Legendary comedian Bob Saget joins our ongoing coverage of CES 2021 to talk about how he’s used his podcast to engage with people over this past year, exercising during quarantine, and how he’s handling this “new normal.”
From Peloton to high-tech exercise gadgets like smart mirrors with built-in monitors, Saget is more interested in what he’d rather have than what’s already out there. “I just want to walk up to the mirror, and it presents me the way I want to be seen,” jokes Saget. “I don’t want to work out with it. I just want Chris Hemsworth’s upper body!”
The podcast he hosts, called “Bob Saget’s Here For You,” has thrived during quarantine, but originally it was planned for 2019. “I was out doing standup and touring, and I was just seeing that people weren’t happy,” he says. He originally called people who had left messages asking if he could talk with them, and it eventually snowballed into having guests like John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Bill Maher, Jason Sudeikis, and Josh Gad. “Usually it’s just people that I love,” he says. “I don’t have ‘fake talkers’ on,” he says, referring to the schmoozing Hollywood way people usually speak on talk shows and press junkets. “I have people who are trying to do something decent from their point of view.”
Saget is no stranger to technology. “I’m a Mac man. I had the first Mac — which was basically a diving helmet with a window in it. [But I used to take] them apart. I would take them apart, put in new RAM, I would do anything tech.” And even now “we’re all up-to-date in our house,” he says. “I’m in charge of that.”
Saget also addresses his appearance as the squiggle monster on The Masked Singer. “You know what? I shouldn’t have lost!” Saget says. He also couldn’t see anybody. “It was like being in the ‘Star Wars’ bar,” he laughs. And standing in a line with all sorts of crazy costumes “was like standing in a police line-up in West Hollywood,” he quips.
As for what he’s watching, Saget praises The Queen’s Gambit, Brian Cranston’s new show Your Honor, and The Undoing. And of course, The Mandalorian. “God forbid you say something negative about The Mandalorian,” he says. “You’ll get attacked! Baby Yoda is the way!”
Saget does have one bold prediction when asked what he thinks will be the biggest tech trend in 2021. “The explosion of my podcast,” he says drolly. “Besides that, I think probably things that help you work out. I think people are going to want not overly expensive ways to get themselves healthy. And I’m open to anything new and techy that helps me communicate.” After living a year on Zoom and FaceTime, “I think there will be some new engine” to help facilitate that kind of communication. “I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already!”
But he’s not just looking off into the future. Saget reiterates how important it is to right now care for the people around us, whether it is friends having a difficult time during quarantine, or donating to your local food bank or places that help people experiencing difficulty making rent. “Financially try to help people if you can. And if not, just stay close to the people that you love. Reach out to people.”
