enough puppetry on the show." Many of the letters were nasty and came in great numbers: "And so, can you imagine getting over 250 thousand letters like that in a matter of a couple of weeks, and well, he really didn't like that and fired us." Summer replacement series For Martin's Thursday night time slot, the network and Martin's production crew created original summer programming (without Martin) to hold his usual weekly audience. Rowan and Martin hosted the first. Dean Martin's 1966 summer series proved so successful that two seasons later it spawned one of television's most memorable series, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. From July to September 1967, the summer show was co-hosted by Martin's daughter Gail Martin, Vic Damone and Carol Lawrence. In 1968, Martin's staff came up with a new format: a salute to the 1930s, with a variety show performed as if television existed at that time. Producer Greg Garrison recruited a dozen chorus girls, naming the group the Golddiggers after the Warner Brothers musicals of the 1930s. The series, Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers, starred Frank Sinatra Jr. and Joey Heatherton as musical hosts, with comedy routines by Paul Lynde, Stanley Myron Handelman, Barbara Heller, Skiles and Henderson, and neo-vaudeville musicians The Times Square Two. The summer show was a hit, returning the following year with a new cast. Lou Rawls and Gail Martin took over as hosts and six-foot-six dancer Tommy Tune was featured. The Golddiggers also toured the nation's nightclubs as a live attraction. After the summer series ran its course, the Golddiggers were seen on Martin's own program, and four of them were used in another group, the Ding-a-Ling Sisters. Toward the end of the Thursday-night run, the summer series was devoted to European comedians. Marty Feldman was featured in Dean Martin's Comedy World, hosted by Jackie Cooper. Awards Emmy Award nominations Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program Foster Brooks (1974) Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program Ruth Buzzi (1974) Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series (1972) Outstanding Music and Lyrics Lee Hale (1971) Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series (1970) Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series (1969) Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series (1968) Outstanding Music and Lyrics Lee Hale (1968) Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series (1967) Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Program (1967) Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy