- published: 19 Mar 2015
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The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by crooner Dean Martin. The theme song to the series was his 1964 hit "Everybody Loves Somebody."
The series was a staple for NBC, airing Thursdays at 10:00 for 8 years, until its move to Fridays at 10:00 for the final season and change in format. The celebrity roast specials spun off from the final season generated solid ratings for 10 years on the network.
Martin was initially reluctant to do the show, partially because he did not want to turn down movie and nightclub performances. His terms were deliberately outrageous: he demanded a high salary and that he need only show up for the actual taping of the show. To his surprise the network agreed. As daughter Deana Martin recalled after meeting the network and making his demands Martin returned home and announced to his family, "They went for it. So now I have to do it."
Martin believed that an important key to his popularity was that he did not put on airs. His act was that of a drunken, work-shy playboy, although the ever-present old-fashioned glass in his hand often only had apple juice in it. The show was heavy on physical comedy rather than just quips (he made his weekly entrance by sliding down a fireman's pole onto the stage.) Martin read his dialogue directly from cue cards. If he flubbed a line or forgot a lyric, Martin would not do a retake, and the mistake — and his recovery from it — went straight to tape and onto the air.
All I do is dream of you the whole night through
Where the dawn I still go on dreaming of you
You're every thought, you're everything
You're every song I ever sing
Summer, winter, autumn and spring
And where them all and 24 hours a day
Let be spent in sweet content dreaming away
When skies are gray, when skies are blue
Morning, noon and night time too
All I do, the whole day through, is dream of you
And where them all and 24 hours a day
Let be spent in sweet content dreaming away
When skies are gray when skies are blue
Morning, noon and night time too