1968: 'Dean Martin Presents' Starts with 'The Golddiggers'
This day in 1968 marked the debut of the NBC summer replacement variety series, Dean Martin Presents (or, more specifically, Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers).
The show, which aired in the time slot held by the popular variety show The Dean Martin Show during the regular TV season, was co-hosted by Frank Sinatra Jr. and Joey Heatherton, and featured the all-girl troupe, the Golddiggers, who also regularly appeared on Martin's show and in his nightclub act. Other first-season performers included comedians Paul Lynde, Stu Gilliam, Stanley Myron Handleman and the comedy team Skiles and Henderson.
Dean Martin Presents ran for five consecutive summers, three of which showcased the Golddiggers in the show title. (The final year, 1973, featured Loretta Lynn, Jerry Reed, Ray Stevens, and others, and was titled Dean Martin Presents Music Country.) Among the show's notable performers: Lou Rawls, Tommy Tune, Albert Brooks, Charles Nelson Reilly, Marty Feldman and Bobby Darin.