Customer Reviews

The Best of the Dean Martin Variety Show - Special Edition

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a review of the complete 'Best of Dean Martin...' sets. I'm not critiquing any specific volume, so I apologize in advance that this review is found on every one. However, since my review is for all buyers and not just those of a certain volume, this seems necessary.
'The Dean Martin Show'(1965-74) was a favorite of mine as a child &, outside of the vaudeville slapstick, it still holds up pretty well. As for the packaging, however, Martin's longtime assistant, Greg Garrison, has edited this whole thing together with no consideration to content or style: on e. volume, excerpts from all nine seasons are poorly tossed together, with the jump from time periods being extremely jarring & the style of the show completely lost. Included are reminiscences from guest stars of the show, but these are poorly edited into the format, looking more like cheap quality early 80s videos. A friend of mine, who also likes 60s TV, was just horrified when he saw this mishmash.
So, basically, if you're someone who just wants to see the show and has no concerns on how you view it, these'll possibly be fine. Contrarily, if you have fond memories of the show and its style, which Martin worked hard on, you'd probably do better waiting for a better package. A season by season release, as most TV offers now, is long overdue.
The real culprit here is Guthy-Renker, who has the rights to the show. It's an extremely dated company that does this very same thing to all programs to which they received the rights, such as 'The Carol Burnett Show' & 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'. I believe 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' has had this same problem, but handled by a different mishandler.

This Special Edition VHS differs from the rest of the series in one respect: celebrities intro and often narrate during every segment presented.


Videotapes of THE BEST OF THE DEAN MARTIN VARIETY SHOW (2001) were once available from GUTHY-RENKER via a TV infomercial. There are 30 individual one-hour compilations in this series, which has since become somewhat of a collectible. (Note: these are highlights only, not complete programs.)

Title card seen here was also used as THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW LP cover. Audio is clean mono. Colors in these dubs of well-preserved tape excerpts are vibrant.

CONTENTS of Special Edition--
Orson Welles opens; "She's My Kind Of Girl"; Welles on Dean's closet; montage of famous guests who emerge from it
Bob Newhart on no rehearsals; he intros 1965 skit where Dean can't stop laughing at him
Dom De Luise intros Goldie Hawn's first appearance ("Dum-dums of America")
Welles on station breaks; Dean in magician's cabinet for his only "break" spot
Producer/director Greg Garrison on Dean's singing style; Happy blues medley with Gene Kelly
Jimmy Stewart intros doctor skit with Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon
Jimmy on segment where he does celebrity impressions
Gene Kelly intros Dean's Ding-a-lings segment, pretty girls who play 'musical questions' with Dean
Roy Rogers calls a square dance that Dean can't keep with
Jack Benny's Ding-a-lings compete with Dean's
Victor Borge on his 'lyrics with punctuation marks' medley with Dean
Medley with Ann-Margret
Newhart intros skit: Kay Medford, Ken Lane, Ruth Buzzi, Frank Sinatra and Dean (New Year's Eve show)
Finale- celebrity medley montage: Dean with Andrews Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald, Gordon McRae, Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra
Credits

This is a wonderful dvd. It makes you remember how fun variety shows were. If you are looking for a dvd that offers pure state of the art zany, this would be the one to get. I totally recommend it.

I had been searching for this type of video (without having to commit to monthly purchases)as a holdiay gift for my mom who just turned 81! She was thrilled as the video contained so many celebrities from her era. The smile on her face watching (and remembering) this show was priceless!

Disappointed in the sale. Item does not ship from US as indicated, it came from Canada and took almost 2 weeks which was not disclosed. When package arrived it was damaged and tape did not work. Not sure why seller would send VHS tape in envelope and not a box. Did contact seller and they said they would ship another one however this time indicated it could take up to three weeks, at this point it would be very late and not be recieved in time for Christmas.

My husband and I really enjoyed this, brings back old memories, will buy more in the future.