I got your respect, right here!

November 1, 2004 2:32 PM

For the past three years I have kept in my sock drawer a mini-cassette recording of 20 of the weirdest minutes of my life. It was a phone conversation with Rodney Dangerfield. I promised myself I'd write about it after Rodney died, as a way of, you know, not paying my respects.
posted by Wet Spot (16 comments total)

That's magnificent! Thank you for sharing!
posted by ba at 3:03 PM on November 1, 2004

Although he is perhaps the epitome of unfunny in Full House and America's Funniest, Bob Saget's stand-up is hilarious. He is a filthy, filthy man. After reading that article, I can definitely see Rodney's influence on his stand-up.
posted by keswick at 3:04 PM on November 1, 2004

Yeah, the whole good-guy persona is just Bob Saget's devious and underhanded attempt to milk hollywood for money, which he did quite successfully. I remember being pleasantly shocked when I saw him outside of such an environment.

He was also pretty funny when he appeared on the Jamie Kennedy Experiment.
posted by The God Complex at 3:09 PM on November 1, 2004

If those were the weirdest 20 minutes of his life, well, the fella's got some living to do.
posted by picea at 3:10 PM on November 1, 2004

Could have saved me a few minutes by noting this is a Bob Saget Brand post. Bob Saget is on the list of people I will not pay attention to. Actually, he's the first name on the list.

Full House was an abomination against nature. And America's Funniest Home Videos should have been called Lame Ass Voiceovers of People Getting Hit in the Balls by Children.
posted by fenriq at 3:50 PM on November 1, 2004

He is a filthy, filthy man.

My illusions of Saget were forever shattered by seeing Half-Baked for the first time.

"HAVE YOU EVER SUCKED DICK FOR POT? I SUCKED DICK FOR COKE, MAN!!!"

Great post. I miss Rodney. :'<
posted by WolfDaddy at 3:59 PM on November 1, 2004

Either this one went over my head or under my radar: what's so remarkable about the audio sample? Rodney reads a few of the jokes, and you can't hear the responses. Is it just that Rodney Dangerfield was friends with Bob Saget? Is that the remarkable thing?
posted by arielmeadow at 4:25 PM on November 1, 2004

Rodney: "I don't get no respect. Bob Saget is my friend.
posted by thomcatspike at 4:26 PM on November 1, 2004

Agreed, the audio is pointless, because it sounds like Rodney's getting no response from Sagat and falling flat. But I think it's really just that he's way closer to the phone.
posted by smackfu at 4:43 PM on November 1, 2004

America's Unfunniest Home Audio.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:10 PM on November 1, 2004

i think the point is that Rodney wasn't funny? it's hard to tell. i'd disagree. the writer seems to be disparaging *something* about RD, but to most of us, it seems like a normal conversation with a funny old guy using C material.

i have no comment on Back to School and Ladybugs. none whatsoever.

and what picea said.
posted by mrgrimm at 5:47 PM on November 1, 2004

The writer wasn't disparaging Dangerfield at all -- he said he was "not paying my respects" as a homage to the comedian.

I think that 20 minutes was only weird if you didn't know Bob Saget was a foul-mouthed (and quite funny) foul-mouthed stand-up outside of his TV shows.
posted by rcade at 6:31 PM on November 1, 2004

Late entry on this one... I never thought Saget was all that foul-mouthed, but then, I only saw him back in the early '80s on HBO, Showtime et al. I did think he was kind of disturbing though. In an interesting, amusing way. I recall his schtick mostly being about being such a strange child that no one would associate with him. Ever. Even his own family. (AFAIK, he's where Ellen DeGeneris stole her "... and I'm not your mother" punchline from.)

And "abomination" really is a pretty good description of Full House, s'true....
posted by lodurr at 5:23 AM on November 2, 2004

It's a cute story. It's worthwhile because it shows the kind of humor Dangerfield enjoyed and the kind he rejected. It also shows how important nuance is in his particular style of entertainment. And the author does disparage Bob Saget for you Saget-despisers in this thread.
posted by stevis at 6:10 AM on November 2, 2004

should have been called Lame Ass Voiceovers of People Getting Hit in the Balls by Children.

Someone, and I've forgotten who, got me started calling it the "The Bob Saget Take It In The Nuts Cavalcade". Even with Bob gone, that's still how I refer to it.
posted by dejah420 at 4:46 PM on November 2, 2004

Oh, balls...I dunno how the bold tag got in there. sorry.
posted by dejah420 at 4:47 PM on November 2, 2004