award of merit in the Student Academy Awards.[5] Saget enrolled in graduate school at the University of Southern California but quit a few days later. Saget describes himself at the time in an article by Glenn Esterly in the, Saturday Evening Post, “I was a cocky, overweight twenty-two-year-old. Then I had a gangrenous appendix taken out, almost killed myself, and I got over being cocky or overweight.” Saget talked about his burst appendix on Anytime with Bob Kushell, saying that it happened on the Fourth of July, at the UCLASS Medical Center and that they at first just iced the area for seven hours before taking it out and finding that it had become gangrenous.[6]
Saget started performing stand-up comedy and did a number of national tours. Later, in 1987, he became the co-host of The Morning Program; an attempt by CBS to take a different direction with morning television, where he also wrote and produced content for the show.
Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos

Soon after, Saget was cast as Danny Tanner in Full House, which became a huge success through family viewers and landed in the Nielsen Ratings’s Top 30 from the third season onward. In 1989, Saget was cast as the host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, which also became a smash hit. During the early 1990s, Saget was quite busy with his career, doing both Full House and AFV simultaneously. In 1995, Full House ended its run after eight years (due to increasing production costs), and Saget continued to host AFV, despite his desire to move on. In 1997, his contract finally expired, and he left the show. His former Full House cast were present at his last episode.
Continued career

Saget was also host of NBC’s game show 1 vs. 100, which debuted October 13, 2006 , and the uncredited narrator of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, that premiered on September 19, 2005.
His HBO comedy special, That Ain’t Right, came out on DVD on August 28, 2007. It is dedicated to his father, Ben Saget, who died on January 30, 2007, due to complications from congestive heart failure. He was 89.
He has had recurring roles in HBO’s “Entourage” playing a parody of himself.
Saget appeared in the Broadway musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” for a limited four-month engagement. He played, “Man in Chair,” while Jonathon Crombie, who normally played the character on Broadway, was with the national tour of the musical. On January 4, 2008, Saget’s caricature was unveiled at Sardi’s Restaurant.[7]
On August 17, 2008, Saget was roasted by Comedy Central in a special titled The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget.
In April 2009, he debuted in a new sitcom along with his co-star Cynthia Stevenson on ABC called Surviving Suburbia.[8]
Other works

Saget directed the 1996 ABC television movie, For Hope, which was inspired by the life story of his sister, Gay Saget, who died from scleroderma three years earlier.[1] Saget is currently a board member of the Scleroderma Research Foundation.
In 1998 Saget played a coke-head in the stoner-comedy classic “Half Baked”.
In 2006, Jamie Kennedy released a rap song and music video entitled Rollin’ with Saget, which featured Saget and is on his website.
Saget wrote, directed, and stars in Farce of the Penguins, a parody of 2005’s March of the Penguins, that was released direct-to-DVD, in January 2007.
Filmography and TV appearances

Surviving Suburbia (2009)
Roast of Bob Saget as guest of honor (2008)
Rove as himself. Appeared while Rove was in Los Angeles. Comedy duo Hamish and Andy visited several stars’ homes in an attempt to convince them to join their fictional gang, the “Gangaroos.” Bob was the only one to accept. (2007)
Farce of the Penguins, director (2007)
The Art of Making Cheese as host
1 vs. 100 as host
Law & Order: SVU in episode: “Choreographed”
Blowin’ Up as himself in Episode 1 (2006)
Farce of the Penguins (2006)
Army Armine (2006?)
Casper’s Scare School (2006)
How I Met Your Mother as narrator (2005–Present)
Madagascar (voice) (2005)
Entourage 2 Episodes
The Aristocrats (2005)
Huff as Butch in Episode 5 “Flashpants” (2004)
New York Minute (2004) (cameo)
Joey as himself in Episode 11 “Joey and the Roadtrip” (2004)
Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003)
Raising Dad (2001)
Becoming Dick (2000)
Half Baked (1998)
Dirty Work (1998)
Jitters (1997)
For Hope (1996)
Father and Scout (1994)
The Larry Sanders Show (1992,1994) as himself in “Hey Now” and “Office Romance”
Quantum Leap as Macklyn “Mack” MacKay in Episode 73 “Stand Up” (1992)
America’s Funniest Home Videos as host (1989–1997)
Full House (1987–1995) as Danny Tanner
Critical Condition (1987)
The Morning Program (1987)
New Love, American Style (1985)
The Greatest American Hero (1983)
Apartment Hunting (1981)
Full Moon High (1981)
Bosom Buddies (1981)
Devices (1980)
Outer Touch (1979)
Through Adam’s Eyes (1977)
References

^ a b c Contemporary Authors: Gale Reference Team (2004), Biography – Saget, Bob, Thomson Gale
^ Gurley, George (2005-05-08). “Bob Saget’s Full Mouth”. The New York Observer. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
^ “Bob Saget”. film.com. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
^ Goldberg, Jennifer (2007-09-07). “Irreverent Bob Saget plays to full houses”. Jewish News of Greater Phoenix Online. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
^ “Student Academy Awards Winners” (PDF).
^ “Anytime with Bob Kushell feat. Bob Sagat”. Anytime with Bob Kushell. 2009-04-14. No. 5, season 2.
^ Photo Coverage: Bob Saget Receives Sardi’s Portrait (BroadwayWorld.com)
^ ABC Announces New Sitcom “Surviving Suburbia”