Dave Coulier Dubbed in the Clean Jokes for Richard Pryor Movies

Richard Pryor movies were exceptionally popular in the 1970s and 1980s, but that was a problem for TV networks — the comedian’s foul-mouthed jokes were hilarious in theaters but could cause a station to lose its license if broadcast over the public airwaves. That’s why it was common practice to dub R-rated comedies with darns for damns, hecks for hells and fudge for even more profane punchlines. And for at least one Richard Pryor movie, the 1987 comedy Critical Condition, the comedian’s voice was filled in by Full House’s Uncle Joey.

You read that right — producers brought in Dave Coulier and his impression skills to help scrub Critical Condition clean of profanity. Oprah herself couldn’t believe it when she asked Coulier if he would “do Richard Pryor for me.” 

How did a nice young actor like Coulier get a job as the voice of America’s premier Black comic? “Richard, when he does a film, will not go back and do the dubbing,” Coulier explained. “So we have to take the words out that you can’t use on television and put nice clean words in.”

At this point, Coulier gnarled up his hands and scrunched his face into an approximation of Pryor’s. “It was real weird,” said Coulier in a passable Pryor imitation, “because, like, heh, no one knew that I was a guy with like blond hair and this face.”

“Very good!” exclaimed Oprah, suitably dazzled.

Coulier made the talk show rounds in those days showing off a variety of celebrity impressions. On that same Oprah Show, with pre-Seinfeld Jerry Seinfeld grinning alongside him, Coulier ran through a gamut of imitations including Pryor, Robin Williams and various Muppet Babies. 

Seinfeld, predictably, wasn’t impressed. After Coulier sent Winfrey into hysterics with his Scooby-Doo impression, Seinfeld dismissed his fellow comedian’s act. “That’s all it takes,” he said. “Go figure.”