Super Dave (show)
Super Dave (aka:
The Super Dave Osborne Show) was a variety show starring, and hosted by the fictional character
Super Dave Osborne (played by
Bob Einstein). It ran from
1987-
1991 on
Showtime in the US and
YTV in Canada. Reruns currently air on
DejaView in Canada. Super Dave was spun off from the sketch comedy series
Bizarre, which featured Bob Einstein in recurring roles, including Super Dave.
Super Dave took place in a theatre with an audience. The stage featured his signature "bulb wall" - a movable wall lined with red white and blue light bulbs, which would act as a curtain. He would often do an introductory monologue, and introduce guest performers there. The studio was located at the fictional "Super Dave Compound" - a combination resort/theme park/learning centre/etc. (anything needed for a particular episode).
The structure of the typical episode began with a teaser scene that was a remote involving Super Dave often in an area of his compound. This would throw to his theme and introduction in the studio. The studio segment would usually involve one or more artistic performances. This would then throw to a final remote - usually intended as a stunt.
Musical guests on the show included
Ray Charles,
Celine Dion,
k.d. lang,
Jerry Lee Lewis,
Colin James, and
Bobby McFerrin. Other types of perfomances were also featured including
ventriloquist Ronn Lucas,
impressionist André-Philippe Gagnon, and comedian
Steve Allen. Besides simply bringing performers onstage normally, a false reason was often given for the performer's appearance. Sometimes they would be introduced as a member of the show or compound's staff that Super Dave would allow to perform. Other times they were presented as audience members who suddenly revealed a talent. Other unique reasons were invented for some performers. With performers that had these fake background stories, a common occurrence would be for Super Dave to goto thank the performer after a short simple performance, but before he could, they would continue with a more elaborate performance. This would repeat several times.
Super Dave's signature was to perform outrageous daredevil stunts which invariably went awry and resulted in his grievous injury - usually at the end of an episode. These included such things as 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 into a ravine) and being flung inside a giant
football (the
catapult malfunctioned and "spiked" the football instead of throwing it). After an injury occurred, Super Dave would usually appear torn apart, stretched, or otherwise injured. One of his signature logos is a drawing of his head (in a helmet or his ballcap) on top of a pair of shoes with no body. This was occasionally how he appeared after a stunt resulted in something falling on top of him.
The compound concept was explored as the seasons went on, and he would increasingly forgo a stunt in order to demonstrate a new feature of the compound, or a new piece of technology they were working on at the compound. These demonstrations would usually have the same results as his stunts, and he would be injured. Sometimes planned to goto a stunt but ran out of time and would be injured in some other way. There were rare episodes in which he had been injured before the show began, and was already in the hospital, or on which he simply was not injured.
Super Dave was accompanied by several recurring characters including:
*
Mike Walden, Super Dave's announcer, who would wear loud suits that were frequently the subject of mockery. He was almost always present in the remote segments.
* Fuji Hakayito (
Art Irizawa), Super Dave's barely-comprehensible stunt coordinator.
* Donald Glanz (
Don Lake), the manager of the Super Dave Compound.
* A
Jamaican steel drum band that only knew how to play
Barry Manilow's song "
Copacabana". They were always sent as a replacement for The Super Dave Band, who were unable to appear on the show when scheduled, usually due to a
bar mitzvah (making them an
unseen character). The Super Dave Band reportedly had a vast repetoire, which was featured in a game where audience members would try to stump the band by naming songs they'd have to play. The steel drum band's leader would confirm they knew the song, and then play "Copacabana", frustrating Super Dave. A similar bit would be "Name That Song" where the audience members would have to name a song played by the band.
*
Michel Lauzière, a supposed backstage worker that often came onto the stage unannounced to do an intersting performance or magic trick, much to the chagrin of Super Dave. After being told not to come back until he had something "unique", he would usually return seconds later with a different trick.
* Bernie Weinthal, Super Dave's
midget attorney.
* Tony Cox, the president of the network, who always ended up getting Super Dave irritated somehow.
* An early joke that appears to have been abandoned was Mike Walden mispronouncing Fuji's surname differently every time he mentioned him. As a later gag, Walden is unable to understand Fuji's explanations of stunts, though, dispite his heavy accent, the explanations are quite understandable.
* Mike Walden would often comment that safety equipment included "genuine
Saskatchewan seal-skin bindings" (even though Saskatchewan is landlocked).
* The stunts/injuries were usually done with the use of dummies, and Super Dave would often do overdubs both during and after the stunt.
* Super Dave would often ask for help which Mike, Donald, and Fuji usually ignored or misunderstood, and leave him alone injured. If they did realize he was hurt, their attempts to help him would usually result in further injury.
* Super Dave would often overdub a "goodnight" speech while waiting injured.
* Super Dave would often comment on his associates' incompetence; he would often refer to Mike Walden as a "putz". Every now and then, he would
swear, but it was always bleeped out with a duck's quack or a horn honk.
* Scenes would often continue on after the characters believed the cameras were turned off.
* Super Dave being hit or run over by a vehicle (even when a sequence had nothing to do with them) was common. This often included ambulances after he'd already been hurt.
* Some of Super Dave's common catchphrases on the show included noting that something great would "knock your socks off", and exclaiming "new pain!" when he was being injured.
* Super Dave was often portrayed as self-serving. Especially in scenes where he believed he was off-camera.
* The show was often said to be running late, and Super Dave would often chide people for wasting time.
* Super Dave when naming famous people or other two-word proper names, he often misstates one of the names and is corrected by Mike or someone near him, though he seems not to notice. For example, "tennis great Johnny Connors", corrected quickly by Mike, "Jimmy".
* Super Dave often was often presented with honours and awards, and then reminded his staff that he did not like to be embarrassed by doing so on the air. He would often receive a trophy which he would then casually toss away after saying how much it meant to him.
* Super Dave would usually arrive at his stunt and tour segments in a vehicle, often with Donald or Fuji, to a waiting Mike Walden. He would sometimes arrive in unique vehicles including a personal
hovercraft and an amphibious car.
* Super Dave would often respond to critics in an unreputable or trashy news source; he would often reveal the name of the source, a reputable source such as
60 Minutes.
**Many Super Dave commercial products were shown, and some were shown to have inflated prices.
**Other services at the Super Dave Compound were shown to have inflated prices.
**He would often invite audience members to participate in contests where they would be winning until the last question, and then be faced with an impossible final requirement, and lose a big prize in favour of Super Dave hats and shirts.
*The
Smothers Brothers, whose variety show Bob Einstein got his start writing for, appeared on his show several times.
*
