I especially loved Red Hot Scandals of 1926, which included fun sketches such as this one:

Hey pallies, likes the web continues to buzz with reviews of the Dean Martin Roasts Classic Collection....likes the reviews are flowin' as freely, likes as freely as our most beloved Dino inbibed his fav liquid libations.  And, each and every Dino-review brings a unique perspective to this newly published Dino-treasure.

Likes today we visit with Miss Tiarra Joslyn whose Dino-prose takes us to the blog "Pop Cults."  Miss Joslyn tagged her Dino-reflections, "Hours of Laughs with the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts," and it is clear that this youthful reviewer truly truly digs our great man and his great roasts.

 Likes many of the roast reviewers, Tiarra 'fesses up that  "most of these roasts were from before I was even alive," so likes her reviewin' has offered her a first op to view these Dino-classics.  Non-the-less, Joslyn  is obviously entralled by what she has viewed statin'..."For someone like myself, it’s like opening a time capsule and finding all sorts of amazing footage from a bygone era — and bringing well-known names that were once household names back to life."

For ilovedinomartin the absolute highlight of Miss Joslyn's review is that she is the first as far as we know to provide a vid clip of one of the fabulous extras the set includes.  Tiarra has posted a youtube vid clip whose first minute and a half includes footage from the very very special Dino-special, "Red Hot Scandals Of 1926."  The clip includes our great man and Mr. Abe Vigota speakin' of bath tub gin and our Dino and the Golddiggers croonin' "Happy Days Are Here Again"....likes be sure to watch our Dino's eyes as he sings....fabulous...simply fabulous dudes!

ilovedinomartin salutes Miss Tiarra Joslyn and the pallies at "Pop Cults" for sharin' this review with their readership and makin' us here at ilovedinomartin more and more cravin' to gets our hands on the complete roast set with all the wondrously delightful Dino-extras.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.  Dino-addictedly, DMP

  

Hours of Laughs with the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts

Posted by Tiarra Joslyn in Home Video

Since Comedy Central teamed up with the Friars Club to produce and televise their annual roasts — and since Comedy Central went their own separate way to create their own roasts — the art of roasting (that is, making jokes at the expense of a celebrity to show how much you like and admire them) has made a comeback. It would seem, then, like now is the perfect time to revisit an old staple of classic Hollywood: Dean Martin and hisCelebrity Roasts. Between 1974 and 1984, Martin hosted 54 roasts of celebrities such as Muhammad Ali, Johnny Carson,Lucille Ball, and even Ronald Reagan, to name a few.

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Collector’s Edition contains six discs chock full of goodies. First and foremost, there are 12 roasts:

• Disc One: Bob Hope and Johnny Carson
• Disc Two: Jimmy Stewart and Sammy Davis Jr.
• Disc Three: Jack Benny and Lucille Ball
• Disc Four: Dean Martin and Kirk Douglas
• Disc Five: Michael Landon and Jackie Gleason
• Disc Six: Don Rickles and Joan Collins

All of the roasts are complete and unedited, with big-name guest roasters such as John Wayne, Dom DeLuise, Rich Little, George Burns, Phyllis Diller, Bob Newhart, and Bette Davis — plus so many more big names of the time. The Collector’s Edition also features over three hours of bonus features including:

• Dean Martin TV Special: Dean Martin’s Red Hot Scandals of 1926
• Dean Martin TV Special: Dean’s Place
• Legends of the Roast Featurette
• The Art of the Roast Featurette
• The King of Cool Featurette
• Bonus Comedy Sketches
• Home Movies
• Interviews

I greatly enjoyed watching all of the roasts in this collection, and the bonus material was great. I especially loved Red Hot Scandals of 1926, which included fun sketches such as this one:

Even though most of these roasts were from before I was even alive, this made the material no less enjoyable or laugh-out-loud funny. My grandfather loved many of the comedians roasted in this collection, especially Don Rickles, so I’ve seen my share of comedy featuring these amazingly funny people. For someone like myself, it’s like opening a time capsule and finding all sorts of amazing footage from a bygone era — and bringing well-known names that were once household names back to life.

It’s also fascinating to watch this collection as someone who didn’t live during this era because it’s a very keen and interesting insight into a past that helped shape our present. Things like sex, racism, and politics are prominent in these roasts. For example, during the 1973 Johnny Carson roast, singer Dionne Warwick looks almost horrified when Martin introduces her by saying that she’s become so successful that she now owns a big plantation in the South where she pays “white people” to pick “colored cotton.” I mean, she’s absolutely flabbergasted; and it’s fascinating because it’s not something that was necessarily politically incorrect at the time — being “PC” was not even a term in anyone’s dictionary at the time. However, these kinds of jokes are the staple of roasts even today, with offensive material that doesn’t pull punches. Who could forget all of the Olsen Twins pedophilia jokes of the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget, for example? This year’s Roast of James Franco was ripe with gay jokes. And so on and so forth. Those who might be offended or uncomfortable with these types of jokes are definitely not the target audience of roasts — being a part of a roast takes a tough skin for not only the roasters and roasted, but the audience as well.

Overall, there’s only one thing I can say about The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Collector’s Edition: the quality is amazing, the roasts are hilarious, and the bonus footage is just icing on the cake. If you are a fan of modern day roasts, you’ll love these classics from a bygone era — either as something to remember fondly from your younger days or as something new-to-you and funny as hell to experience. For $59.95, this 6-disc collection is worth every penny. If you only want a taste, there’s also a single disc collection that retails for $12.95 — and if you can’t get enough of this collection, there is a Complete Collection that includes 25 discs, over 40 hours worth of roasts, 15 hours of bonus features, and a 44 page Collector’s Book. The Collector’s Edition — and the other two sets — are on sale now.