October 31, 1974: "The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" Premieres

October 31, 1974: The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast premieres on NBC. The concept had begun a year earlier, as a segment on The Dean Martin Show, but was now extended to a full hour all to itself.

A roast is a form of comedy in which a specific individual, a guest of "honor," is subjected to jokes at their expense, intended to amuse the event's wider audience. In addition to jokes and insult comedy, such events may also involve genuine praise and tributes.

The assumption is that the roastee can take the jokes in good humor, and not as serious criticism or insult. The individual is surrounded by friends, fans, and well-wishers, who can receive some of the same treatment during the evening.

For example: Dean Martin, legendary singer and actor, and the host -- and, once, the subject of an installment -- was a member of "The Rat Pack," which also included Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. The 3 of them were close friends, had done movies and TV specials together, and knew how far they could go with each other. Many of the "panelists" were friends of theirs, including Don Rickles, the king of insult comedy.

(In real life, just as comedian Jack Benny wasn't actually a cheapskate, and Martin and Foster Brooks, also a frequent participant, weren't really heavy boozers, people who knew Rickles said he was a wonderful guy, and particularly supportive of young comedians and actors.)

The show was based on the roasts at The Friars Club, a New York-based club for comedians. It was taped at the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand Hotel, in the Rat Pack's adopted hometown of Las Vegas. (In 1986, it was bought by Bally's, and rebranded as Bally's Las Vegas. In 1993, a new hotel opened elsewhere in Vegas as the MGM Grand.) (UPDATE: In 2022, the former MGM Grand/Bally's was bought by Caesar's, and rebranded again, as the Horseshoe Las Vegas.)

Since the show was on NBC, Tonight Show host Johnny Carson was a regular guest. So were members of the cast of the now-canceled Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, including Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. For some strange reason, Laugh-In's Ruth Buzzi always appeared in character as frumpy, handbag-swinging Gladys Ormphby.

The show was bipartisan: It roasted Republicans such as Governor Ronald Reagan of California and Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, but also Democrats such as former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

It wasn't all old guys, or even all "establishment" guys. Shortly after Muhammad Ali, hardly an establishment figure at the time, regained the Heavyweight Championship of the World, he was invited -- probably at the insistence of Sinatra, a huge boxing fan. Among the roasters were ABC Sports' Howard Cosell, and a young comedian who did impressions of both Ali and Cosell: Billy Crystal. Crystal and Ali had never met before, but Ali was so impressed, he called the diminutive Crystal "Little Brother," and they were friends for the rest of Ali's life.

In addition to Ali, sports personalities roasted included baseball's Leo Durocher (a close friend of Sinatra's), Joe Garagiola and Hank Aaron; football's Joe Namath; basketball's Wilt Chamberlain; and tennis' Bobby Riggs.

Three men were "Man of the Hour" twice: Namath, Michael Landon, and Jack Klugman, although, the 1st time, Klugman was roasted along with his Odd Couple castmate Tony Randall.

On November 21, 1980, a fire broke out at the MGM Grand, killing 85 people. The damage done to the hotel meant the end of the show, except for a brief revival in 1984.

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October 31, 1974 was a Thursday. And it was Halloween. I was 4 years old, going on 5, and I was dressed as a cowboy. Unfortunately, this was also the day that Ronald O'Bryan killed his 8-year-old son Timothy by poisoning his candy, becoming the source of all the myths about tainted candy. I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball season ended 2 weeks earlier, with the Oakland Athletics beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Football was in midweek. There were 3 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 93-90 at Madison Square Garden. Earl "The Pearl" Monroe scored 35 points.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons, 118-101 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. Austin Carr scored 33 for the Cavs. Bob Lanier scored 41 in defeat.

* And the Houston Rockets beat the Washington Bullets, 95-92 at the Hofheinz Pavilon (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston.

There were no games in the American Basketball Association. There were 3 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Washington Capitals, 3-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* And the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 1-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles.

And there were 3 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The New England Whalers beat the Indianapolis Racers, 6-1 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Michigan Stags, 4-2 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. The Stags didn't finish the season as the Michigan Stags. They became the Baltimore Blades. They didn't finish the season under that name, either. They didn't finish the season at all.

* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Chicago Cougars, 4-3 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).