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Airdate: Quality Balls: The David Steinberg Story

Bio will premiere a 90 min special on sometimes controversial Canadian comedian, writer and director, David Steinberg.

2014-11-10_1056This week Bio will premiere a 90 minute special, Quality Balls: The David Steinberg Story, on Canadian comedian, writer and director, David Steinberg.

He appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson more than 130 times -second only to Bob Hope, and went on to direct for Seinfeld, Friends, Mad About You, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Designing Women.

But he was also controversial, causing CBS to institute a policy of providing local stations with a closed-circuit telecast of each episode ahead of time so they could choose whether or not to air his comedy.

Americans have long depended on Canada for three things: oil, maple syrup and comedians. David Steinberg counts among their biggest comedic exports. Born in Winnipeg, he attended Yeshiva in Chicago, abandoning his studies to join the legendary Second City. He never looked back. The film features priceless archival footage of his performances, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, (where he was second only to Bob Hope in the number of appearances) and the stand-up shows that put him in the ranks of George Carlin and Richard Pryor. At times too controversial for US networks, his religious sermonettes generated more hate mail for CBS than any network had ever received, resulting in the cancellation of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. His directing credits are no less outstanding, including Seinfeld, Mad About You, Golden Girls and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Steinberg’s incredible career influenced a generation and now, after 25 years, he returns to the stage in this exceptional biography.

Wednesday November 12 at 8.30pm on Bio.

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