"It is great to be here. Honestly. It's so great to be out of the tough backbiting world of Hollywood and into the benign and polite world of New York book publishing."

That was comedian Steve Martin, appearing on a book panel on BookTV on September 27, 1998... It was just two weeks after BookTV started on C-SPAN, 25 years ago -- and it was one of the earliest programs seen on BookTV.

Steve Martin made four more appearances on BookTV -- all hosting the National Book Awards..

Decades later, Steve Martin is now co-starring in the hit streaming series "Only Murders in the Building."

We'd like to think we gave him his big break.

Even if that's not entirely true... here's something that is: If you like Steve Martin, you'll love the latest episode of C-SPAN's "The Weekly"... Because in this podcast, we mark the 25th anniversary of BookTV in a wild and crazy way: by presenting the best of Steve Martin on BookTV.

Find C-SPAN's "The Weekly" wherever you get podcasts.

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