The Jerry Lewis Show as host on "The Colgate Comedy Hour", with vocalist Dean Martin as the duo of "Martin and Lewis", first formed in July 1946. In 1956, after 17 films, a radio series , 29 Colgate shows and many night club appearances, they parted ways bitterly. Both Martin and Lewis continued as successful, but separate superstars. Between 1957 and 1962, Lewis headlined several well received solo specials for the NBC and ABC networks. "The Jerry Lewis Show" was the comedian's first foray into weekly television. Lewis had been a substitute host of "The Tonight Show" for two weeks after Jack Paar quit
Jerry Lewis and Davis Jr. performed in Las Vegas together (his first 'double-act' since the split with Martin in 1956). That same year, he also learned of the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin and attended the funeral, which lead to a more substantial reconciliation with Martin. In 1988, Lewis hosted "America's All-Time Favorite Movies", then was interviewed by Howard Cosell on "Speaking of Everything." He then starred in five episodes of the CBS program "Wiseguy". The filming schedule of the show forced Lewis to miss the Museum of the Moving Image's opening with a retrospective of his work. In 1989,