Steve Martin: The Television Stuff

steve martin televisionSome people have forgotten that Steve Martin used to be a stand-up comedian. Some people know this fact, but have never experienced any of the comedic actor’s early work. Then there are the few who not only remember Steve Martin’s early work as a stand-up comedian, but how that was used to transition into film. In the 1970s television was much different than it is today. Had Steve Martin started now, we would never have gotten half of what is collected in the recent Shout Factory collection Steve Martin: The Television Stuff.

Starting out with a 1976 HBO special (“On Location”), Steve Martin displays the type of humor that had millions laughing. Much of this material will be familiar to those (like myself) who have listened to his comedy records (sadly out of print). There are classic bits, and unlike George Carlin’s monologues, these are jokes, often less than 2 minutes each. Steve Martin is acting the goofball on stage, and it works. Couple this with the material filmed at the Universal Amphitheater just a few years later, and while there’s some material that is used (not enough to skip either performance) you see the evolution of his presence, and it is an evolution.

The second special, “A Wild And Crazy Guy” obviously has the seeds of his film debut (The Jerk) in here. I don’t know how much of the film was inspired by some of the skits here, but you can see where he was beginning to shift from on-stage antics and jokes to a longer form of comedy. You can also see here that many of the skits presented were thought of for, but not able to be executed in a more “traditional” stand-up act.

Part of “A Wild And Crazy Guy” was filmed at the Universal Amphitheater – meaning we get a mix of his stand-up and his made for television skits. I remember watching this television special when it originally aired, mostly because it ended with Steve Martin performing “King Tut” (at the Universal Amphitheater). For this DVD release that performance is cut out from the television special, which is a little disappointing, but it should be noted almost the entirety of that Universal Amphitheater performance, including “King Tut”, is included on its own on a different disc. It should be remembered that “A Wild And Crazy Guy” is also the name of Steve Martin’s second comedy album, and some of the routines, while not recorded here, can be found here.

Then we move into the height of his ascendancy of fame. A regular guest on “Saturday Night Live” a couple of the cast members would make their appearance with Steve Martin in his specials. Several other notable guests appear throughout this DVD collection of television specials. NBC had a regular deal with Steve Martin for a few years with a number of specials being produced. Many of these bits wouldn’t find their way on to Martin’s last comedy records (though “Comedy Is Not Pretty” is the title of his penultimate comedy album and a television special from the following year).

While some of the later material just doesn’t hold up to repeated viewings as the first couple of specials, there’s still plenty of laughs to be had.

On the final disc we get a few television guest appearances by Steve Martin, but not his oeuvre on “Saturday Night Live” which would be a box set in itself (and a hefty one at that). The third disc is a sort of collection of various television appearances from late night talk shows, variety shows, etc. It isn’t that long, actually, just over an hour, so there was plenty of room for more. This is perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of the set – the third disc, essentially a “special features” set, feels like a sampler, and with the running time less than half to a third of the previous two discs, it’s almost like an afterthought. (And I would have preferred to have the “Wild And Crazy Guy” special as broadcast complete with live footage intact as well as the complete Universal Amphitheater performance, but that’s a very minor quibble.)

As for proper special features, we get some “Comments From Steve” spread across the three DVDs that feature Steve Martin occasionally cropping up to discuss various bits and pieces. And there’s a nice booklet with a worthwhile essays and detailed listing of the disc contents.

If you like to laugh, you need this. If you remember when Steve Martin wore an arrow through his head, you really need this.