Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were easily the most popular hosts of “The Colgate Comedy Hour,” and for good reason. There was no sign of the Martin and Lewis of such movies as “The Caddy” or “Three-Ring Circus.” In the movies, Lewis was silly and childish and Martin was smooth, period. Lewis was the borderline moronic-tragicomic character who was often humbled or even humiliated by Martin in a kind of slapstick version of “Of Mice and Men.”
The Martin and Lewis of “The Colgate Comedy Hour,” however, were funnier, looser, more subversive and more manic than their film counterparts. This was the tougher, sharper-edged Martin and Lewis, the team who graduated from the school of hard show-biz knocks, raised in the incubator of nightclubs, able to do a soft-shoe routine one moment and a pratfall the next. Accompanied by orchestra leader Dick Stabile and his nimble ensemble, Martin and Lewis could cruise through an old routine at the drop of a hat – and often did, when the show ran short and there were five minutes to kill before that final commercial for Halo shampoo.
They ad-libbed endlessly, missed cues, even made fun of each other’s nationalities and religions. At the end of one skit about a wedding dinner, Lewis became hysterical. “Dean!” he cried. “I ate ham!”
Lewis took full advantage of the immediacy of live TV by bobbing all over the stage and forcing the cameras to follow him, daring them to stay in focus. Then he’d run behind the cameras, push over floor directors and mangle cue cards, all to the audience’s delight. Martin was more sedate (Who wouldn’t be?) and seemed to be enjoying himself, although he occasionally chafed at the dominance of Lewis.
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