ALL of his NBC Specials

I believe his comedy needed a worthy counterpart to bounce off of - be it Dean or Sammy or whoever else, although not every entertainer would have paired well with him. I think performance-wise he did his best work with Dean, with a few exceptions like Nutty Professor and later serious acting. Even IF someone back then had told him "less is more", he would not have heeded that advice.

The Sammy Davis Jr episode is still missing from these, so no these are not all. I don't agree, that it is too much Jerry. Plus most of the skits he did on these episodes were fresh at the time and was his first time performing them for the TV public. They would later make their way into his films, or his late 60's tv show. I think most of these skits are hilarious. The critics always said he was vulgar, low tastes, etc That was nothing new. Critics know nothing really, and are usually not in sync with public tastes anyway. It's as true today as it was back then.

Also he definitely had another special, "The Wacky World of Jerry Lewis" from ABC in 1962, and was appearing on other specials and programs (Ed Sullivan, Jack Paar, Garry Moore, Timex, etc) in addition to starting to direct, which undoubtedly took up more of his time. He just didn't want to do them as much anymore, and NBC wanted to go in a different direction as well.

aajjgg He was all over the place and made Tony Bennett look bad?? Tony Bennett finally seemed interesting while working alongside Jerry and with their interaction. He's still a bland performer though, and nowhere near Dean's level.

aajjgg: Can't watch the shows. No matter which one I click on, nothing happens.

i’m not positive, but the specials may have been to fulfill the broken contract with NBC from the split with dean. (‘57-‘60). i think some of the specials are better than others. some shows have the spark of genius we’d expect, but as always, he’s uneven. he seemed to do best with performers he had an off-stage relationship with. i found his work with george jessel, helen traubel, and sophie tucker very sweet. i liked the bit with tony bennett...tony said he wanted to be ‘funny’, not play it straight...and jer’s remark about “italians come and go, i should know i worked with one that left”, was very self aware and funny. he can be “too much’ of a good thing, but that’s who is is/was. for myself, i notice that his sarcasm, which in the early years felt sort of innocent and irreverent, became more pointed and harsh-sounding and less appealing to many viewers/fans. i think he would’ve benefited from working with a comedy-writing partner.

i love the clip of sammy and jer on the 57 special. the gifs i made of them dancing together totally rock. classickat, wasn’t that ‘alone at the top footage’ from you? check it out aajjgg.... you can date it from then because they do the same dance number he incorporates into the film rock a bye baby in the 50’s rock and roll scene. i have a side by side of the two dance sequences somewhere on my tumblr blog

anarchistemma.tumblr.com/post/176058097382/jerry-lewis-and-sammy-davis-jr-1957-rock-a-bye

youtu.be/IlD_-nZ3UeM

aajjgg: Now I know why I can't watch anything from this link - I'm not in the US. Too bad, I'd love to see these shows.