”I love my parents . . . and you can too for $47. No, that was a horrible thing to say. No, that was easy-and so was my mother, and that`s why I`m here.”
That`s a pretty tasteless joke, right? And yet, delivering the punchline is someone who is probably thought of as one of the most squeaky-clean guys on television today: Bob Saget.
That`s right. Wholesome, clean-conscious Danny Tanner on ABC`s hit family show ”Full House” (7 p.m. Fridays, WLS-Ch. 7)-not to mention the genial, wisecracking host of monster hit ”America`s Funniest Home Videos” (7 p.m. Sundays)-talking about his own mother in such a suggestive way.
But viewers will be seeing a totally different side of Saget when his HBO comedy special, ”Bob Saget-In the Dream State,” premieres at 9:30 p.m. Saturday. And be warned: Danny Tanner is nowhere in sight.
”There`s some of (Danny Tanner) in it, but not really,” Saget said.
”It`s really the me I am. `The me I am said Sam-I-Am`-`Green Eggs and Ham`
is in the show.”
That`s the real Bob Saget. A standup comedian since 1978, his stream-of-consciousness humor has been known to those who have watched him perform in comedy clubs across the country. But he is also known for doing an act that he labels ”PG-13.”
Bob ”Dice” Saget, he`s not.
The HBO special is full of ”innuendo and . . . I get a little gross in some of my comedy because I`m Bob,” Saget said. ”It`s not R-rated for sure. It`s kind of a `thirtysomething` meets my standup.”
One part of the 34-year-old comedian that people will see is ”the fast-talking, insane guy who free-associates and gets a little, not raunchy, but gets a little suggestive . . . I don`t even get suggestive. I just say what I think is funny.”
”In the Dream State” was written by Saget and his wife, Sherri (”It was my wife`s idea. She`s a genius”). Saget also directed it.
The standup portion is sandwiched between scripted segments that involve Saget trying to get some sleep before taping a special. He`s either kept awake by his two young daughters, or he has a series of dreams involving his daughters and parents. He even has an out-of-body experience.
In the special, ”I`m the dad that I`m not on `Full House,` ” Saget said in an interview on the Los Angeles set of ”Full House.” ”I`m more like what I would like my dad to be on `Full House.` Danny is sometimes too Goober-y for my taste. I`d like to make him a little hipper.”
The basic themes of ”In the Dream State” mirror Saget`s standup routines, which are skewered reflections on his family life. Noting that his 6-month-old wears a pink headband, Saget says his 3-year-old ”loves it because it`s basically a slingshot for the baby. She soars against the wall and slides down . . . and we got it on videotape.”
Saget admits that people may be put off by some of his humor.
”I was allowed freedom, and I didn`t misuse it,” Saget said. ”I didn`t go and make a dirty special because, yeah, I do laugh at dirty stuff, but that`s in the privacy of my own life.”
(Indeed, Saget is known by those in the business as loving to tell really raunchy jokes. And don`t get him started on grandmothers.)
But with two hit television shows, one has to wonder if Saget worries about overexposure. So much has been written about ”America`s Funniest Home Videos” alone that people might not want want to watch any more of him.
”Yes, I`m overexposed. Yes, I`m on TV a lot. Yes, it`s affording me to pay for my (two) daughters` weddings in the future,” Saget said. ”But I am seeking press so people will watch this HBO show, because they`re seeing me in a different way.
”It`s a different kind of exposure. Some people might not like it, because it isn`t the G-rated guy who doesn`t say anything with an edge. This has an edge to it.”
Saget, however, perhaps is most proud of his directing and writing skills. He studied film at Temple University, where he won a student Academy Award for a documentary.
”Directing is the happiest time I`ve ever had,” Saget said. ”I think it`s what I want to do. I really think it`s what I`m meant to do. I had more fun and more energy doing that than anything else I`ve ever done.”
