Bob Hope began his long association with NBC, both in radio & television, in 1938 with the launch of The Pepsodent Show. At the time, Pepsodent was an independent brand, before being acquired by Lever Brothers (now Unilever) in 1944. The Pepsodent Show ran for 10 years on NBC Radio. If you've ever seen Hope's television specials, which are now available on DVD, oh by the way, you have an idea of what to expect, except that this show is just a half-hour in length, as opposed to the hour-long shows Hope did for NBC-TV for so many years.
Following is a sample episode from 1941 with special guest Humphrey Bogart.
If you can picture the prison sketch at the end of the show in your mind, you again have an idea of how Hope worked. On the other hand, it would've worked better on television, minus Jerry Colonna, a one-note comic often satirized, like Hope, Bogart, and other celebrities of the day, in animated shorts.
Rating: B.
No comments:
Post a Comment