One of Steinberg's most notorious performances was in October 1968 on
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he gave satirical sermons. The sketch caused
CBS to receive a record number of complaints, and, as a result, the network instituted a policy of providing local stations with a closed-circuit telecast of each episode ahead of time so they could choose whether or not to air it. The
Smothers Brothers were told by the network that they could have Steinberg on the show again on the condition that he would not repeat the sermons. Nevertheless,
Tommy Smothers asked Steinberg to do it again, and he gave a sermon in which he said "The Old Testament scholars say that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The Gentiles, the New Testament scholars say, 'Hold it, Jews, no.' They literally grabbed the Jews by the Old Testament." This incident contributed to the cancellation of the show. The Jonah sketch was never aired by CBS. Steinberg appeared in two Broadway flops,
Little Murders and
Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights, which both closed within one week in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Steinberg was the most frequent host of the pop and rock music
ABC television show,
The Music Scene, 1969–1970. The show featured performances by
Joe Cocker and
CSN&Y. In 1972, Steinberg wrote and starred in
The David Steinberg Show in the United States as a five-week summer replacement sketch comedy show. Around the same time,
TV Guide labelled Steinberg "offbeat, racy, outrageous, and establishment-baiting – all of which makes him a particular favorite among the young and disenchanted." He was inducted into
Canada's Walk of Fame in 2003. More recently (2005–2007), Steinberg hosted
Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg, an informal, interview-style show in which he talks with famous comedians and comic actors, for two seasons on
TV Land in the U.S. The first season featured
Mike Myers,
Larry David,
Jon Lovitz,
Martin Short,
Bob Newhart, and
George Lopez. The second season featured
Jerry Seinfeld,
Robin Williams,
Roseanne Barr,
Jon Stewart,
Garry Shandling and
Ray Romano. The program was filmed before an audience at
UCLA. His first book,
The Book of David (), was published in June 2007 by
Simon & Schuster. In 2010, he directed and produced the Canadian cable comedy series
Living in Your Car. ==Personal life==