Steve Harvey, who in recent years has transitioned from stand-up comedian to all-purpose host of basically everything, suffers for humanity’s sins. But he does not suffer in silence. America, after decades of salacious game shows and reality shows, has lost all sense of decorum and decency, let alone good old-fashioned shame. P.J. O’Rourke seemingly sensed that day was coming in 1987, when he observed that “Americans do not blush to congratulate themselves.” O’Rourke had that realization while watching Family Feud, a program now coincidentally hosted by Harvey. The nonsense Harvey has endured on the current version of Feud has already been documented in a surreal supercut form by Super Deluxe.
But does the dapper, mustachioed comic fare any better on his own, eponymous daytime talk show? Not even close. Tragically, that program features a segment called “Ask Steve,” in which audience members are invited to pose questions to the host. That segment is the focus of a new Super Deluxe video entitled “Steve Harvey Doesn’t Want To Do ‘Ask Steve’ Anymore.” Viewers will soon see why. The audience participants are shameless; their questions are shameful. And poor Harvey is in the middle of it.
One woman talks about leaving the house minus her underwear. A woman and her husband discuss how the family dog routinely interrupts its masters’ lovemaking. And one lady seems unduly focused on Harvey’s luxurious mustache, referring to it as a “cookie duster.” The host’s reactions to these ridiculous questions vary. Sometimes he will simply retreat into numb, appalled silence. Other times, sensing that someone in the room has to act as the voice of reason, he will cut guests off with a spirited “Oh, hell no!” And, in one bizarre instance, the forlorn Harvey simply sits down on the set and belts out a mock spiritual called “I Don’t Wanna Do ‘Ask Steve’ No More.” At all times, his face registers the shock, pain, and humiliation to which he is subjected on a daily basis as part of his job.