Every leading sitcom star needs a sidekick, and throughout the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, Robbie Rist (Cousin Oliver on “The Brady Bunch”), Marc Price (Skippy on “Family Ties”) and Steve Hytner (Kenny Bania on “Seinfeld”) were as iconic as they come.

In the case of Price, he also starred alongside KISS’ Gene Simmons and Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne in the cult classic film “Trick Or Treat,” plus hosted “Teen Win, Lose Or Draw” on the Disney Channel during the ascent of numerous future A-listers.

However, his life in show business actually dates back to being the son of comedian Al Bernie and singer Joy Mann, which besides earning some epic old school stories, gave the future star of the screen a chance at stand-up, and as he tells Chicago Concert Reviews, will truly come full circle when the trio appears at the Arcada Theatre on Saturday, August 22.

What was it like observing your famous father in particular?

Marc Price: He came from a whole different generation. He was born in 1920 and he also started really young. He was performing in his young teens, so that combination makes for one that even old-time show business looks back on as old-time show business (laughs). He was friends with like George Burns, Milton Berle and a young Sammy Davis Jr. He was on Broadway as a teenager, and then cut to 1940, now he’s approximately 20-years-old and he goes on the radio with Fred Allen. Back then, people used to sit and watch the radio. Jack Benny and Fred Allen were the two top shows. He did a Fred Allen [imitation like] something they do on “Saturday Night Live” these days, but in 1940, it was probably the first time anyone had ever seen anything with that and then he does Jimmy Stewart that will blow your mind. My dad probably did it first.

He’s on “The Ed Sullivan Show” numerous times. He’s friends and writes with Lenny Bruce. He’s part of the first integrated show in Montgomery, Alabama. My dad’s on the bill with Ray Charles, The Shirelles and Johnny Mathis. He had this rich, wonderful, long career, but by the ’70s, which is when I’m getting going as a youngster, he’s in the Catskill Mountains at that point, which is fading, but hasn’t completely faded yet. They were a massive show town and my dad was “Mr. Saturday Night.” When Billy Crystal made “Mr. Saturday Night,” that movie is kind of a combination of all those guys like my dad, but it is in part my dad because, in fact, I got interviewed for that movie about my dad when they were writing it.

Anyway, in the ’70s, he’s doing the Catskill Mountains and now I’m getting a lot out of it. I’m watching my dad a lot, Joey Bishop, Robert Klein and David Brenner. I got to hang out backstage with Milton Berle, bring him his tea, that kind of thing. I was a bit of a helper, bringing the music out, but they didn’t need that much help. I remember I suggested a joked to Milton Berle and he did it on stage, the biggest thrill of my life at that moment in time. George Burns gave me a cigar (laughs). Old School. I got to hang out with all those guys and watch them work. I learned from those greats!

Tell us about your history throughout the Chicago area.

Price: Other than the Catskill Mountains, which was down the road from where we lived, I hadn’t really been on the road with my dad, so I went with my dad on a road trip to Chicago [when he performed at] the Blue Max at the top of the Hyatt Regency O’Hare. It was spectacular. My dad was on the bill with Peaches & Herb and that was my first trip to Chicago. We had a great time…Over the years, there’s some good memories. I opened up a club in downtown, Catch A Rising Star. All the clubs, The Improv, when that was in Chicago, and even The Laugh Factory. I really have worked all the clubs in Chicago over the years.

Who’s on deck for this new “Sitcom Sidekicks” show?

Price: Right there in St. Charles, it’s our first time. It’s actually the first time all three of us are together. Steve played Kenny Bania on “Seinfeld.” He’s the guy that says, “That’s gold, Jerry! Gold!” And joining us is Robbie, who was Cousin Oliver towards the end of “The Brady Bunch.” All the kids had grown up, even the little kids were teenagers now and the teenagers were in college. The show was always about the kids, and now everybody was older, they brought in Cousin Oliver. He also played on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” one of the greatest shows in television history. Phyllis was a key character on that show and he played her son. He’s done a lot of stuff other than that of course, but it all comes down to the couple of things you’re known for the best. I’m aware of that. I’m Skippy from “Family Ties” and Ragman from “Trick Or Treat” with Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons.

In your opinion, why has “Family Ties” lived on and become such an iconic program?

Price: One, it was in an ’80s time capsule. You watch any episode and you realize it zoned in on the ’80s so well. It was also like a play. The people that put it on had worked on like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” the classier shows, even ballsier shows like “All In The Family.” “Family Ties,” in a lot of ways, is the reverse of “All In The Family” cause Archie is conservative and Meathead is the hippie. Then on this show, the parents are the hippies and the son, Alex, is the conservative one, so it was able to take on issues and subject matter that isn’t silly or light. There were a lot of funny things and they had great writers.

