Educational Media Reviews Online

Quality Balls chronicles Canadian comedian David Steinberg’s career from his days as a member of Chicago’s Second City and as a New York City actor, through his politically charged stand-up performances in the Nixon era, his rise as a television star and, later, his successful transition to directing television’s most successful situation comedies—including Newhart, Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Steinberg seems ready to return to some form of live performance after a long hiatus, and the film serves as a reminder to fans while introducing him to a new audience.

Archival footage from Steinberg’s early televised and live performances include clips of sketches from his Second City days and of his appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and his own 1970’s sitcom set in a fictional talk show, The David Steinberg Show. Talking-head interviews with Steinberg and his contemporaries put his career in context and reveal something of the comedian’s creative process.

While Quality Balls is a love-fest—a tribute to Steinberg’s successes that may at times give him too much credit (i.e. attributing to him the very invention of political satire), it’s a lot of fun and a reminder of what television comedy and controversy looked like forty years ago.