The David Steinberg Show is a long forgotten, short-lived TV show that aired briefly in 1972 on
CBS as summer replacement series. Although short lived, it was an
incubator for much of the comedic talent that transformed TV and movies in the '80s and '90s.
Tell me if this doesn't sound familiar: comedian
David Steinberg plays a talk show host named David Steinberg. The story weaves the
talk show format with behind the scenes stories. Yeah very
Larry Sanders but remember this show came out in
1972. A reading of the cast lists reads like a
Who's Who of comedy giants:
John Candy,
Martin Short,
Joe Flaherty,
Dave Thomas,
Andrea Martin, and even
Bill Saluga (who? More about him later).
A lot of the characters featured on
The David Steinberg Show later appeared in slightly altered forms on
SCTV,
SNL, and movies. For example, on
The David Steinberg Show Martin Short played a character named Johnny Del Bravo. Del Bravo was highly similar to Short's SNL character
Jackie Rogers, Jr.
Bill Saluga, who would later get his 15 minutes as the "
You can call me Ray" guy, actually played a character named Raymond J. Johnson, Jr. On
The David Steinberg Show if someone referred to him as "Mr. Johnson" he respond with his lengthy "Now, you can call me Ray, and you can call me Ray J..." shtick.
David Steinberg himself went on to direct such TV shows as
Newhart,
The Golden Girls,
Seinfeld,
Mad About You,
Friends, and
Designing Women.
Who knew?