Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts

This six-disc set serves up 17 “Man/Woman of the Week” celebrity roasts. Among the guests of honor: Gabe Kaplan, Rowan & Martin, Ralph Nader, Telly Savalas, and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Are you thinking what I'm thinking: namely, this isn't a Who's Who so much as a Who Cares? And those roasters: Jack Benny, Red Buttons, Phyllis Diller, Eve Arden, Jimmy Stewart—I've seen younger faces on paper money. But all roasting aside, there actually is some A-list talent here from Hollywood's golden age, including Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Burns, and Orson Welles. Unfortunately, they share the dais with the likes of Charlie Callas, LaWanda Page, Nipsey Russell, Foster Brooks, and other rejects from Hollywood Squares. Some of these broadcasts are 40 years old, so in a technical sense all of the jokes are oldies, but some are goodies (Dean Martin on Bette Davis: “From the very first day she arrived in Hollywood, she made love to Cary Grant, Robert Montgomery, Henry Fonda, and then she got into pictures”). The generous bonus features here include interviews with roast participants (such as Shirley Jones, Tony Danza, Carol Burnett, and Abe Vigoda), sketches from The Dean Martin Show, and segments on women roasters, politicians in the hot seat, and Muhammad Ali's battle royale with Ruth Buzzi's purse-swinging character from Laugh-In. Perhaps of most interest to Baby Boomers who watched too much TV growing up, this is a strong optional purchase. (D. Liebenson)