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Super Dave | |
---|---|
Also known as | The Super Dave Osborne Show |
Genre | Sketch comedy Variety |
Created by | Allan Blye Bob Einstein |
Directed by | Jack Budgel |
Starring | Super Dave Osborne Robert Gruenberg Art Irizawa Don Lake Michel Lauzière Pat McNeilly Mike Walden |
Composer | James Dale |
Country of origin | Canada United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 95 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Production locations | Glen Warren Studios, Toronto, Ontario (1987–1988) Markham Theatre for the Performing Arts, Markham, Ontario (1988–1991) |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 22–24 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | Showtime (United States) Global Television Network (Canada) |
Release | 1987 – 1991 |
Related | |
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Super Dave (also known as The Super Dave Osborne Show) is a variety show starring and hosted by the fictional character Super Dave Osborne (played by Bob Einstein). It ran from 1987 to 1991 on Showtime in the United States and the Global Television Network in Canada. The show currently airs reruns on Adult Swim Canada.
The character made his first appearance on the 1972 TV series The John Byner Comedy Hour . Einstein then regularly played the character on the short-lived 1976 variety series Van Dyke and Company, starring Dick Van Dyke. [1] [2] [3]
Einstein revived the character for the 1980–1986 sketch comedy series Bizarre , which spun off his own series in 1987. After the last season, Einstein won a 1992 CableAce Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.
An animated spinoff, Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire , aired for one season on Fox TV from 1992 to 1993. [4]
Super Dave was a variety show with each episode featuring various segments that varied from episode to episode. The main segment of the show was usually presented by Osborne from the stage of a TV studio/theatre before a live studio audience. Depending on the episode, the studio would be the setting for an introductory monologue, guest performers, interactions with the audience, and other comedy bits. The show featured performances from both famous and up-and-coming musicians, comedians and other performers. Up-and-coming performers were often presented as a member of Osborne's staff, a talented audience member, or a participant in one of Osborne's training programs.
In the show's universe, the studio was said to be located at the fictional "Super Dave Compound", a combination resort/theme park/learning center/etc. (anything which would be required for any particular episode). In the first season, in 1987, the compound was often referred to as the "stunt compound" or "Super Dave Complex".
Other segments of the show were shot on location at various indoor and outdoor locations, usually said to be a part of the compound. Some episodes opened with a cold open on location, while others began with the studio introduction.
Most episodes ended on location with Osborne either giving a tour of an area of his compound, or performing a "stunt". He was usually accompanied by announcer Mike Walden, and often joined by Osborne's stunt coordinator Fuji Hakayito or his compound manager Donald Glanz.
Whether performing a stunt, or giving a tour of an area of the compound, in most instances, something goes awry, resulting in Osborne being severely and cartoonishly injured to end the show. There were rare episodes in which he had been injured before the show began, and was already in the hospital, or in which he was not injured at all.
Osborne's signature daredevil stunts were generally unrealistically over-the-top extreme death-defying feats, often involving elaborate contraptions created by Hakayito.
Example of these stunts included riding inside the hub of a giant yo-yo suspended from a crane (the yo-yo broke free of its string and rolled off a cliff), and being flung inside a giant football (the catapult malfunctioned and "spiked" the football into the ground). After an injury occurred, Super Dave would usually appear torn apart, burned, flattened, stretched, or otherwise injured. One of his signature logos is a drawing of his head (in a helmet or his baseball cap) on top of a pair of crushed silver boots with no body. This was occasionally how he appeared after a stunt resulted in something falling on top of him.
The studio segments of Super Dave were initially shot at the Glen Warren Studios theatre at CTV Television Network headquarters at CFTO-TV in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough.
In the original studio, the "stage" was set on the studio floor and was surrounded by a semicircle of cramped bleacher-style seats, with audience members often sitting on the stairs. It was the same studio where the popular comedy program Bizarre with John Byner had been taped.
Starting with the second season, filming of the studio portions moved to the Markham Theatre in Markham, Ontario, a proper theatre with a raised stage, balcony seating, and private boxes.
In both studios, the stage featured a signature "bulb wall" - a wall lined with rows of red, white and blue light bulbs - which was raised and lowered to act as a curtain. The bulb wall was flanked by columns of blue light bulbs. Behind the bulb wall, at the back of the stage was a smaller wall of all white light bulbs that were used to spell out words such as the names of performers. The studio seating was decorated with red white and blue semi-circular bunting.
Although Osborne often purported that the show was broadcast live as a pretext for why edits could not be made, the show was pre-recorded.
Segments outside of the studio were filmed at various locations usually in the Greater Toronto Area.
Super Dave's personal "racetrack" (where he drove a "specialized" race car and crashed) was the Riverside International Raceway in Moreno Valley, California. [5]
Musical guests on the show included young drummer Jacob Armen, Banig (Josephine Roberto), Veronique Beliveau, Sonny Bono, Liona Boyd, Glen Campbell, Kim Carnes, Ray Charles, Celine Dion, Thelma Houston, Colin James, k.d. lang, Jerry Lee Lewis, Melissa Manchester, Loreena McKennitt, Bill Medley, Bobby McFerrin, Kenny Rogers, Michelle Wright, Lori Yates, along with musical groups like En Vogue, and Canadian Blue Rodeo, Doug and The Slugs, The Nylons, and The Razorbacks.
Some of the other performers who were featured included classical comedic pianist Mitchell Zeidwig, stuntman Robbie Knievel, ventriloquist Willie Tyler and Lester, ventriloquist Ronn Lucas, ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, sports broadcaster Roy Firestone, juggler Robert Gruenberg, comedic juggler Edward Jackman, talk show interviewer Larry King, juggler Michel Lauziere, tap dancer Savion Glover, impressionist André-Philippe Gagnon, boxer Evander Holyfield, comedian Steve Allen, comic Jenny Jones, talk show host Regis Philbin and the Smothers Brothers, whose variety show Einstein got his start writing for.
Super Dave was accompanied by several recurring characters including:
Weekly 30-second promos were produced by Showtime Networks to promote the series. The announcer was Doug Jeffers, who abandoned his typical breathy relaxed style for one that was more ringmaster-like in tone and emphasis. The music bed for each promo was a generic track called "Circus, Circus, Circus". The producer of the bulk of these promos was Steve Kolodny, who was given a yearly appearance on the show as "a film student who has produced a Super Dave music video".
Reruns started airing on Comedy Gold on September 6, 2011. The show was dropped from its schedule in September 2015.
It is currently rerunning on Adult Swim Canada since October 11, 2021. [6]