LOS ANGELES — Comedian Dave Attell will host a new TV series on Showtime called “Dave’s Old Porn” in which he and his friends from the comedy and porn worlds offer candid insights on classic films from the Golden Age of adult cinema.
The premiere episode airs at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, when Attell will be joined by comedian Whitney Cummings and adult icon Ron Jeremy. Attell told XBIZ he has already shot eight episodes for the first season that will run through December.
“It’s cool watching porn with funny ladies,” Attell said. “It’s fun hearing their take on it. It’s refreshing.”
Attell said "Dave's Old Porn" was shot in the same vein as the original “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” He and his guests not only watch and comment on the vintage footage, “with the graphics and green screen we’re also in the porn to some degree."
“We watch clips of retro adult movies from the Golden Age of the early ’70s to mid ’80s and then we bring out people who were actually in the movies," Attell explained. "Stars like Ron Jeremy, Nina Hartley, Paul Thomas, Georgina Spelvin and Herschel Savage. We’ve shot a lot of people."
Attell has previously hosted the popular Comedy Central show “Insomniac with Dave Attell" and "The Gong Show with Dave Attell."
Among the well-known comedians who appear on future episodes are Chelsea Handler, Margaret Cho, Jim Norton, Greg Fitzsimmons and Adam Carolla.
“As a comic, I love porn,” Attell admitted. “It was my Dr. Oz, it was my Oprah that got me through a lot of tough times. I’m really more of a fan. We’re joking on this show, this is a party. We’re hanging out with the legends who give us some tips. We have some laughs while we’re watching some great, old retro porn.”
The veteran comic said he’s actually been developing the show with executive producer Stewart Bailey for close to four and a half years.
“I think it’s a natural," Attell said. "If you’ve ever watched porn with other guys, you naturally start cracking jokes because it’s so awkward. And the ladies brought it hard. They were just as funny as the dudes if not more.”
The Nov. 3 episode features Belladonna, Bobbi Starr and Kristina Rose alongside comedian Daniel Tosh.
“Today’s porn stars are pros,” Attell said. “They work out, they eat right. They Red Bull it. The guys are in shape too. It’s like watching a Bow Flex commercial. The chicks are all tatted up and super hot. Back then there were fat guys like me doing porn. It looked like a Match.com date gone wrong.”
Attell noted that Evil Angel executives Christian Mann, Yoshi and Justin Rich were instrumental in helping him connect with the stars, while David Sutton from VCX also assisted greatly with advising him on the classics.
“I can’t thank them enough for helping me out, helping us connect with older porn stars and suggesting films we should try and use,” Attell said.
Among the films the show analyzes are “Deep Rub,” “Flesh of the Lotus,” and “Sheila’s Payoff,” which Attell calls “an underrated classic from the early ’70s.”
“We also watched ‘Prisoners of Paradise’ starring the one and only Platinum Princess of Porn, Seka. … With Ron [Jeremy], we watched the entire ‘Bad Girls’ series which I think is the Harry Potter of porn. And we looked at one of the first movies Ron directed, ‘E3: The Extra Testicle.’ There is so much great porn, the hardest part was deciding on what to use and what not to use.”
Many of the discussions were not just about the porn.
“A lot of other things come up,” Attell said. “With Nina Hartley, she’s a sex therapist, a registered nurse, she’s been in ‘Boogie Nights.’ She was telling us the proper etiquette on a three-way and the secret to deep-throating. I said this stuff has to be written down before it’s forgotten. This is the template.
“… As a comic, your dream is to meet porn stars and I can cross that off my bucket list. I had a ball doing it. For people who like retro porn, I hope I did it right.”
Pictured from left: Whitney Cummings, Ron Jeremy and Dave Attell.
