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The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast

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The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast
GenreVariety/Comedy
Written byDavid Axelroad, Bill Daley, Stan Burns, Mike Marmer, Peter Gallay, Arthur Philips
Directed byGreg Garrison
Presented byDean Martin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes54: 29 Specials, 25 as Dean Martin Show segment
Production
ProducerGreg Garrison
Running timeVaries
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseOctober 31, 1974 (1974-10-31) –
December 7, 1984 (1984-12-07)
Related
The Dean Martin Show

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast is an American series of television specials hosted by entertainer Dean Martin and airing from 1974 to 1984. For a series of 54 specials and shows, Martin and his friends would "roast" a celebrity. The roasts were patterned after the roasts held at the New York Friars' Club.

History

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In 1973, The Dean Martin Show was declining in popularity. In its final season, to pick up the ratings and to require less of Martin's involvement, it was retooled into a series of celebrity roasts by adding a feature called "Man of the Week Celebrity Roast." The roasts seemed to be popular among television audiences and are often marketed in post-issues as part of the official Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts and not The Dean Martin Show.

After The Dean Martin Show was cancelled in 1974, NBC drew up a contract with Martin to do several specials and do more roast specials. Starting with Bob Hope in 1974, the roast was taped in California and turned out to be a hit, leading to many other roasts to follow.[1]

In the fall of 1974, the roasts moved permanently to the MGM Grand Hotel's Ziegfeld Room in Las Vegas and mainly aired Thursdays on NBC. The televised roasts were popular in the ratings; however Martin and NBC declined to extend the 10-year contract. Some segments were taped prior to or after the roast, due to considerations with the performer or technical aspects.[2] No roasts were broadcast between 1980 and 1983 (partly due to the MGM Grand fire of 1980), with the specials returning for a few final installments in 1984. The show's official title as a television special would change based on the celebrity; in James Stewart's case for instance, it would be the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Jimmy Stewart.

Format

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The roastmaster (Martin), the roastee, and the roasters would be seated on a dais. The roastees were also referred to as "Man of the Hour", "Woman of the Hour", or "Man of the Week" in earlier episodes.

Every roast began with an introduction by roastmaster Martin, with jokes about the celebrity in question. He would then introduce each member of the dais, who would take turns adding insults or jokes about the honoree. For example, during the roast of Bette Davis, veteran actor Henry Fonda said that I've been close to Bette Davis for thirty-eight years - and I have the cigarette burns to prove it. In the end, the honoree would have their chance to insult the roastmaster and members of the dais.

In two instances, a pair of celebrities were roasted at the same time: Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, and Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. Only one person was honored posthumously, George Washington, who was honored for the upcoming United States Bicentennial (veteran historical impersonator Jan Leighton portrayed Washington for the episode while Audrey Meadows portrayed his wife, Martha). Michael Landon, Redd Foxx, Joe Namath, and Jack Klugman (with Tony Randall in 1973 and alone in 1978) were the only celebrities roasted twice; Landon's second time, in 1984, being the final roast. Don Rickles hosted the roast of Dean Martin and assumed the role of Roastmaster.[3]

Comedian Foster Brooks appeared the most often on the roast with each appearing 30 times. While most of the participants were comedians known for their work in such events, occasionally unexpected participants would be featured, such as British pop singer Petula Clark who was recruited to help roast TV actor William Conrad in 1973.

Episodes

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As a segment on The Dean Martin Show

