It All Started Here

Twenty years after fronting HBO’s first stand-up broadcast, Robert Klein returned to the network for his sixth hour to mark the anniversary. Backed by a live band, the veteran comic leans heavily into the realities of his fifties. He complains about hair loss, AARP memberships, and the inherent indignities of a hospital stay, shifting between conversational stand-up and musical interludes.

Filmed in Metuchen, New Jersey, the 1995 set balances then-current fixations like the O.J. Simpson trial with reliable gripes about game shows and the specifics of Jewish burials. It is a comfortable performance from a professional who already helped define the television comedy format. Naturally, he finishes the night with a rendition of his trademark blues parody, “I Can’t Stop My Leg.”