Our writers were a mix that included somebody that wrote for Robert Klein and the movie “Blazing Saddles,” an old-timer, and we had a guy that sent in a sample episode out of college. The executive producer flew him out and put him on the team. He’s gone on to great things and direct movies with Sandra Bullock. He’s a big deal in Hollywood, but at that time, he was just a college student. We had a lot more than just two guys. We had a big team of great writers, but the point was they were from different eras. That would allow the younger writers to learn from the older writers and older writers were learning from the younger writers. That’s how it was done for ages in Hollywood from way back when, but they just somehow made it just all young people at some point and it lost a little something.

What do you think about the “Family Ties” theme song and it also staying so popular? 

Price: You know that song was originally studio singers, and then for the third season, they brought in Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams to record the version that I believe most people identify with the show now. What can I say? It’s a pretty song and Billy Vera & The Beaters, don’t forget about them. They had a big hit [with “At This Moment”] through “Family Ties.”

What was it like being part of an A-list cast, especially working with Michael J. Fox during the “Back To The Future” era?

Price: I got lucky. I definitely got lucky. It could’ve been “Mama’s Family” or some other show, especially since he kind of took me under his arm and made me the younger brother figure or whatever. I used to go to night clubs with him sometimes and get his overflow women (laughs). Like plankton on a whale, I would feed off of his rejects. But honestly, he didn’t even have a car when the show started. Meredith Baxter-Birney would pick him up and drive him into work, and now a few years later, he’s starring in the biggest movie in the country. He’s the hottest star. We watched that all happen. There was no animosity. Sometimes [the tabloids said], “People got mad because the parents were gonna be the star of the show.” See, that’s what happened in the early ’80s. If you remember the ’70s, “Diff’rent Strokes” and any show you want to mention, there were like old people in it, not maybe lots of them, but there were some old people in it, and then like “Laverne & Shirley,” there was Laverne’s dad who ran the pizza place. Even Laverne and Shirley were adults. Then they got rid of that and it became all about kids. Our show was part of that evolution for sure.

There wasn’t that friction. I’m saying the tabloids kind of made it up. That was the rumor and stuff, but it really wasn’t like that at all. Everybody was so happy that Michael was successful and that was our ticket. He was our meal ticket (laughs). You didn’t want to get in the way of that in any way. It was so obvious so early to everybody from the network, to him, to me, to anybody that he was the shining star of the show.

Do you all still get together for reunions, either publicly or privately?

Price: There might have been one more recently I wasn’t at that I couldn’t make, but there was one like ten years ago that I did make that was an important one. Our executive producer, [Gary David Goldberg], was there and he’s no longer with us. That’s one the saddest things. I mean we know how sad it is that Michael has to deal with Parkinson’s, even though he’s very brave and very much the great family man. He’s done everything anybody could possibly do to overcome that himself and have a great life, which I admire very much, cause I might not be so strong. I might have given up. He never did. So that’s a wonderful thing, but it’s sad, of course, and losing our executive producer was another beyond sad milestone. It’s one of the reasons why there will never be another “Family Ties” again or anything like that because our executive producer was such a part of our whole thing. He was the lead and nobody wants to mess with that without his being a part of it. Back in the day, because at that point in time they were doing the new “Gilligan’s Island” and it was always so lame, everybody made a pact back that nobody would ever actually do [a reboot like] that.

How much of the show factors into your stand-up, if at all?

Price: Hardly any. We have a lot of young people in our audiences and they don’t really remember “Family Ties” at all, so I can’t do Mallory jokes or anything like that. But we do milk it to get people in and then we do our show, which is relevant for all ages and we’re proud of that.

What are the topics you’re talking about these days?

Price: Well, I do deal a little bit with growing up in show business and being a former child actor in Hollywood in the ’80s. Michael Jackson never touched me by the way…I’m actually a little #WhyNotMeToo? (laughs) But I talk about a lot of different things. AI is of course a big subject amongst us all. It’s gonna kill us all right. It’s coming for us and all the young people, that’s all they do is just use AI. They don’t work anymore. They just have AI do the work, so at the Arcarda Theatre, I’m proud to introduce the brand new AI comedian. We’re also having somebody in the audience join me and I’m going to make my “Dancing With The Stars” audition tape.

Robbie, by the way, plays electric guitar and he sings. He’s our special guest host, so he’s gonna do a couple of songs to get us going and then I’m gonna go out there, then Steve is gonna close up the whole thing. Steve does his act and eventually he does talk a little bit about working on “Seinfeld” because people want that so much from him.

We have to talk to about you starring in “Trick Or Treat” alongside Gene Simmons, and Ozzy Osbourne. What was that combination like?

Price: Gene Simmons, Ozzy Osbourne and Skippy. One of these things is not like the other (laughs), but that was cool too. Our director was Charlie Martin Smith. You might know him as Toad in “American Graffiti” and he’s been in a lot of things since then, big movies like “The Untouchables.” He identified with me cause he was a nerdy young actor. Now he’s directing and I was a nerdy young actor. The part called for a nerd, a heavy metal nerd albeit, but still a nerd, so Keanu Reeves didn’t get it. He was up for it, but he was too cool. Another director would’ve probably cast Keanu Reeves (laughs), but he cast me. It was a great experience working with him, the crew, and yes, Ozzy, who we got to see as Ozzy. Everyone thought he was the demon of darkness at that moment in time and the reality show wasn’t a thing. Nobody knew who Sharon was. Oh Sharon runs the show. Ozzy’s like a goofy, fun-loving guy. Who knew? He had a great attitude and a great energy.

