Greg Garrison Presents - The Best of the Dean Martin Variety Show (2003)

Join Dean Martin and his guests - Ann-Margaret, Jack Benny, Goldie Hawn, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Newhart, Jimmy Stewart, Dom De Luise, Victor Borge, Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra and more in the wild and crazy antics of his world famous variety show. Product Description

Dino Deserves Better--And So Do His Fans

I have to agree with the reviewers here and take Greg Garrison and Company to task for the way in which this product has been offered to the general public.

Like many people I have very fond memories of sixties and seventies television, which as a kid I happily watched with my family and friends. Next to sitcoms and cartoons my favorites were the variety shows, and The Dean Martin Show was one of the very best.

So I was delighted to learn that all these years later The Dean Martin Show was being re-released, but my delight has turned to disappointment as I see how it has been packaged.

Is there a reason (beyond the screamingly obvious) why shows like this keep getting sliced and diced into "volumes" featuring annoyingly truncated segments, not to mention mere highlights and clips, of great performances by classic entertainers? What will it take before companies like Guthy-Renker realize that the buying public is sick and tired of such obnoxious practices?

I am not really a Dino "fanatic"-- I was a little girl in my first years of grammar school when his variety show debuted and was a junior in high school when it ended--but as I've gotten older I've come to appreciate Dean Martin's unique charm and talent, and to love and admire the best of his amazing body of work, from his frenzied Martin and Lewis period to the swingin' Rat Pack high life to his long and varied solo actor-singer years.

The Dean Martin Show was wonderful, capturing Dino at his easygoing best (especially in zany comedy bits with performers like Bob Newhart, Dom Deluise, Jonathan Winters, Don Rickles and Paul Lynde, who knew just how to play against their host's loopy, warmly playful shtick). Martin and his impressive roster of Golden Age of Hollywood guests deserve so much better than these clip and paste job "volumes"--and so do we.

Put the full season DVDs of The Dean Martin Show out there (and do it soon please) and we'll buy them. Until then Garrison and Guthy-Renker are not getting another penny of my money! April 8, 2008

Garrison DVD Dated

Okay, first of all, I just would like to offer a bit of encouragement to all of those from the so-called 'greatest generation'. Please STOP STOP STOP gushing about the 'good old days' & a 'simpler time' & 'how comedy was so clean', WILL YOU? Do you have any freaking idea how all the later generations read all of this? Well, in case you don't, I'll tell you. We just shake our heads, roll our eyes, and ask the obvious question: where is the review? The whole idea here is to REVIEW, people! That means BE SPECIFIC, already! GEEZ! Get with the picture, will you? Okay, I'm done! Now, with that out of the way, here's my review.
First of all, I'm posting this review as a complete overview of these 'Best of Dean Martin...' videos. I'm not critiquing any specific one. Why, you may ask? Well, it's quite simple, really, 'The Dean Martin Show'(1965-74) was a favorite of mine as a child &, from what I've seen here from revisiting, it still holds up pretty well(outside of some of the vaudevillian slapstick). Overall, for the most part, it's pretty good(hence my 3 star rating). The real problem here, though, is with the packaging. Greg Garrison, longtime assistant to Martin, has just slapped this whole thing together without any rhyme or reason to content or style, whatsoever. We're offered simple, quick excerpts from various shows over Martin's nine years on the air. At times, the period jump between seasons is quite extensive-and quite jarring! For example, one of the videos I've seen had an okay sketch with Dom Deluise and Peter Sellers in a barbershop, apparently from the mid-late 60s, considering their dress and Martin's appearance. Then, suddenly, we jump to one of the final seasons & a silver-haired, slightly bedraggled Martin in a sketch with Jonathan Winters-??!?!! Not to mention, Martin seems a little wearier & less involved(perhaps, he was ready to get out of the weekly grind?) Also, there are these '1980s-video styled' reminiscences from a few different stars that appeared on the shows. These are clunkily dropped in, and @ odd moments, with no consideration for content, again. Jimmy Stewart appeared on the one I saw-and, yet, he's NOWHERE to be found on that particular video. Not to mention that all he really says is that it was a 'fun show'. Also, Garrison pops up every now and then saying things like, 'We never knew what might happen when it came to Dean!' WOOAAHHH! We'd better look out for that crazy Dino! No telling what he might do in one of these disorganized excerpts!!! Hold me back!
Okay, all I'm basically saying here is that this'll probably be fine for those EXTREMELY dedicated Martin enthusiasts who loved and adored this period and everything and anything that's released with either Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and the rest. However, for the rest of us who simply like Martin/the show, I would suggest to wait until Garrison has someone else do it right-ie. season-by-season sets(I mean HELLO! It's the most acceptable &, basically, common form of contemporary packaging in the new millenium! Get out of the 90s, Greg!) A friend of mine, who also likes this classic period of TV was just horrified when he saw this mishmash...and rightly so! Guthy-Renker, the company who has the rights here, is an extremely dated company and has done this very same thing to 'The Carol Burnett Show' & 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In', as well. I believe that TIME Life has also disemboweled 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'. Too bad! These are all great shows & should be seen correctly, as is only common now! I have a message for Guthy-Renker and the cheesy Mr.Garrison: It's 2008, folks, let's start acting like it! Get your silly heads out of the clouds! January 18, 2008

Sorry, folks, but this DVD is just OK at best--and no cigar...

As another Amazon reviewer notes, this DVD is just one of a large collection of a DVD set. Notice how many stars are "featured" on this one hour DVD? It must be about nine or ten. That's simply not enough time for the producers of the DVD to do much more than just provide what I would call "extended clips" from the performances each great artist did on Dean's show. I suppose if you're really into the show you would certainly have to buy at least all 23 DVDs to then have a complete set--a complete set of extended clips, that is!

The picture is fair; they could have reproduced it better. The sound quality is rather good. The packaging is cheap but the artwork is not bad and there are a few notes about the show in general provided for us.

If you just want a brief overview then this is for you. But for the serious fan who wants so badly to remember these great performances you're going to be disappointed and agree with me that this is a mediocre effort. Too bad! March 4, 2006

Special Edition is NOT the entire set

This DVD is the first of twenty three (1 of 23) DVDs in the collection. It is NOT the entire set. It offers segments of the show that involved the guests listed, NOT the entire shows in which the guests appeared. Each DVD contains approximately 60 minutes of guest appearances. December 20, 2005

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