I miss Danny Tanner, the most rad dad on television — loving, cleaning, dispensing sweet homilies while not getting too worked-up over that scamp Joey Lawrence. But somewhere between his 1998 appearance as a cocaine addict in
Half Baked and his filthy epic role in
Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd in 2003, I realized Bob Saget was more like my profane cynic of a real dad than the smiling, sensitive homebody on
Full House. There’s just something about hearing Mr. Tanner say that he’s sucked dick for coke or scream about the fucking shit all over the bathroom that changes your perception. As with Betty White, however, I’m positive the Jekyll-Hyde juxtaposition of his squeaky-clean role on the ’90s hit and his incredibly foul stand-up act is exactly why Saget remains so popular. Who doesn’t want to hear the twinkly grandmother or starchy dad stun the dinner table by launching into “The Aristocrats?”
— Amanda Haggard