Then Gene Simmons came in and it was more like, I don’t know, he didn’t really want to do it, but he did a good job. He’s a talented guy and it’s held up mostly because it’s got a great heavy metal soundtrack. The group is called Fastway. Heavy metal fans love Fastway and “Trick Or Treat” fans love Fastway. It’s the 40th anniversary right now and there’s a new Blu-ray. There’s different covers and people are buying all of them. People will have me sign stuff all the time, but folks that saw that movie growing up love it. I don’t get it myself.

Why do you feel that way?

Price: I hate to put it down because it’s been so good to me. I work with it a lot. I do screenings of the movie where I do comedy before the show and I do live commentary with the movie, so part of the problem is I’ve seen it too much. I’m totally sick of it at this point. Every time I have to do one of those I go, “Oh God, I’ve gotta watch it again, really?” Look, it’s a good movie. Charlie called me. He goes, “Don’t be too down on yourself. You did a great job. You should be proud of it” and he’s right. There’s just other movies I think are better that nobody gives a sh** about anymore and yet people care about us. We’ve got a website and a Facebook page. People make posts every day. It’s crazy, but people connected to that underdog character. The hero in a movie is often times unrelatable because who’s life does everything always work out? You get the girl, you’re good looking, skinny, all that stuff, so somebody who’s more true to life is something that people can relate to when things don’t always go right or whatever. That one’s for Skippy and for the character Ragman in “Trick Or Treat.”

What are some of the other roles that mean the most to you?

Price: I just agreed to do one, by the way, for a new horror movie. I haven’t acted in a long time, it’s kind of cool. I’m the antagonist, but you don’t know it at first. People think I’m nice, but then it turns out I’m not so nice in a really cool way and I’m excited to act again. I hosted “Teen Win, Lose Or Draw” on the Disney Channel for many years and we had young stars on the show at the time, like Leonardo DiCaprio. Let me just tell you at that moment in time, he was so young with his mom there and the same thing with Justin Timberlake. He was in NSYNC. Back in those days he was on “The Mickey Mouse Club.” We shot in Florida and he had his family with him. I was 19 and I didn’t have anybody looking after me. I was a freewheeling guy and I had writers. He just thought I was so cool (laughs). There was a time when Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Timberlake thought I was cool, yeah (laughs).

I hosted a documentary about the temperature getting hotter, which it is technically doing. It’s called like “Global Warming” and it went to schools all over the country. I started producing shows cause I learned from the “Family Ties” producers. I had two shows that got on for two seasons each and that’s hard to do. It’s hard to get anything on the air, a pilot, anything. To get something picked up and then picked up again for a second season, it’s near impossible. We did that, but neither of them were hits. We just kind of squeezed into the second season in both cases. One was on the Game Show Network and it was called “National Lampoon’s Funny Money.” It was a game show with comedians, contestants and a funny host. The other one was called “Star Dates” [on E!] and it was in the early days of reality shows, when dating shows were first popular. Two people would go on a date with a “where are they now?” star, so I made the demo pilot. I went out with a couple of girls…The saddest one was Gary Coleman. One guy met a girl and ended up marrying her!

Is there anything you want people to learn about Marc Price they might not already know?

Price: I was doing stand-up comedy before I was on “Family Ties.” That’s how they found me. My dad taught me and I started performing with him. When I came out to L.A., young people were a big thing. Conversely, old people were no longer wanted, so my dad, his opportunities were drying up. I was in a show at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, the famous rock & roll Roxy, on Sundays in the afternoon. They did this kids show with incredible singers, dancers, a guitar player and a drummer. They were all the top talents. I was the comedian on the show and they called us to be on “Merv Griffin.” When I was 14, I went on “The Merv Griffin Show” as a comedian. NBC saw that and that helped lead to Skippy becoming a thing.

Stand-up is my first love. We had a Comedy Store near where we lived…so I saw guys like Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Kinison and Jim Carrey all before any one knew who they were. I got to hang out with and meet those guys. It was like a different era. Now if I’m doing a show at the Arcada and some 15-year-old shows up backstage, I couldn’t really hang out with them in the alley. I might get arrested. In those days it was different. Those guys did hang out with me and they didn’t treat me like a kid. It was a great introduction to a different kind of comedy. That’s the last thing I’d say. My show represents a broad spectrum of inspirations. It’s all over the place.

---

Marc Price performs alongside Steve Hytner and Robbie Rist at the Arcada Theatre on Saturday, August 22. For additional details, visit MarcSkippyPrice.com and ArcadaLive.com.