The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Bob Hope (1974)
This episode of the now classic series has Bob Hope being roasted by friends and colleges including Flip Wilson, James Stewart, Ronald Reagan, Howard Cosell, Jack Benny, Phyllis Diller, Gen. Omar Bradley, Rich Little, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Billy Graham, Milton Berle, Foster Brooks and Don Rickles. Johnny Bench, Ginger Rogers, Neil Armstrong, Sugar Ray Rabinson and Mark Spitz are also there but their comedy bits must have been cut out of the show. For the most part this here is one of the better episodes as there are plenty of great laughs throughout the running time. Stewart, never really a full blown comedian, delivers some nice laughs as he slowly builds into his jokes. There are also some good jokes from John Wayne who appears via a recorded image. Of course, the highlight to any of these shows are Rickles doing his thing and that includes some great jokes at Dean as well as getting one thrown back at him. All in all this is certainly an emtertaining episode and one that is worth watching.
Episode: A-
