“The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted” is a collection of hilarious roasts from the ’70s showcasing various roasts of celebrities, athletes and politicians.  Featuring 17 roasts, it’s just amazing to watch these roasts today featuring Betty White, Bette Davis, Muhammad Ali, Suzanne Somers, Angie Dickinson, Gov. Ronald Reagan to name a few. And they are as hilarious today as they were back then. Plus you get over five hours of special features from “The Dean Martin Show” and interviews with various talents over 40-years later. A wonderful collection that I absolutely enjoyed! “The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted” is highly recommended!
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DVD TITLE: The Carol Burnett Show: Christmas with Carol
DURATION: 115 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, Color, Monaural
COMPANY: Time Life/StarVista
RATED: NOT RATED
Written by Harry Crane, Michael Barrie, Norm Liebmann, Tom Tenowich, Jim Mulholland, Lary Markes, Bill Box, Mickey Rose, David Axelrod, Stan Burns, Mike Marmer
Producer: Ed Simmons, Arnie Rosen, Bill Angelos, Buz Kohan, Chris Jenkyns
Series Production Design: Spencer Davies
Set Decoration by Spencer Davies
Starring:
Dean Martin
Betty White
Ronald Reagan
Betty Davis
Muhammad Ali
George Burns
Angie Dickinson
Telly Savalas
Dan Rowan
Dick Martin
Barry Goldwater
Suzanne Somers
Dennis Weaver
Ralph Nader
Gabe Kaplan
Redd Foxx
Hugh Hefner
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Henry Fonda
Georgia Engel
Jonathan Winters
Shelley Winters
Amanda Blake
LaWanda Page
Billy Crystal
Gene Kelly
Orson Welles
Charo
Donald O’Connor
Henny Youngman
Tony Orlando
Freddie Prinze
Shirley Williams
Tom Bosley
Don Rickles
Jimmy Stewart
Relive all the fun holiday memories from The Carol Burnett Show with these classic episodes featuring the whole gang: Carol, Harvey, Tim, Vicki and more! Following the highly successful 2012 launch of the sketch comedy series that has sold over 4 million DVDs to date, now comes The Carol Burnett Show: Christmas with Carol, a new DVD from the beloved, landmark TV show, one of the most honored in history.
In 1965, the variety show “The Dean Martin Show” premiered on NBC. Hosted by America’s well-known film star and crooner, Dean Martin’s variety show would run from 1965 through 1974 with a total of 264 episodes featured.
As the series came to an end, a special series which evolved from “The Dean Martin Show” was created titled “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast” which were modeled after the New York Friars’ Club in which a celebrity would sit on a banquet table while insulted and chided by fellow celebrities and friends.
“The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts” would produce 54 specials and shows from 1974 through 1984 (note: No specials were active between 1980 and 1983). The TV specials were recorded live at the MGM Grand Hotel’s Ziegfeld Room in front of a live audience.
In 2013, StarVista Entertainment released the “Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: The Complete DVD Collection” featuring all 54 specials on 23 discs. Followed by two individual sets and now a third titled “The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted” featuring 17 complete specials (16.5 hours total) which include roasts for Betty White, Gov. Ronald Reagan, Bette Davis, Muhammad Ali, George Burns, Angie Dickinson, Telly Savalas, Dan Rowan & Dick Martin, Sen. Barry Goldwater, Suzanne Somers, George Washington, Dennis Weaver, Ralph Nader, Gabe Kaplan, Redd Foxx, Hugh Hefner and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Several celebrities involved in the roasts include Henry Fonda, Georgia Engel, Jonathan Winters, Shelley Winters, Amanda Blake, LaWanda Page, Billy Crystal, Gene Kelley, Orson Welles, Charo, Donald O’Connor, Henny Youngman, Sherman Hemsely, Jimmy Stewart, Tony Orlando, Freddy Prinze, Shirley Williams, Tom Bosley and many more.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted” is presented in 4:3 and in monaural. The quality of the video is pretty good considering its age. Most series tend to show its age or show discoloration but every episode presented on this DVD is in very good shape. Dialogue and music is clear. I saw no defects or any problematic issues while watching these episodes.
Special features of recent interviews shot digitally look especially good on DVD as would be expected.
Audio is clear and understandable.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted” comes with the following special features:
- Bonus Comedy Sketches – Featuring Dean Martin, Howard Cosell, Vincent Prize, Steve Lawrence, William Holden, Ruth Buzzi and others from skits from the “The Dean Martin Show” back in the early ’70s.
- Featurettes – Featuring three featurettes: “Ladies of the Dais” (35:34 – The woman who were featured in the roast), “Beauty & the Beast: Ruth Buzzi vs. Muhammad Ali” (6:06 – Discussing the roast of Muhammad Ali and the day she repeatedly hit him with a bag) and “Roast in Hell – Politicians Under Fire” (25:21 -Â A featurette of the various politicians who were roasted).
