We all know the premise of the Dean Martin Roasts of the 1970s and 1980s. A celebrity was the subject of the "roast", and a series of famous actors would take the podium and tell jokes, hurl insults, and tell embarrassing stories about the subject celebrity.
The galaxy of stars is amazing: James Stewart, Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, Phyllis Diller, Michael Landon, John Wayne, Don Rickles, Freddie Prinze...the list goes on and on. It's fascinating to watch these show business legends from the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s together on the same stage. Anyone who loves movies has to be enthralled by the stars.
That's the good part. The bad part...well, the shows, which are supposedly spontaneous and free-wheeling, are instead obviously choreographed. Most of the jokes are just plain unfunny, and there's no way the stars could be laughing uproariously at each and every joke at the very instant the camera is focused on them. I found myself groaning at most of the jokes, but the stars dutifully went into spasms of laughter at each lame joke when the camera would focus on them. Sorry, it doesn't make sense.
I loved watching the screen legends in "The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts", but I hated the phony execution of the shows. It's sort of like NBA basketball--it just isn't real, but the show is everything.
The galaxy of stars is amazing: James Stewart, Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, Phyllis Diller, Michael Landon, John Wayne, Don Rickles, Freddie Prinze...the list goes on and on. It's fascinating to watch these show business legends from the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s together on the same stage. Anyone who loves movies has to be enthralled by the stars.
That's the good part. The bad part...well, the shows, which are supposedly spontaneous and free-wheeling, are instead obviously choreographed. Most of the jokes are just plain unfunny, and there's no way the stars could be laughing uproariously at each and every joke at the very instant the camera is focused on them. I found myself groaning at most of the jokes, but the stars dutifully went into spasms of laughter at each lame joke when the camera would focus on them. Sorry, it doesn't make sense.
I loved watching the screen legends in "The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts", but I hated the phony execution of the shows. It's sort of like NBA basketball--it just isn't real, but the show is everything.