Dean Martin had what could only be described as a fascinating career. Born Dino Paul Crocetti, he spoke only Italian until he started school, eventually dropped out, worked as a bootlegger during Prohibition, started boxing, and eventually became a singer, upon which he changed his name to the most WASPy sounding one this side of Tony Curtis. He eventually became part of a massively successful act with Jerry Lewis, until the two of them broke up on bad terms, then became part of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack. He starred in movies, had his own variety show during the 1960s, hosted his own series of celebrity roasts, and, in the late 70s and early 80s, churned out Christmas specials.
His 1980 special was a rather loose affair, with a truly eclectic collection of guests--pop star Andy Gibb, country crooner Mel Tillis, opera singer Beverly Sills, and Erik Estrada, who happened to star in one of NBC's few hits of that era, CHiPs.
This is one of those Christmas specials that, pretty much outside of the poinsettias all over the set and a brief rendition of "Marshmallow World" at the beginning, it's easy to forget this is a Christmas show. Instead of singing Christmas songs, the performers sang their own songs (including Gibb singing his then-new single "Time is Time" and Tillis singing his then-new single "Southern Rains"), sing recent pop hits of others (Gibb, Tillis, and Estrada singing "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" together), and an entire lengthy section where the quintet performed impersonations of other singers. Unusual for a lot of variety specials, which largely segregate the guest performers from each other, except for maybe a concluding melody, the five interacted frequently throughout.
In terms of comedy, it was largely limited to one-liners during banter. The only two comedy sketches was a brief, musical one in which Sills, Martin, an unnamed actress, and Estrada formed a love circle, and a longer one where Martin and Tillis realize, to their horror, that their computer dating service had paired them with each other (to be fair, that sketch wasn't anywhere near as homophobic as it could have been, though it was still rather hoary). There was also an extensive montage of Martin and horses, apparently a tradition on his Christmas specials, over his own rendition of "Raindrops Keep Fallen' on My Head".
The special didn't work completely, but it worked a lot better than I was expecting. The singers played off and complemented each other surprisingly well (even Estrada), suggesting that some thought had gone into casting, and it wasn't simply a cash grab. I do like my Christmas specials to involve more Christmas, but The Dean Martin Christmas Special was pretty fun for what it was.
Next time: A contractually obligated special.
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