BOB HOPE ON CAMPUS {JOHN WAYNE, ARETHA FRANKLIN, FLIP WILSON, AMERICA} (TV)
Summary
This comedy/music special features Bob Hope and several special guests making appearances at colleges around the United States.
Hope takes the stage at the University of California, Los Angeles and jokes about the school's infamous parking problems and new co-ed dorms; the recent Academy Awards, which he hosted for the eighteenth time, and Art Carney's Best Actor win for "Harry and Tonto" (1974); and the recent popularity of disaster pictures. In the first comedic sketch, John Wayne portrays UCLA's soon-to-be retired basketball coach and Hope plays his replacement from USC (Wayne's would-be alma mater). The two banter about the rival teams before Wayne decides that he is not leaving after all, and the team members haul Hope out of the office.
In a separate recorded segment, Hope visits Columbia University in New York City and chats with students about the importance of getting involved with politics in order to make change, whether marijuana has become "passé," and the impact of sexual and violent content on television. Back at UCLA, singer Aretha Franklin takes the stage and performs "MacArthur Park Suite." Hope joins her onstage and challenges her to apply her famous soul style to some of his old-timey songs, including "Two Sleepy People," "Buttons and Bows," and his signature "Thanks For the Memory."
At Florida Southern College, Hope talks with students about the various problems facing humanity, including limited academic budgets and loss of athletics and arts courses everywhere. In the next sketch, Hope portrays a nerdy college student, "Sigmund Hope," who returns to school for a new semester and finds that he is now rooming with a lothario star athlete, played by Flip Wilson. Annoyed at his new roommate's "carousing and wenching," he asks Dean John Wayne to separate them, only for the dean to send Hope packing off to USC.
Hope then visits Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, finding that it has "gone mod" and started accepting male students; he questions some female students about their views on the "women's lib" movement. At UCLA, the band America performs "Sister Golden Hair," and Hope next stops by Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, a smaller school where students have greater access to field work and interesting opportunities.
Finally, Wayne, Franklin, Wilson and America all join Hope onstage at UCLA and comment on their various early hardships, assuring the students that "It's Not Where You Start" in life. Hope stresses the importance of financially supporting academic institutions. Includes commercials for Sears products.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: April 17, 1975 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:42
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:07350
- GENRE: Specials
- SUBJECT HEADING: Specials; Comedy; Music; African-American Collection - Music; Colleges and universities
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1975
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Sears-O-Pedic mattresses
- TV - Commercials - Sears Canvas Casuals shoes
- TV - Commercials - Sears Clingalon panty hose
- TV - Commercials - Sears DieHard car batteries
- TV - Commercials - Sears Dynaglass tires
- TV - Commercials - Sears Eager-1 lawn mowers
- TV - Commercials - Sears Easy Living house paint
- TV - Commercials - Sears Kenmore home appliances
- TV - Commercials - Sears The Men's Store apparel
- TV - Commercials - Sears Winnie the Pooh children's apparel
- TV - Commercials - SteadyRider shock absorbers
- TV - Promos - "Movin' On"
CREDITS
- Bob Hope … Executive Producer
- Mort Lachman … Producer
- Sil Caranchini … Associate Producer
- Dick McDonough … Director
- Charles Lee … Writer
- Gig Henry … Writer
- Mort Lachman … Writer
- Lester White … Writer
- Mel Tolkin … Writer
- Steve White … Writer
- Jack Baker … Choreographer
- Bob Hope … Host, Performer
- John Wayne … Guest, Performer
- Aretha Franklin … Guest, Performer
- Flip Wilson … Guest, Performer
- America … Guest, Performer
- Les Brown … Guest, Performer
- Florence Lake … Guest
- Art Carney