Bob Hope - Star Spangled Revue

On 9th April 1950, NBC Radio star Bob Hope was lured to television by Frigidaire as he hosted his first ever special.

Even though Bob had avoided television as much as possible in early 1950, declaring that 'nobody' could pay him enough money to do a TV show, but Frigidaire made him an offer he couldn't refuse and the rest is history. 

Once he did that special, he embraced television wholeheartedly, and although he continued to do his weekly radio show, The Bob Hope Show, until it ended in 1955, he appeared in specials for NBC once or twice every month.

Bob's first 90 minute television show was done live from the New Amsterdam Theater on 42nd Street, and was called The Star Spangled Revue.

I've added a link to this Easter Sunday special show below, which was produced by Max Liebman, and included guest appearances from Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Dinah Shore, and British comedienne, singer, stage and movie actress Bea Lillie, Broadway dancer Hal LeRoy, and an early performance by Carl Reiner.

The video states a running time of 2:20, and according to one of the comments on the video, although the program officially lasts for about 90 minutes, some of the footage was recycled, to make the viewing time longer, in order to avoid copyright trouble.

Happy viewing my friends,