The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast is an NBC television show hosted by great entertainer Dean Martin from 1974 on to 1984. In 1973, The Dean Martin Variety Show had declined in popularity, it was the final season and the show was canceled. So for the following season, 1973-1974, a decision was made to revamp the show into a new show and keep it on the air. NBC decided to keep its star and drew up a new contract with Martin to do more roast specials, starting with that of Bob Hope’s in 1974. "Roast" was even added to the title in an attempt to boost its ratings. These roasts became very popular amongst television viewers. For a total of fifty four shows as well as a few specials, Dean Martin would sporadically "roast" a celebrity who was deemed ‘The Man or Women of The Hour’, ‘Man of the Week" in earlier episodes’. These roasts were crafted to resemble the roasts held at the New …show more content…
Impressionist Rich Little and comedian Nipsey Russell had the most appearances on the roast with each appearing twenty four times. While the majority of the guest stars were comedians known for their work in such events, on occasion unexpected guests would be featured, for instance that of British pop star Petula Clark who was originally invited to roast television actor William Conrad in 1973. Even though the ratings were high, both NBC and Dean Martin declined to extend their ten year contract. The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts was released on DVD through Guthy-Renker. The show is among the most sold video sets of all-time. NBC Universal filled a suit against producer Greg Garrison and Guthy-Renker for selling The Dean Martin Show on DVDs. The entire fifty four episodes of the Roasts are being sold on television via infomercial by Time–Life. You can even see a young Bruce Jenner in Joe Namath’s second roast, aired on January 19, 1979. You can get the complete DVD collection on