The David Steinberg Show
21 Hilarious Episodes On 4 Discs!
The funniest moments at The David Steinberg Show all happened behind the scenes. Every week Steinberg shared the stage with a different celebrity guest who was thrown into the show's backstage antics. Meanwhile, Vinnie DeMilo (Bill Saluga) served up laughs at the "Hello Deli" across the street and when nobody was expecting it, his cousin Raymond J. Johnson Jr. stopped by to steal the spotlight.
Other regulars on the show included singer Johnny Del Bravo (Martin Short), hippie musician Spider Reichman (John Candy) and other stars from SCTV like Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas and Andrea Martin.
Featuring Celebrity Guests:
Jon Voight
Milton Berle
Ed McMahon
Adrienne Barbeau
Tommy Smothers
Robert Vaughn
Ethel Merman
Bill Macy
Conrad Bain
Scatman Crothers
Rip Taylor
Michele Lee
James Coco
and more...
Member Reviews
Good Talent Wasted on Poor Writing - newdaysof
David Steinberg is a funny and talented comedian, but his show flopped because of poor comedy writing.
Each show featured stars and comedians and was an early showcase for up and coming talent. Before their SCTV days, John Candy, Martin Short, Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty appeared as regulars on Steinberg's show and it is interesting to seem them all before they hit it big. John Candy has a lisp!
David's guests are a who's who of comedians and stars of the times, but the skits and gags are just plain awful - not funny, silly, childish, moronic and extremely boring. If only they had some good comedy writers, the show could have been a smash hit.
It is still interesting to watch the show to get a snapshot of 70's TV-land with a Canadian slant, since the show was produced in Toronto.David Steinberg Show Worthwhile Only as a Canadian Curiousity - TheShamus
David Steinberg had over 160 appearances on the Tonight Show and was reportedly one of the most popular Stand Up comedians in the late 1960's. This was a variety style show, with a new guest host (usually B-list or C-list celebrities) who spent about 2 or 3 minutes on screen.
This show was produced 1976 by the CTV network in Toronto. Many of the bit players would go on to become well known SCTV names such as Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas and John Candy. Some of the characters they play are also similar to the characters they would play on SCTV.
The production values for Canadian TV at that time were pretty good. The show was never very successful, but was syndicated into the American market. The "Larry Sanders Show" is extremely similar in format, so it would be interesting to know how much influence there was.
Both Bill Soluga (features on the show) and David Steinberg would go on to direct episodes of FRIENDS, SEINFELD, GOLDEN GIRLS, EVENING SHADE, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and more. Steinberg is an early influence on the "observational comedy" movement.
I liked watching the series ... but you might not have to rent all 4 discs to get the idea. The early episodes do not have many supporting characters ... while the later episodes (disc 2 and onward) are more like watching a sitcom.
Most of the jokes are not funny any longer except for some peices of Steinberg's monologue -- but there are plenty of, "Ah Ha" moments as you recognize characters who will later become well known. One episode even has an appearance by pro-wrestler, "Dewey Robertson" (aka The Missing Link).
If you are interested in this kind of stuff, it is worth a ZIP.
/\/\/\/\ the Shamus /\/\/\/\
Member Reviews
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Good Talent Wasted on Poor Writing - newdaysof
David Steinberg is a funny and talented comedian, but his show flopped because of poor comedy writing.
Each show featured stars and comedians and was an early showcase for up and coming talent. Before their SCTV days, John Candy, Martin Short, Dave ...David Steinberg Show Worthwhile Only as a Canadian Curiousity - TheShamus
David Steinberg had over 160 appearances on the Tonight Show and was reportedly one of the most popular Stand Up comedians in the late 1960's. This was a variety style show, with a new guest host (usually B-list or C-list celebrities) who spent about 2 or ...