Bob Saget is back in a familiar place with ‘Videos After Dark’

By Rick Bentley / Tribune News Service

Bob Saget is feeling a lot of déjà vu. It started when he agreed to be an occasional guest star on the revival series “Fuller House.” Saget starred in the popular ABC comedy “Full House” from 1987 to 1995.

It was during “Full House” that Saget was approached to host a new Sunday night series that would feature video clips sent in by the public, which resulted in his long run on “America’s Funniest Home Videos” that started in 1989. TV history is repeating itself: Saget is back hosting a clips show with “Videos After Dark,” for which a “sneak peak” aired last week on ABC.

“It is funny. I have been on a big tour and I was making fun of the reboots for a while,” Saget said. “Everyone wants everything back because it’s comfort food. They don’t want to move forward into this horrible world. We don’t want to think about anything and that’s where I come in.

“I called my agent and asked him if he could get me a show I hadn’t done already.”

In one way, “Videos After Dark” is different from when Saget would introduce clips on “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” You can count on the requisite number of shots to the groin and funny animals, but the big difference is the video clips on this show will be what Saget describes as not being suitable for a 5-year-old to see.

Filling the half-hour show are clips aimed at a more mature audience. The hits are a little harder, the language a bit saltier, the animals a little less cute, the kids a tad less adorable and the embarrassing moments more revealing.

Hosting the show feels a little more comfortable for Saget than his previous clip show days. When he was hosting “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and starring on “Full House,” the general public perception of Saget was that he was a squeaky clean guy. But his stand-up comedy has always leaned more toward a mature audience and has not changed.

“I don’t want to mess with Standards and Practices just to do something for shock value. But, I am so happy that this show is allowing me to say things I couldn’t before,” Saget said. He’s quick to stress that just because the show is pushing the envelope doesn’t mean the videos will be overly risqué. It is being produced for ABC, a network owned by Disney.

He sees the show as an alternative to getting depressed by watching the news just before going to sleep. “Videos After Dark” is designed to be a show that doesn’t require a lot of thought and will send viewers to sleep laughing.

What he has noticed is just like his first clip show, there is no shortage of people willing to share videos of themselves doing embarrassing things. There’s a small fee paid to those who have their videos used, but unlike “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” there is no contest to determine a big money winner.

“This is straight comedy,” Saget said. “The only real trouble has been coming up with new ways to tell people to not try this at home.”

Starring in the show is more than showing up and introducing the clips. Saget has been working on the initial order of 14 episodes for more than five months to make sure the 90 pages of material for each episode include the best jokes. Plus, he wants the series to feel more like a late-night variety show. Guest starring on the first show is Dave Koz, who jokingly told Saget what he contributes to the program “is a low point in his career.”

The work Saget does doesn’t stop there. He also wrote and performs the theme song for the new series.

He has been able to handle so many parts of “Videos After Dark” because of all the work the Pennsylvania native has done over the past 40 years. His wide range of work includes being a Grammy nominee for Best Comedy Album in 2013. Saget’s other acting credits range from the film “Farce of the Penguins” to his work as the narrator on “How I Met Your Mother.” He’s also is a published author, having written the 2014 offering “Dirty Daddy: The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian.”

Watch online

Bob Saget hosts ABC’s “Videos After Dark” — for after the kids go to bed. Find episodes online at abc.go.com/shows/videos-after-dark.