Photo: Dean Martin (from his website) By Scott Huver, Yahoo Entertainment | Get ready to put a little jingle in your ring-a-ding-ding! With the long-unseen holiday special The Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Family Christmas Show returning to television 54 years after its original airing, fans of the iconic performers will get a taste of the warm bond the legends and their real-life families shared – a closeness that, two of the stars’ daughters tell PEOPLE, extended well beyond the screen.
Airing on PBS stations around the country throughout the 2021 holiday season, the Christmas show — shot on the NBC set of Martin’s top-rated The Dean Martin Show — hasn’t been seen in its entirety since its original broadcast on Dec. 21, 1967.
On the special, Martin, then 50, was joined by his wife Jeanne and all seven of their children – Craig, Claudia, Gail, Deana, Dean Paul, Ricci and Gina — while 52-year-old Sinatra (who’d just split from third wife Mia Farrow) was accompanied by his three offspring, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Tina Sinatra.
“We love the season as a family — we still love it,” Tina Sinatra tells PEOPLE, noting that her father’s birthday also fell between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Tina, who has long overseen the bulk of her father’s show business legacy, says the time feels right to revisit a bit of holiday cheer, in rousing Rat Pack style (though the stars and their pal Sammy Davis, Jr. — who cameos in the special — preferred to be known as The Summit).
“I thought it was good to share,” she says of teaming with the Martin family to revive the special. “I’m not morbid about the times we’re living through, but it’s just that I found — I hadn’t seen it in decades — I got such a hoot out of watching it, and it just felt right to do.”
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“There’s nothing that one wouldn’t do for the other, and that the joy of their work together, a lot of it was about their ease,” Tina adds. “They were not that different on camera than off, and vice versa. They were fun, and it was eventful to be around them. There was an energy they would bring and you’d get sucked up in it and you were glad to be there,
“Mostly, they just had a good time!” agrees Gail.
The Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Family Christmas Show airs throughout the holiday season. Check your local PBS station’s listings for dates and times in your area.
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Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin’s Daughters Reminisce on Their Fathers’ Classic Christmas Special: ‘A Hoot!’
