Saget Resurrected

There's a Website dedicated to proving Bob Saget is God. That argument could have been made in the Eighties, when he simultaneously starred as everyone's favorite father figure on the saccharine family sitcom Full House, and the goofy and charming host of America's Funniest Home Videos. Before the cameras, Saget bit his tongue behind an angelic smile. But his stand-up comedy routines expressed decidedly devilish, raunchy humor. "My stand-up has always been edgy. It's like a workout for me. The nicest compliment, which is also the worst compliment, is when people tell me, 'You know, I never thought you were funny. Now I think you're hilarious,'" says Saget.

"On Full House, I played the neutered guy. On America's Funniest Home Videos, the jokes were goober jokes. You can only roll your eyes so much to the lens, and like, pantomime help me," the comedian protests. "But I'm happy that I did those shows. I wouldn't be doing what I'm able to do now. Rolling Stone is following me around next week. I had a photo shoot in Esquire recently. It's a new seventeen minutes," he says.

It took a cameo as a cocksucking cokehead in the stoner cult classic Half Baked to shake up his clean-cut image. Saget kept busy behind the scenes as a writer, director, and producer for films like Dirty Work, the gleefully filthy comedy featuring Norm McDonald. In terms of television work, he became more selective: "I've been offered a lot of reality stuff, game show stuff. I didn't want to do it. But right now, I love acting again."

Saget's recent stint as the obnoxious neighbor in HBO's Entourage brought him fresh attention, along with an eyebrow-raising appearance in The Aristocrats, which he laughingly describes as "a beautiful family film." Now those who missed the halcyon days when Bob Saget ruled the tube can look forward to his latest project, a sitcom for HBO that finds him starring as a gynecologist struggling to find love and raise his teenage son. "This is the career I always wanted but I wasn't ready for. I was always too nice a guy, and I didn't want to say no to the boss man. I've changed so much and been through so much," he explains. Like his Hollywood career, Bob Saget's stand-up routine has matured. But not that much. He jokes about life, love, relationships, his image, and his career. Then he busts out a couple of comedy songs. "I do 'Danny Tanner Was Not Gay' to the tune of the Backstreet Boys' 'I Want It That Way.' It's a slam dunk," he laughs.

In defense of the Saget Is God theory, despite his lewd humor, Saget continues to earn his halo by working tirelessly for the Scleroderma Research Foundation to find a cure for the degenerative disease that took his sister's life. His company is named Two Angels Productions, in memory of his sister and another sibling he lost. Like the contrast between his onscreen and stand-up comedy images, Saget straddles naughty and nice with aplomb and good humor.