The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Hall of Famers

"We only roasted the people we love. It was an honor," said Norm Crosby in an interview that is one of the special features of "The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Hall of Famers". "People would be flattered and understand that being put down is part of what a roast is."

"The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts" series takes on sports legends Joe Garagiola and Hank Aaron alongside the notorious daredevil Evel Knievel in this three-episode collection of well-timed insults and put downs.

Dean Martin and his team maintain a freewheeling environment. Though the room is brightly lit for the enormous video cameras, the atmosphere is that of a nightclub. The live audience sits at tables and cigarettes, cigars and drinks abound. "The roasts were absolutely not rehearsed," Crosby goes on to explain. "We knew what we had to do, but we certainly didn't know what the other people were doing."

Milton Berle, Don Rickles, Nipsey Russell, Rich Little, Gabe Kaplan and more sting and zing these famous athletes with jokes about their lives, each one of them with an excess of material and hoping to make it to the punch first. Even non-comedians like Orson Welles wanted to join the party, and as always, many of the jokes are thrown back on Dean and his endless drunkenness. Of course exclusive interviews with Shirley Jones, Norm Crosby and Dan Haggerty that accompany these sports roasts reveal that this was just an act.

"I don't think Dean drank anything on the show," says Crosby. Thought the freewheeling nightclub atmosphere may have been staged, it was nevertheless a wonderful experience for all involved.

"It was controlled recklessness," continues Crosby. "It was comfortable. It was fun. It was a family."

Additionally, there are a couple of comedy sketches from "The Dean Martin Show" included as special features with Dean and Joey Bishop in them.

"The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts: Hall of Famers"
DVD
176 minutes / Not Rated
www.timelife.com