Remembering Bob Saget
I was born in 1991, at the height of Full House’s popularity. The show was on every day at my house. I think of it as the show that calibrated my sense of being. Watching Full House is my television equivalent of the fetal position. Before I understood what TV versus reality was, I loved and accepted the Tanners as my family. I grew up in a single-parent household with a real-life mom, plus three dads that lived on TV, and who I looked forward to seeing four times a day, every day (thanks to the wonder of syndication). Of my three ‘dads’ on Full House, Danny was the ‘dad-est.’ I had too much of a crush on Uncle Jesse, and Joey was more of a fun uncle, but Danny… he was a dad. He was a dad for all of us.
Bob described Danny Tanner as the “straight man” in Full House. I wouldn’t exactly go that far, as about 75% of the time Danny was a corny, silly, goofball. However, I do understand what Bob meant. Danny wasn’t the one bringing in the big laughs. Jesse and Joey had that sort of Martin and Lewis chemistry that made them a perfect comic duo, and more often than not Danny was someone for those two to laugh at together. But that isn’t the real value that Danny Tanner brought to the show. Danny embodied the epitome of fatherhood. From his insistence on videotaping every little milestone of his kids’ lives to his classic ‘dad talks’ accompanied with those wonderful saccharine heartstrings that would kick in at just the right moment, Danny Tanner was a devoted father who loved his family more than anything else in the world. His constant presence was deeply meaningful, not just for kids without fathers, but any kid whose dad couldn’t be around quite as much as they would have liked (as most parents don’t have a workday that seems to start at 8 AM and ends at noon). The most wonderful thing about Danny was the genuine care that you could feel in the character, and if you’ve seen the unaired original pilot of the show in which they had an alternate actor playing the role, you know that so much of Danny’s charm came from Bob himself. My favorite thing about his performance were those moments when he’d have to deliver a truly corny line (and there were many). Bob had this way of performing them with just a dash of reluctance and a slight chuckle, as if Danny was thinking, ‘I can’t believe my mind comes up with these crappy jokes.’ I always felt like in those moments Bob was taking the bullet for the writers. Both genius and generous.
Bob Saget and Jodie Sweetin sharing one of many hugs on Full House.
But let’s not forget that Bob’s influence in the ‘90s stretched beyond Full House. From 1989-1997 he was the host of America’s Funniest Home Videos. From what I’ve heard, it sounds like Bob went through all of the submitted tapes with the production team to select the videos that were shown on the program, as well as coming up with the voice-over jokes that accompanied the videos. I can’t imagine how exhausting this must have been on top of Full House, but you would never know it from the energy he brought to everything he did. For us fans, we were lucky enough to see him on television pretty consistently on the weekdays. I must admit, I don’t have a lot to say about his stand-up. I saw him as a guest host on a late-night show a few years after Full House’s cancellation, and it was just so jarring hearing Danny Tanner talk that way. He was my dad, after all! I know that family man image must have been a frustration for him, as his stand-up career predated his time on family television. Nonetheless, I know Bob has a huge stand-up audience that is mourning him just as strongly.
In April of 2020, as the pandemic was worsening and many were in isolation, Bob launched his podcast, Bob Saget Is Here for You, which had continued up until this week. For quite a while, episodes of the show were released nearly every other day, a huge influx of new content for stir-crazy people at home with nothing better to do. Episodes involved Bob doing some off-the-cuff ramblings, which combined his signature raunchy humor with personal anecdotes. In many episodes, he was eventually joined by a special guest, be it one of his daughters, a comedian friend, a Full House co-worker, or any other person of note that Bob had an 'in' with. He was a very popular guy. The biggest deal about Bob Saget Is Here for You was that Bob would solicit questions from his fans, whom he would call during the recording of an episode and have a lengthy discussion with them. He would answer their Full House questions, talk stand-up comedy, or chat with people about their problems. Whatever they wanted. Whenever he spoke to a fan on the show, he was completely invested in that person, and would always sort of interview them as well, asking about their lives and how they were getting along in the pandemic. While I wasn’t on the show myself, I did call the podcast number to send in a question once, and even ended my message by jokingly saying “You’re my dad, bye.” While we never got the opportunity to talk one-on-one, I’m so glad that I was able to say that to him, even if it probably just weirded him out.
From what his friends and fans have said about him over the past couple of days, and based on the things he’s done and said throughout his career, Bob Saget seems to have been a genuinely great person. We were so lucky to have him as a dad. I know I’m going to savor every episode I haven’t yet heard of his podcast, and I’ll be truly sad when I’m through. Let’s all dust our bookshelves for Danny, and if you’d like to do something for Bob, some have suggested donating to the Scleroderma Foundation in his, or his sister Gay’s, name. (Bob lost his sister to the disease and it’s a cause that was close to his heart.) If you want a cost-free way to honor Bob, maybe tell someone a dirty joke followed by a genuine “I love you.” It’s what Bob would have done.
Copyright © 2022 Bailey Lizotte Clark
