Don't Always Disagree

  The Bob Hope Christmas Show (1985)      This was, somehow, not Hope’s final Christmas special. They would continue, in one form or another, until 1993, albeit increasingly in clip-show form. Hope lived all the way until 2003, one hundred years old, and would appear in the occasional documentary or tv special almost until the end of his life. Don't you threaten me.      This, however, is quite far enough for me. Airing on December 15, 1985, this special had the usual random assortment of celebrities including Barbara Eden, not doing much at the time other than still being the former star of ‘I Dream of Jeannie,’ Brooke Shields, still being the former star of ‘The Blue Lagoon’ but who had been touring with Hope on USO tours so that explains her presence, and Emmanuel Lewis, smack in the middle of starring in ‘Webster.’ I think there are more sportsball people as well.      He’s walking out a little slower this time, a litt...

  T he Bob Hope All Star Christmas Comedy Special (1977)      The problem with topical comedy is that it inherently dates the material. If the topics are of sufficient magnitude or longevity they can still work, it may or may not be funny but if you reference the attack on Pearl Harbor you’ve got a more than even shot that your audience is going to know what you’re talking about. In something like a nightly or even weekly comedy show you can get away with churning through material that won’t age well because it’s not meant for the long haul, it’s just meant for the now. I believe the Texaco part, the comedy not so much.      Which is to say that other than the names of individuals and countries and a couple of Jimmy Carter peanut jokes I didn’t understand any of Hope’s opening monologue for this special. Other than a brief mention as he first steps on stage about being six days out from Christmas almost none of the jokes even reference Chri...

  The Bob Hope Christmas Special (197 3 )      Filmed in 1972, released on January 17 th , 1973, my first question is why in the world is Redd Foxx in this? He’s the one name I recognize, everyone else is is a low-tier actor or singer with another Miss World thrown in there. At least this special’s only an hour. I doubt these were ever great for anyone’s career and by 1972 they must have practically been begging people to participate. I am beginning to go a little mad.      The format is identical: they fly someplace, Hope does some stand up, maybe another guest, troops cheer wildly, rinse and repeat. Work in some cultural insensitivity and you’ve got yourself a special. Increasingly it’s reference humor, he’ll say a name or a place the troops recognize and they applaud. I’m pretty sure he could say nonsense words in the cadence of a joke, throw in a proper noun, and he’d still get laughter. At one point they bring on a juggler and he’...

  The Bob Hope Christmas Special (1968)      Oh shit, we’re already onto the USO tours, I was hoping we weren’t there yet. Hokay. Well they do warn you.      Shot over the course of 1967 but aired on NBC on Janu a ry 18 th , 1968, the only name I recognize off of the cast list is Raquel Welch. Barbara McNair was apparently a singer and actress who would go on to give several notable performances after 1967. Elaine Dunne did all of the usual tv variety shows during the 60’s as a singer and dancer but stopped appearing in 1968 for reasons I couldn’t easily find. Madeleine Hartog-Bel was Miss World in 1967. Finally, oddly enough, there’s Earl Wilson, a sometimes actor but better known as a prominent gossip columnist for the Broadway scene. Oh, and Bing’s kid Phillip Crosby.      Fair warning, by the way, this special is an hour and a half long and features a lot of troop footage so we are going to just zoom through the con...

  The Bob Hope Christmas Show (1965)      This is the first thing to be established: for no single reason I can yet point to I loathe Bob Hope and everything he embodies and I’m hoping through exposing myself to his specials I’m at least able to identify where exactly this burning distaste comes from.      This was not Hope’s first Christmas special, though it was the first one shot in color, as he will constantly remind you during the show. Hope had come up through radio in the 20’s and 30’s, much like Crosby and Como though strictly as a comedian. He was 62 in 1965 and aside from the occasional film role had mostly moved on to television doing numerous specials for NBC with sponsors including Frigidaire, General Motors, and the sponsor of this show Chrysler. His first Vietnam special wouldn’t be until the next year, but we’ll get to those. I mean, if you say so.      The show premiered on December 15 th , 1965, and featu...