Dean's TV
career began with Jerry Lewis, appearing in The Toast of the
Town, ie: the Ed Sullivan Show. Dean and Jerry got to rotate
appearances on the Colgate Comedy Hour with the likes of Abbott
and Costello, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Donald O'Connor and
many others.
After the
breakup, Dean appeared on variety shows hosted by Dinah Shore,
Perry Como, Frank Sinatra and others. He hosted his own shows in
the late 50's and then concentrated on his movie career, and made
appearances only occasionally on the tube. Then, in the 60's,
fate seemed to step in.
Jerry Lewis'
short lived Saturday night show was cancelled and ABC TV had to
hurriedly put together shows to fill the time slots made
available by the cancellation. One of the shows was The Hollywood
Palace, a variety show hosted each week by a different
personality. Dean's appearances on this show ranked high in the
ratings and people saw a different Dean than they had experienced
when he was with Lewis. He was loose, funny and his ad-libs were
hilarious. His reaction after the Rolling Stones performance is
classic. (The Hollywood Palace also boasts the fact that Raquel
Welch was their Billboard Girl. Dean's reaction to her was great,
also--and as fate would also have it, they appeared together in
Bandolero not too many years later.)
After turning
down offers to host his own TV show over and over again, Dean
made the ridiculous demands of only working one day a week, to
tape the show, with very little rehearsal, if any, and he even
wanted the network to agree to his not singing as much if he
didn't feel like it. Dean figured no one would go for such
demands, but to his surprise (and good fortune) they went for it
and The Dean Martin Show was born, to remain in the Thursday
night at 10 p.m. slot for many years.
The Dean
Martin Show was a hit (after a rocky start) and was renewed, when
shows hosted by other entertainers got cancelled, including Roger
Miller and Steve Lawrence. It must be noted that through the
years Dean was the only one of his cohorts that would stay on the
air for a long period. Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra and Jerry
Lewis could not maintain a steady viewing audience to stay on.
Joey Bishop did have some success with his sit-com and then late
evening talk show for a few years and Peter Lawford did have an
earlier hit with The Thin Man, but never reached those heights on
TV again.
The
difference between Dean's show and all others was it's philosophy
of not taking anything too seriously and to just have fun.
Mistakes were left in to show that behind the scenes could be
more fun than anything that went out over the air, and it was the
first show of it's kind that blooped things out instead of just
cutting them, so that even though you couldn't hear the words
blooped, you generally got the idea and could laugh along with
Dean and his guests. A classic segment when this happened was
when Milburn Stone, who played Doc on Gunsmoke, sat down with
Dean and did his tongue twisting bit called Spoonerisms. Halfway
through he had Dean in hysterics, but Dean did him one better.
After one such Spoonerism, Dean said "No s---t?" as
plain as day you could see him say it, although blooped out.
Well, Dean, Milburn, the crew, the audience and I am sure the
home viewers laughed so hard that tears flowed. Dean laughed out
loud that that would be cut, using his fingers as the blades of
scissors, but it wasn't cut, and thanks to the people in charge
for leaving it in, because it is a moment that I still laugh at
when I think about it, as I do when I picture the time Dean
jumped on Ken's piano and the whole thing collapsed. It was a
complete surprise to the audience and it is very, very, VERY
funny. George Gobel's Hole in the Bucket song was another great
moment when Dean added his own lyrics and caught George by
surprise. George laughed and it was not easy for him to get back
on track.(The following is a list of some of the video tapes that I have been able to add to my personal Dean Collection)
Dean Martin TV Shows & specials
Tape # /Quality/ Description
1 (Good) Lena Horne, Sid Caesar, Victor Borge/(Good) Dean Martin Comedy Classics Special
2 (Good) Orson Welles, Jimmy Stewart, Juliet Prowse/(Good) Sid Caesar, Bob Newhart, Paul Anka, Morgana King
3 (Good) Petula Clark, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, Don Rickles, Flip Wilson/(Good) John Wayne, Bill Cosby, Joey Heatherton, Rowan & Martin
