Bob Saget's Comedy Central roast was filmed Sunday night, and the typically raunchy affair may have crossed the line a little bit. Despite being a famously foul-mouthed comedian himself, Saget is best known for playing warm and fuzzy Danny Tanner on Full House. It was because of this famous role that most of the jokes centered on two of his diminutive co-stars: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.Whether it was Gilbert Gottfried suggesting that Saget seduced the twins with chocolate milkshakes or Uncle Jesse himself, John Stamos, saying things like, "The whole time Bob and I were doing Full House, he was also hosting America's Funniest Home Videos. His entire job consisted of saying 'Take a look at this' which is what he used to say to Mary Kate in her dressing room," the subject of inappropriate relations with children was apparently a high source of comedy.
For his part, Saget says for the record that he was not happy with the turn of events, even though he may have expected it, saying, "anybody who talks about my TV kids -- that upsets me the most. I am very protective. I love them very, very much."
The male cast of Full House has always been protective of the twins, (Dave Coulier got super-pissed when Jordan Knight made some crass comments about them on The Surreal Life) so I'm kind of surprised that things seemed to get so out of hand. I'm especially surprised at John Stamos' joke about them, although from what it sounds like, the other comedians were way more raunchy.
What do you think? Are the Olsens fair game for comedy, or are jokes about having sex with girls who joined the show when they were babies just creepy?
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-06-2008 @ 10:11AM
xnifex said...
They're all grown up now, they're fair game. Hell, look at Mary-Kate's Weeds. Since she did that role, she's fair game for any & all jokes.
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 10:19AM
CR said...
Doesn't sound anything Saget hasn't already said, implied, or opened the door for during his stand-up performances.
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 10:42AM
Sam said...
Agreed. It's the kind of joke he would make at another's expense.
8-06-2008 @ 10:31AM
mosbutnotall said...
The point of a roast should surely be that the person being roasted is the target. Saget agreed to be there, he knows what he's in for. If you're going to make jokes of this nature that's up to you and any overal ethical boundaries you may have. Personally though, I think this subject matter is going too far. That aside, if you make these jokes about specific people then that's just not on.
As I've stated, I don't think this subject matter is acceptable/appropriate in any fashion, but if for the sake of argument we were to say that it were, I still don't think it's right to bring the Olsens into it - and I'm in no way a fan of the Olsens.
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 10:33AM
mosbutnotall said...
Which is not to say that Saget isn't potentially being a hypocrite based on what (admittedly little) I know of his own material down the years
8-06-2008 @ 12:55PM
Jeremy said...
Have you ever watched a roast? Of course, the subject of the roast is the primary 'target', but the roasters also rib on each other and on the events of all participant's lives.
it would be ridiculous to think that something should be 'off-limits' in a roast, especially when the subject is Saget. That doesn't mean that Comedy Central needs to air it all. They can use their own judgment.
The idea of Roasts is to be offensive and politically incorrect. Watch 'The Aristocrats'.
You don't have to agree with it. Just learn something.
8-06-2008 @ 10:33AM
Nathan said...
So Saget is fine telling jokes about banging his daughter's friends, but this was over the line for him? What a douche bag. Either way I'm just glad he doesn't get to tell jokes himself, because he is one unfunny man.
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 10:53AM
MacGuffin said...
It's pretty ironic that one of the foulest-mouth comedians ever played in the lamest roles ever--the dad in Full House and the host of America's Funniest Home Videos.
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 10:54AM
Jimmy said...
The Comedy Central roasts are among the funniest shows I've ever seen on TV. Nothing is off limits!
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 11:09AM
Oneiroi said...
I mean, being incredibly inappropriate is his whole shtick now. You can't really be shocked at what a shock comedian says.
@MacGuffin, his playing wholesome roles for years and years is what made him start doing this.
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 11:52AM
CJ said...
Not true. Saget was doing stand-up before Full House.
And I've seen him live - jokes about the Olsens and the rest of the Full House crew are standard. Including himself - he even sang a song called "Danny Tanner Was Not Gay" to the tune of the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way."
8-06-2008 @ 11:29AM
Elf said...
Nathan, Saget telling jokes about wanting to bang his daughters friends is different because those friends are not celebrities or public personalities. He does not use real names, they are just nebulous "friends" who happen to be attractive. During that bit he is pointing out that teenage girls today are far more sexually outgoing than they used to be. The audience gets to make up an image of the "friend" being discussed but does not associate it with a real person.
When someone makes jokes about the Olsen twins, particularly referring to them before they were 18, that I believe can cross the line because it does discuss real people in inappropriate situations. The issue is who is really the butt of the joke. Making a joke about Saget comnig on to a five year old Mary Kate Olsen is not a joke about Mary Kate but a joke about Saget being a degenerate. A joke about seven year old Ashley Olsen going down on Dave Coulier in a theater would certainly be over the top.
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 12:22PM
StillBash said...
This is to boost the ratings of the roast. Nothing more. Bob's just unhappy that the kids are out of their oral phase...
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 12:27PM
Corey said...
Oh, please. Saget is on the Howard Stern show all the time and he is never offended by anything anyone says about the Olson twins. Nothing offends him at all. And he gets plenty of it there. I've read this story in a few places, and it smells like some PR spin to me. Someone's marketing team sent out a press release.
Reply
8-06-2008 @ 5:34PM
Michael said...
Obviously we haven't seen the roast yet, so who knows how it will be edited down. But the funniest jokes are sometimes the ones so inappropriate there's no way they have any realism to them. I mean, did you hear some of the ones directed to William Shatner and George Takei from Betty White during Shatner's roast? I couldn't stop crying from laughter.
Reply
8-07-2008 @ 7:54AM
Adam said...
I've heard comedians talk about doing these roasts and they are usually given a list of any items that are "off limits" and they don't do anything off that list. For example, with the Shatner roast any jokes about his deceased wife were off limits.
My guess is Bob was being sarcastic if he said anything about the show crossing a line.
Reply
8-10-2008 @ 11:42AM
Anonymous said...
What kind of person would laugh at a joke about being sexual with a child? That is sick...to say the least. I also heard Bob defended them when some comedian made a joke about Mary-Kate's anorexia. That is a serious problem and not a laughing matter. I don't think comedians would be making jokes like that if their family was a target of child sexual abuse or was dealing with an eating disorder. What ever happened to the golden rule? Just because they are comedians, doesn't mean they can't be nice. I know they try to target to what is going to appeal to their audience, but what does that say about the world if comedians know those kinds of jokes will make them laugh? Way to go, Bob and Dave!
Reply
8-15-2008 @ 6:38PM
Shesha said...
jokes about having sex with girls who joined the show when they were babies is just creepy!!!
You wouldnt want ur family saying nasty stuff to you.. same applied to your TV family!
John Stamos crossed a line. :(
Reply
8-18-2008 @ 2:23AM
Pfft! said...
So the Chris Benoit and Magic Johnson jokes at Flava Flav's roast were cool? Come on, the staple of these roasts is that NOTHHHHHHHING is off-limits. They even threw a Heath Ledger/Olson joke out there which drew a big "WHOAAA" reaction from the crowd before the comic added Heath woulda wanted it that way, which is probably true.
Don't like it, don't watch it. You're free to watch something fluffy, safe, and unoffensive instead.
Reply