People are writing me to ask how to learn more about the 1963 Jerry Lewis Show. Well, one good way would be to seek out a long out-o'-print paperback by Richard Gehman called That Kid: The Story of Jerry Lewis. At least, I think it was only a paperback. I've never seen a hardcover and I gather that even the paperback didn't get a lot of attention when it came out. But it's a pretty good bio of Jerry, including contemporaneous coverage of his TV debacle.
Richard Gehman was a prominent author of his day, specializing in celebrity profiles. He often got access to follow stars around for a few weeks so he could interview them extensively and report on what he observed…and then they wouldn't like the resulting book or article because he'd (gasp, choke) quoted what they said and reported on what he observed. I have the feeling Jerry regretted letting Gehman hang around when they were assembling that Jerry Lewis Show.
Gehman's book on Sinatra — Sinatra and His Rat Pack — is also hard-to-find but worth the effort. Many who've written since about Frank, Dino, Sammy and the rest have obviously secured copies and borrowed liberally. In any case, though Mr. Gehman is long gone, the family tradition lives on. One his daughters, Pleasant Gehman, is an actress-dancer-musician but also an important writer covering the current music scene.