4 (Good) Gina Lollabrigida, Phil Silvers, Milburn Stone, Norm Crosby/(Good) Orson Welles, Petula Clark, Joey Bishop, Laurie Ichino
5 (Good) Don Cherry, Polly Bergen, Rowan & Martin, Bing Crosby/(Good) Ann-Margret, Bob Newhart
6 (Good) Jimmy Stewart, Wisa, D'Orso, George Gobel, Shecky Greene/(Good) Buddy Hackett, Rosemary Clooney, Minnie Pearl, David Steinberg
7 (Good) Andrew Sisters, Lena Horne, Don Rickles/(Good) Paul Lynde, Kaye Medford, Jonathan Winters, Norm Crosby
8 (Good) Joey Bishop, Joanne Pflug/(Good) Petula Clark, Art Carney, Richard Castallano
9 (Good) Bing Crosby, Clair & McMahon, Rip Taylor, Richard Castallano/(Good) Jimmy Stewart, Dom DeLuise, Laurie Ichino
10 (Good) Carol Lawrence, Liberace, Bob Newhart, Dom DeLuise/(Good) Lucille Ball, Bill Cosby, Kate Smith, Rowan & Martin
11 (Good) Bing Crosby, Lena Horne, Dom DeLuise/(Good) Raquel Welch, Jimmy Stewart, Victor Borge
12 (Fair) Jim Brown, Barbara Feldon, Charles Nelson Reilly/(Fair) Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Feldon, Anna Moffo
13 (Fair) Goldie Hawn, Dennis Weaver/(Fair) Glen Campbell, Gail Gordon
14 (Fair) Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge/(Fair) Liberace, Bob Newhart, Dom DeLuise
15 (Fair) (bw) Janet Leigh, Mills Brothers, Phil Silvers/(Fair) (bw) Frank Sinatra, Rith Buzzi
16 (Good) Dean in London, Showtime Special/(Good) Dean Roasts Michael Landon
17 (Good) Dean Roasts Mr. T/(Good) Dean Roasts Joan Collins
18 (Good) Christmas Special at Sea World/(Good) Christmas Special Safari
19 (Good) Hollywood Palace/(Good) Judy, Frank and Dean Special
20 (Fair) NBC 1st 60 Years Special
21 (Good) Frank Sinatra Show w/Dean and Mitzi Gaynor/(Good) Classic Comedy Teams-PBS Special
22 (Good) Rat Pack at the Sands(slight audio hiss)
23 (Good) Dean Martin Roasts Highlights
24 (Good) Dean Roasts Frank Sinatra
25 (Good) 2 Half Nelson TV Shows
26 (Fair) 2 (different)Half Nelson TV Shows
27 (Fair) Half Nelson 2 Hour TV Movie
28 (Fair/poor) Dinah Shore Show w/Dean/(Fair/poor) Perry Como Show w/Dean
29 (Poor) The Big Show
30 (Fair) Martin & Lewis Television Party for MD
31 (Good) Geraldo Rivera Rat Pack Show (Dean doesn't appear)/(Good) Geraldo Rivera w/Deana Martin (Dean calls in LIVE)
32 (Fair) Portrait of a Legend (profiles Dean)/(Fair) Club Oasis (Dean's late 50's show)w/Sinatra/(Poor) Martin and Lewis Reunite on Telethon-Dean & Frank Sing
33 (Fair) Dean's 1st Thursday Night Show/(Poor) Christmas Show with Martin & Sinatra Families
34 (Fair) Best of Dean Special
35 (Fair) Make Room For Daddy-Dean Guests/(Fair) Sinatra & Friends
36 (Good) Sinatra's 75th Birthday/(Good) Carl Reiner's ET Segment Re: Dean's TV Show/(Poor) Together Again Press Conference
37 (Poor) Sheriff Lobo/(Poor) Skinny D'Amato Dinner
38 (Fair +) Dean and Jerry at the Copa (approx. 1 hour)
39 (Good) Dean's guest starring on the TV Western "Rawhide"
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*Dean's movies that I have been able to collect on video tape*
My Friend Irma
My Friend Irma Goes West
At War With The Army
That's My Boy
Sailor Beware
Jumping Jacks
The Stooge
Scared Stiff
The Caddy
Money From Home
Living It Up
Three Ring Circus
You're Never Too Young
Artists and Models
Pardners
Hollywood or Bust
Ten Thousand Bedrooms
The Young Lions
Some Came Running
Rio Bravo
Career
Who Was That Lady
Bells Are Ringing
Ocean's 11 (also in letterbox format)
Pepe
All In A Night's Work
Ada
Sergeants 3 (Newer Wide Screen Version with added attraction Theater Preview hosted by Joey Bishop)
Who's Got The Action
Toys In The Attic
Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed
4 For texas (also in letterbox format)
What A Way To Go
Robin and the 7 Hoods
Kiss Me, Stupid (also a French dubbed version)
The Sons of Katie Elder (also in letterbox format)
Marriage on the Rocks
The Silencers
Texas Across the River
Murderer's Row
Rough Night in Jericho
The Ambushers
How To Save A Marriage-And Ruin Your Life
Bandolero
5 Card Stud
The Wrecking Crew
Airport
Showdown
Mr. Ricco
The Cannonball Run
The Cannonball Run ll
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The following was printed in the Autograph Times dated March 1996. It shows Dean's autographs plus one signed by his secretary. If you are looking for authentic signatures of Dean Martin these may help you from making a bad buy from sales and auctions. The Dean Martin Collectors Club does not confirm or deny these examples. I am just posting what an official Autograph Collectors publication printed. I found it very interesting.
