Chicago – Do young people know of the importance of Steve Martin to the history of comedy? In the ’70s, he helped revolutionize the form through his unique, smart, daring approach on-stage and in his TV comedies and on “Saturday Night Live.” Much of the material that made him a superstar has been collected in a stellar three-disc set from Shout Factory, now available on DVD under the banner “Steve Martin: The Television Stuff.”
Rating: 4.0/5.0
I must admit that some of this material doesn’t play like it did on its initial airdate. It’s a style of comedy that’s a bit dated and I imagine felt much more anarchistic to the entire form when it first aired. There are large chunks of “The Television Stuff” that I found more interesting as history than as comedy. But is that really a problem? This is a great box set to have for TV and comedy historians,...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
I must admit that some of this material doesn’t play like it did on its initial airdate. It’s a style of comedy that’s a bit dated and I imagine felt much more anarchistic to the entire form when it first aired. There are large chunks of “The Television Stuff” that I found more interesting as history than as comedy. But is that really a problem? This is a great box set to have for TV and comedy historians,...
- 10/1/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Steve Martin–philes can rejoice, as today sees the release of the three-disc DVD set, Steve Martin: The Television Stuff, a complete collection of his long-lost late-seventies and early-eighties TV specials as well as some classic late-night appearances on The Tonight Show (The Great Flydini!), David Letterman's show, and Saturday Night Live. The five specials contain live stand-up from his Wild and Crazy Guy era, as well as sketches that have until now been seen only in incomplete YouTube clips taken off old VHS tapes with faulty tracking; the set includes such classics as "Olympic Diving Finals" (in which he attempts the high-difficulty move of attempting to catch a beach ball while jumping off the diving board), "Drunk Steam-Roller Driver," and many others, with guest appearances from SNL cronies John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray.In this clip from his 1981 special, Steve Martin's Best Show Ever, Steve is...
- 9/18/2012
- by Josh Wolk
- Vulture
Steve Martin has been making people laugh so hard for so long that some — especially younger audiences — might not fully appreciate just how pure and fresh his early comic work was. Before the Oscars, before Father of the Bride, before Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, even before The Jerk, Martin was a total force of nature whose main platform was television, beginning with writing for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. In his wild and crazy prime, an appearance by Martin on Johnny Carson or other primetime showcase was insane, yet so carefully crafted. When he hosted Saturday Night Live or had a stand-up special,...
- 9/18/2012
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside TV
By Allen Gardner
Quadrophenia (Criterion) Franc Roddam’s 1979 film based on The Who’s classic rock opera tells the story of working class lad Jimmy (Phil Daniels) struggling to find his identity in a rapidly changing Britain, circa 1965. Jimmy is a “mod,” a youth movement dedicated to wearing snappy suits, driving Vespa motor scooters bedecked with side mirrors, popping amphetamines and obsessed with the new sound of bands like The Who and The Kinks. Their other pastime is engaging in bloody brawls with “rockers,” throwbacks to the 1950s, who listen to Elvis and Gene Vincent, wear leather biker gear, grease in their hair and drive massive motorcycles a la Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.” Often cited as a worthy successor to “Rebel Without a Cause” as the greatest angry youth picture ever made, it is that and more, including a first cousin to the “kitchen sink” dramas of scribes John Osborne,...
Quadrophenia (Criterion) Franc Roddam’s 1979 film based on The Who’s classic rock opera tells the story of working class lad Jimmy (Phil Daniels) struggling to find his identity in a rapidly changing Britain, circa 1965. Jimmy is a “mod,” a youth movement dedicated to wearing snappy suits, driving Vespa motor scooters bedecked with side mirrors, popping amphetamines and obsessed with the new sound of bands like The Who and The Kinks. Their other pastime is engaging in bloody brawls with “rockers,” throwbacks to the 1950s, who listen to Elvis and Gene Vincent, wear leather biker gear, grease in their hair and drive massive motorcycles a la Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.” Often cited as a worthy successor to “Rebel Without a Cause” as the greatest angry youth picture ever made, it is that and more, including a first cousin to the “kitchen sink” dramas of scribes John Osborne,...
- 9/4/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
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