- Interviews – Featuring interviews with Phyllis Diller (22:16), Ruth Buzzi (17:28 and 18:40), Shirley Jones (8:23), Tony Danza (7:39), Angie Dickinson (18:35), Carol Burnett (7:38), Sheila Kuehl (29:02), Jimmie Walker (12:32), Abe Vigoda (5:05) and Fred Willard (16:15).
 EXTRAS:
“The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted” comes with a 30-page booklet featuring a summary of the roasts featured and more.
Before the celebrity roasts that people are familiar with today and before roasters became more venomous and hurtful to those being honored or fellow roasters, the most popular televised celebrity roasts on television were hosted by Dean Martin.
From 1974 to 1984, Dean Martin hosted a total of 54 specials in which a celebrity being roasted, would be honored by fellow celebrity friends, comedians or someone they may not have known, but it was all in good fun (or what was considered as “fun”) at the time.
In the case of “The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted”, a lot of the roasts were done in the late ’70s and would feature jokes that were aimed at a celebrity but at times, one can expect to see a lot of sexual jokes to jokes that some may deemed racially insensitive. But it was the sign of the times, unlike today’s celebrity roasts where anything offensive can be spoken and literally anything goes.
But with this latest release, there are some beautiful gems included.
Having grown up during the ’70s and catch a few specials during my younger years, as an adult and watching these shows today, I can’t help but feel of how fortunate I am to watch these gems of comedy from yesteryear but also a format which we will probably never see on television ever again.
From roasters joking with Betty White about her husband with humor, to Bette Davis being cool and smoking during her celebrity roast while being cool with the comedy aimed at her to Suzanne Somers who was popular for “Three’s Company” but everyone roasting her because of her body and her sexual prowess, to Muhammad Ali’s diction and more.
But of course, jokes about Dean Martin’s consumption of alcohol, jokes about how thin Jimmie Walker was, Zsa Zsa Gabor’s cleavage, Ruth Buzzi’s crazy woman character and the bold humor of LaWanda Page. But what is also fascinating are the sheer number of celebrities who took part in the celebrity roasts and unlike today’s celebrity roasts which are primarily comedians, “The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts” were able to pull in major names as fellow roasters for a series of its time and helped NBC garner fantastic ratings!
The truth is that while there are talk shows that will bring in celebrities, comedians, politicians and athletes together, you will hardly see them brought together like what people will see in “The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts”. While they were created for prime time television, there was a magic to see everyone together and be so free and have a lot of fun,while not being interrupted every 10 minutes or so for a commercial.
It was also an odd grouping of celebrities of a different ethnicity and sex, but the comedy didn’t go too far to be hurtful. Compare the Dean Martin roast for Suzanne Somers versus Comedy Central’s roast for Pamela Anderson and while the Comedy Central roasts are not aired on public television, you can see how one has to have a thick skin to be on today’s modern celebrity roasts. Everything and anything is a target for comedians.
So, watching these roasts, you can help but be amazed of the top star power featured on these specials. There was no doubt that the popularity of the specials, everyone wanted to be on, even the politicians who knew they were going to be targeted by their roasters.
And with a total of 17 episodes featuring hilarious roasts, the five hours of special features would also include recent interviews with a few of the celebrities who appeared on the special over 40-years ago. From Ruth Buzzi talking about the scenes of her repeatedly hitting Muhammad Ali with a bag during his celebrity roast, to how the female celebrities shined on the roasts and more.
My favorites for the “The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted” collection would have to be Betty White (who maintains her humor like she does today but also had the love of her life with her on the special), Bette Davis in one of her more upbeat and funny moments, Suzanne Somers who was a surprise because she hasn’t been on television all that long but was a sex symbol of the late ’70s and early ’80s, Red Foxx for his quips with LaWanda Page and more!
Part of the enjoyment of these roasts is that you had major talent who were roasters. Henry Fonda, Jonathan Winters, Billy Crystal, Gene Kelly, Orson Welles, Jimmy Stewart to name a few. It’s unbelievable to see how much star talent appeared for each roasting special.
While the majority of the roasts featured in this latest collection are hilarious (a few of the honorees were not too receptive especially the political honorees who showed hardly any emotion during their roasts), the fact that you are getting 17 specials (16.5 hours) plus five hours of special features is fantastic! And for those who grew up with these specials, they still are able to make people laugh and the comedy still retains its humor over 40-years later!
Overall, “The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted” is a collection of hilarious roasts from the ’70s showcasing various roasts of celebrities, athletes and politicians.  Featuring 17 roasts, it’s just amazing to watch these roasts today featuring Betty White, Bette Davis, Muhammad Ali, Suzanne Somers, Angie Dickinson, Gov. Ronald Reagan to name a few. And they are as hilarious today as they were back then. Plus you get over five hours of special features from “The Dean Martin Show” and interviews with various talents over 40-years later.
A wonderful collection that I absolutely enjoyed! “The Dean Martin: Celebrity Roasts – Fully Roasted” is highly recommended!