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1. Governor Ronald Reagan, September 14, 1973 (Show #904)
2. Hugh Hefner, September 21, 1973 (Show #901)
3. Ed McMahon, September 28, 1973 (Show #902)
4. William Conrad, October 5, 1973 (Show #903)
5. Kirk Douglas, October 12, 1973 (Show #905)
6. Bette Davis, October 19, 1973 (Show #909)
7. Senator Barry Goldwater, October 26, 1973 (Show #907)
8. Johnny Carson, November 2, 1973 (Show #914)
9. Wilt Chamberlain, November 9, 1973 (Show #911)
10. Senator and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey, November 23, 1973 (Show #913)
11. Carroll O'Connor, December 7, 1973 (Show #908)
12. Monty Hall, December 14, 1973 (Show #912)
13. Jack Klugman & Tony Randall, December 21, 1973 (Show #910)
14. Zsa Zsa Gabor, January 11, 1974 (Show #906)
15. Leo Durocher, January 18, 1974 (Show #917)
16. Truman Capote, January 25, 1974 (Show #920)
17. Don Rickles, February 8, 1974 (Show #918)
18. Ralph Nader, February 15, 1974 (Show #919)
19. Jack Benny, February 22, 1974 (Show #923)
20. Redd Foxx, March 1, 1974 (Show #915)
21. Bobby Riggs, March 6, 1974 (Show #916)
22. George Washington (portrayed by Jan Leighton), March 15, 1974 (Show #922)
23. Dan Rowan & Dick Martin, March 25, 1974
24. Hank Aaron, March 29, 1974 (Show #921)
25. Joe Namath, April 5, 1974 (Show #925)

As The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast

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26. Bob Hope, October 31, 1974 (Show #1001)
27. Telly Savalas, November 15, 1974
28. Lucille Ball, February 8, 1975
29. Jackie Gleason, February 27, 1975
30. Sammy Davis Jr., April 25, 1975 (Show #1005)
31. Michael Landon, May 16, 1975
32. Evel Knievel, November 10, 1975
33. Valerie Harper, November 20, 1975
34. Muhammad Ali, February 19, 1976
35. Dean Martin, February 27, 1976
36. Dennis Weaver, April 27, 1976
37. Joe Garagiola, May 25, 1976
38. Redd Foxx, November 26, 1976
39. Danny Thomas, December 15, 1976
40. Angie Dickinson, February 8, 1977
41. Gabe Kaplan, February 21, 1977
42. Ted Knight, March 2, 1977
43. Peter Marshall, May 2, 1977
44. Dan Haggerty, November 2, 1977
45. Frank Sinatra, February 7, 1978
46. Jack Klugman, March 17, 1978
47. Betty White, May 6, 1978
48. Jimmy Stewart, May 10, 1978 (Show #1306)
49. George Burns, May 17, 1978
50. Suzanne Somers, November 21, 1978
51. Joe Namath, January 19, 1979
52. Joan Collins, February 23, 1984
53. Mr. T, March 14, 1984
54. Michael Landon, December 7, 1984

Home media

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The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts were released on DVD through Guthy-Renker with some of The Dean Martin Show roasts selected as part of the package. The show is one of the most sold video sets of all time.[1] NBC Universal brought suit against producer Greg Garrison and Guthy-Renker for selling The Dean Martin Show DVDs; the suit did not affect the Celebrity Roasts. All 54 of the Celebrity Roasts are included in the 23-disc boxset Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Complete DVD Collection released October 15, 2013 by Time Life.[4]

Syndication

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In recent years The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast has been shown on Decades and its successor network Catchy Comedy as a "Weekend Binge" (later renamed "The Catchy Binge") and as a "Thanksgiving Roast" marathon on Thanksgiving Day. Catchy Comedy presented a "Catchy Binge" of the series on August 5–6, 2023.

Newsmax2 acquired rights to the series in 2026.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Martin, Deana; Holden, Wendy (May 12, 2010). Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes. Crown. pp. 197–198. ISBN 978-0-3075-3826-0.
  2. ^ Quirk, Lawrence J.; Schoell, William (1999). The Rat Pack: Neon Nights with the Kings of Cool. Spike. p. 291. ISBN 978-0-3807-3222-7.
  3. ^ Fearn-Banks, Kathleen (November 15, 2005). Historical Dictionary of African-American Television: Volume 7 of Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts. Scarecrow Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-8108-6522-8.
  4. ^ "The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Complete DVD Collection". Archived January 4, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ "Newsmax2 Schedule". Newsmax TV. Retrieved January 11, 2026.
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