Dean Martin and Friends – Talented and Just Very Funny

Dean Martin

with

Lee J. Cobb – Buddy Ebson – Jackie Vernon and Charles Nelson Reilly Talented and just very funny

*

This is a wonderful piece featuring Dean and Buddy Ebson, Lee J. Cobb, Jackie Vernon and Charles Nelson Reilly….. a bunch of his very recognizable friends. 

Jackie Vernon

Jackie Vernon and Dean Martin

Buddy Ebson

Buddy Ebson

Charles Nelson Reilly

Charles Nelson Reilly

Lee J. Cobb

Lee J. Cobb

The Dean Martin Show, not to be confused with the Dean Martin Variety Show (1959–1960), is a TV varietycomedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by entertainer Dean Martin. The theme song to the series was his 1964 hit “Everybody Loves Somebody“.

Dean Martin was initially reluctant to do the show, partially because he did not want to turn down movie and nightclub performances. His terms were deliberately outrageous: he demanded a high salary and that he need only show up for the actual taping of the show. To his surprise the network agreed. As daughter Deana Martin recalled after meeting the network and making his demands Martin returned home and announced to his family, “They went for it. So now I have to do it.” 

Dean Martin the epitome of Cool

Martin believed that an important key to his popularity was that he did not put on airs. His act was that of a drunken, work-shy playboy, although the ever-present old-fashioned glass in his hand often only had apple juice in it.  Dean read his dialogue directly from cue cards. If he flubbed a line or forgot a lyric, Dean Martin would not do a retake, and the mistake—and his recovery from it—went straight to tape and onto the air.