Popular culture wasn't always drenched in irony and snarkiness.

In his new book, "Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America" (Bloomsbury USA), Richard Zoglin describes how one generation of comedians rebelled against the one-liners of the past and remade the nation's sense of humor —- a sort of revenge of the smart alecks.

Zoglin, 59, has written about entertainment at Time magazine for 25 years. Before that, he was The Atlanta Constitution's TV critic. He talked about his book from New York.

In case you're wondering, no, he's never had the guts to try stand-up himself.

Q: You call these comedians the forgotten stars of the cultural revolution. What do you mean?

A: Everybody talks about how rock music and radical politics changed America in the late '60s and early '70s. I think stand-up comedians were just as important. But there was never much attention paid to their art form. It was always given a sidelong glance.

Q: So how did they change America?

A: They changed what we laugh at. They brought in that ironic way of looking at things, which is the way we look at almost everything today. People like Steve Martin and Albert Brooks were pure irony. I see a clear line from Steve Martin to Stephen Colbert.

Q: The book begins with the death of Lenny Bruce in 1966 and ends with the rise of Jerry Seinfeld in the early '80s. Has there been much change in comedy since then?

A: I don't think there's been any big breakthrough. Seinfeld was the guy who brought it back to the mainstream —- a non-edgy comic who turned his act into a TV show. But there's been another strain that's much more scatological, that thinks a comedian has to say things that are more offensive than what you heard them say last month. I think they're really reaching.

Q: Eight comedians are pictured on the cover. I'd like to hear why you think each was significant, starting with George Carlin.

A: He's the great heroic figure of the period. A successful Vegas comedian who decided to give it all up and start over again playing coffeehouses and campuses. His agents thought he was destroying his career, but he remade it and blazed a trail.

Q: Richard Pryor?

A: There was no one better at performing stand-up. The characters he created, the way he dug into himself and turned the most painful aspects of his life into comedy —- he was unparalleled.

Q: Robert Klein?

A: The most underrated. He was the first hip, longish-haired guy speaking to the new generation without having to change his act. He had a fresh attitude and developed a fast-paced mix of jokes and acted-out situations that many comedians used as a model.

Q: Albert Brooks?

A: A lot of people don't even remember he did stand-up. It was a running parody of bad show business: the bad mime, the bad ventriloquist. He was the first person who built an entire act out of the idea of being a bad comedian.

Q: Steve Martin?

A: He was doing the same sort of thing —- making fun of show business —- but he was so over-the-top and crazy. I don't think people even understood why they were laughing. No stand-up comedian has ever drawn the crowds and adulation he did at his peak.

Q: Andy Kaufman?

A: He took that same strain of self-parody and turned it into weird performance art. He didn't seek audience approval. He dared to see how bad he could be onstage and still make people laugh and stay in their seats. I think you can see a lot of him in something like "Borat."

Q: Robin Williams?

A: The greatest pure performer. It wasn't the content of his act. It was the way he did it: the free association, jumping around the audience, everything nonlinear.

Q: And Seinfeld?

A: A terrific craftsman who works very hard at it. Even though he doesn't dig into his soul, he's an intimate performer who brings you into his world.

Q: All the faces on the cover are men. Why no women?

A: There were no major women comics during that time. I wrote a whole chapter about that. My wife made me write it. There were some older comics like Joan Rivers and some who came along later like Roseanne Barr and Ellen DeGeneres. But in the '70s, the biggest one was Elayne Boosler, and she wasn't on the same level as the men. I don't think the industry was quite ready for assertive women. The other problem was Johnny Carson. He gave key exposure to most of these comics on "The Tonight Show," but he was uncomfortable with strong women. Other than Joan Rivers, he didn't like to book them.

Q: You talked to dozens of comedians, from David Letterman and Jay Leno on down. Was everyone cooperative?

A: Most of them. Carlin and Klein were great. The hardest one to get was Steve Martin. He was writing his own book, so that's probably why he didn't give me much time. He isn't known as a good interview, but he was pretty good with me. He said he never thought of himself as a wild and crazy guy putting an arrow through his head. He thought of himself as an avant-garde artist.

Q: I understand some of these stars came to your book party in New York.

A: Jerry Seinfeld showed up, and he doesn't come to many parties like that. Robert Klein was there. Charles Grodin, Danny Aiello, Richard Belzer. Belzer stood up and roasted me.

Q: Did he say anything you can quote?

A: It was about how I got him to talk. It had to do with getting him high and doing sexual things to him. My mother was in the audience, so it was a little uncomfortable for me.

That '70s shtick: A guide to the era's leading comics

George Carlin

PERSONA: Hippy-dippy humorist

FAMOUS BIT: Seven words you cannot say on TV

BACKSTAGE: When he grew his hair long and became more political, he got fired in Vegas.

QUOTE: "There are no bad words."

Richard Pryor

PERSONA: Scared . . . and angry

FAMOUS BIT: Black man stopped by white cop: "I am reaching into my pock-et for my li-cense."

BACKSTAGE: Once stabbed a heckler with a fork.

QUOTE: After pouring cognac over himself and lighting it: "When you're on fire and runnin' down the street, people get out of your way."

Robert Klein

PERSONA: Hip teacher's assistant

FAMOUS BIT: Late-night infomercial for Juergen's myasthenia, "a dreaded disease in which the nose mysteriously slides off."

BACKSTAGE: Turned down Trapper John role in TV's "MASH."

QUOTE: "I want an orderly nuclear holocaust."

Albert Brooks

PERSONA: Showbiz phony

FAMOUS BIT: Wisecracking mime: "Take my wife —- s'il vous plait!"

BACKSTAGE: Birth name: Albert Einstein

QUOTE: "I don't experience basic human emotions. It's not my thing."

Steve Martin

PERSONA: Wild and crazy guy

FAMOUS BIT: A one-liner —- "I was born a poor black child" —- became his first movie, "The Jerk."

BACKSTAGE: Very serious. "To spend time with him," Tommy Smothers said, "is like being alone."

QUOTE: "I'm Steve Martin and I'll be out here in a minute."

Andy Kaufman

PERSONA: Alien being

FAMOUS BIT: Lip-syncing "Mighty Mouse" cartoon theme.

BACKSTAGE: During a weeklong gig in Reno, he bedded all 42 prostitutes at the Mustang Ranch.

QUOTE: "Tenk you veddy much."

Robin Williams

PERSONA: Human pinball

FAMOUS BIT: Ernest Angry, TV faith healer

BACKSTAGE: Other comics accused him of stealing material.

QUOTE: "Is anyone here on drugs?"

Jerry Seinfeld

PERSONA: Neat nerdy narcissist

FAMOUS BIT: His riff on cereal and the importance of milk-estimation skills.

BACKSTAGE: Did his homework, spending at least an hour a day writing on a yellow legal pad.

QUOTE: "Pajamas have got to be the world's funniest clothes."

—- Jim Auchmutey