R.I.P. Bob Saget

[dws1982]

It's always sad to see the icons of my childhood die. Like Sabin, he was a major part of my childhood. We watched Full House in my family every week for a long time, and everyone at school watched it too, and then Sunday evenings America's Funniest Home Videos was usually on as we ate dinner. I never really had any frame of reference for him outside of those two shows; I never watched How I Met Your Mother and was completely unfamiliar with his stand-up, which was supposedly very funny and very different from his family-friendly TV persona.

[Mister Tee]

I've come to the belief that one of the truly unbridgeable generation gaps is how we feel about the pop culture crud of our youths. In the thread just below, I waxed a bit about Dwayne Hickman, a TV notable of my childhood years; I wouldn't expect anyone as much as 10-20 years younger than I to have the slightest attachment to/interest in him. And it works the other way, too. I more or less quit regularly watching network TV when I started college in 1969, and there are many many people from subsequent years of whom I'm aware (from hearing so many people reference them) but who have no hold on my psyche.

Which is to say: I've certainly heard of this guy Bob Saget -- saw him on Entourage; know the names of shows he was on -- but I can't claim to have the slightest feeling about his passing, apart from Donne's "any man's death diminishes me".

[Sabin]

Major part of my childhood. I watched Full House every week with my family. It was a lousy show but we could all watch it together. TGIF was a real phenomenon. I can't imagine it was any good. God, my father hated it. Bob Saget was a pretty darn good father knows best type. Imagine if Jerry Seinfeld married young, had a huge family, and lost his wife. Saget also hosted America's Funniest Home Videos. I would bet I watched him more than any other actor for at least one year of my life. He also gave the impression of someone who was begrudgingly accepting if not very proud about his personal stardom, like maybe if he held out a little later he might have gotten a different road of fame. It's really not hard to imagine Bob Saget on any 80's or 90's sitcom but you play the hard you dealt. He parodies his image with cameos in Entourage and the stoner flick Half Backed and tried to branch out with the Norm MacDonald (RIP) comedy Dirty Work, but nothing really stuck. The guy was sort of a joke. But he did live long enough to feel the love of a generation with the Full House revival on Netflix. He might not have loved how his career turned out but the dude was a massive part of a generation's childhood.

To his credit, he had three incredibly long TV gigs. Full House ran from 1987 to 1995 (192 episodes), America's Funniest Videos went from 1989 to 1997 (191 episodes), and his longest gig was How I Met Your Mother as the voice of Ted Mosby's Older Self from 2005-2014 (208 episodes). It may not be a classic sitcom but it's certainly warmly remembered and Bob Saget is never seen on-camera, which is somehow fitting of Saget's career.

[Sabin]

He was 65 years old. He was touring. He died in a Florida Hotel. No details yet as to cause of death.

https://www.tmz.com/2022/01/09/bob-sage ... ull-house/