Martin and Lewis -- kings of comedy even in the 21st century
Thomas Glenn | GA | 08/23/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I had no idea how funny and original the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were. Thank God, these classic episodes were preserved. They are the quintessential examples of the Golden Era of television.
In his prime, Jerry Lewis was amazing -- comic timing, facial expression, physical slapstick, original routines, skillful, and, most importantly, totally entertaining.
Martin is the perfect straight man, with the bonus of a good singing voice.
I highly recommend this to anyone who loves classic television, comedy, and escaping to the innocent 50s....
"
Good Buy for Martin and Lewis Fans
T. Standley | 07/23/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Positives: Considering the age and quality of the recording equipment at the time these were produced, the video and audio is about as good as can be expected. The collection is priceless if you are a fan of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. They play off each other and seem to have a genuine affection for each other that makes it fun to watch.
Negatives: The video has the production company's stamp in the bottom right corner all the way through. Also, the episodes have been edited to some extent - all commercials have been edited out, and some of the transitions have been edited out. Also, the episodes are not in any sort of order and are not labelled as to air date.
After a little research, the airdates of the episodes in this set are (DVDs are not labelled by number, so I've randomly assigned them numbers):
Disc 1
2/4/51
1/25/53
11/4/51
4/29/51
Disc 2
10/4/53
5/8/55
9/17/50
9/21/52
Disc 3
12/19/54
12/30/51
9/18/55
2/10/52
Disc 4
6/5/55
6/24/51
10/30/52
5/3/53"
All About Dean & Jerry... And A Must See!!!
John L. Schachner Jr. | Seattle, Wa. USA | 02/29/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As I was born after this genious team had parted ways, I had only seen the Martin & Lewis movies. This show from the early 50's gives us not just a better idea of how funny they were, but also how much fun they had together. The ad libs constantly catch the other off gaurd, and are such fun. Various guest stars come thru, but are not much more than an opportunity for Dean & Jerry to catch there breath, though they can sing or dance very well. But you don't get these discs for the guests. It's all about Dean & Jerry. My only criticism is the quality of the picture & sound. I know that the film is 50+ years old, but complete remastering should be done. It would have been worth a higher price for the discs. Regardless, I highly recommend this item. It's also interesting to see tv before short attention spans set in. The skits can last 15-20 minutes, something unseen in this day & age."
A peak at their life
Levi J. Fender | Washington D.C. | 02/01/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The series has it's flaws in that it doesn't seem to go in time order so you end up seeing some of the skits twice, but over all it is good comedy with not a lot of glitches in the picture (at least not as many as I was expecting). It isn't as good as their movies but they have a lot of fun especially with their mistakes (which can get repetitive too), but the one neat thing that I found in the episodes is that you get to see what you don't in the movies and get to understand a little more about who they are and how they worked together."