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Season 26 (NBC) (1975-76)
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by: Rina Fox, Tom Alger [#26.05 & #26.06 Updated July 2019]
references:
TV Guide / Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive / Writers Guild of America (wga)

############# The Bob Hope Special ############
############## Season 26 1975-76 ##############
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NBC

26.01 [176] A Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television: 25th Anniversary Special
24Oct1975 NBC Fri (2 hrs)
Hope Enterprises, Inc. production
Executive Producer, Bob Hope / Producer, Paul W. Keyes / Director, Dick McDonough
Writers, Paul W. Keyes, Gig Henry, Charles Lee
Music, Les Brown
Host Bob Hope
Guests:
John Wayne
Frank Sinatra
Bing Crosby
Highlights:
Bob and Dinah Shore sing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" in a spot from Bob’s first show (1950)
Maurice Chevalier sings "Louise" (1954)
Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour join Bob in a dance number (1956)
Frank Sinatra sings "The Lady is a Tramp" (1957)
Bob and Steve McQueen play Japanese soldiers in a comedy sketch (1960)
Bing Crosby referees a boxing match between Bob and Rocky Marciano (1968)
John Wayne plays a Western-style bigot in "All in the West" (1971)
Ingrid Bergman and Bob portray Oscar nominees (1972)
Bob and Jackie Gleason appear as policewomen in Central Park (1974).
Other clips feature Jack Benny, Redd Foxx, the original cast of "I Love Lucy" (Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley),
James Cagney, Jimmy Durante and Eddie Cantor.

*Note: Bob Hope appears on the Tony Orlando and Dawn Show on November 19th, 1975.
*Note: Bob Hope appears in "Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire: A Couple of Song and Dance Men" Special on December 3, 1975.

26.02 [177] The Bob Hope Special
14Dec1975 NBC Sun
Host Bob Hope
Guests:
Donny and Marie Osmond
Redd Foxx
Angie Dickinson
Rowan & Martin
Henny Youngman
Don Knotts
the Tournament of Roses Queen and her Court
the 1975 AP All America Football Team
Sandy Duncan, Dorothy Lamour, Paul Lynde, Dean Martin, Danny Thomas, & Jimmie Walker make cameo appearances.
Look for future NFL stars Leroy and Dewey Selmon, Jimbo Elrod, Mike Haynes, Archie Griffin, Ricky Bell, and Chuck Muncie.
Highlights:
Donny & Marie sing "Deep Purple"
(sung note-for-note in the same style as the 1964 hit version by another brother-and-sister act, Nino Tempo and April Stevens).
Bob Hope and Marie Osmond duet to "Silver Bells".
Bob Hope, Donny & Marie, Angie Dickinson, and Redd Foxx sing "You've Gotta Have Friends".

*Note: (December 25, 1975) Bob Hope appears on the tv show "Parkinson meets Bob Hope" on BBC tv UK
with English chat-show host Michael Parkinson
*Note: (January 30, 1976) Bob Hope appears on "Donny and Marie" also appearing are Ted Knight, The Wiere Brothers and the Harlem Globetrotters.
*Note: (February 3, 1976) Bob Hope appears on "The Second Annual Comedy Awards".

26.03 [178] The Bob Hope Special: "Joys: A Comedy Whodunit"
05Mar1976 NBC Fri (90 min)
Producer Hal Kanter
Written by Charles Lee, Gig Henry, Jeffrey Barron, Paul Pompian, Harvey Weitzman, Ruth Batchelor, Ben Starr
Directed by Dick McDonough
Music Les Brown
Host Bob Hope
Guests:
Roy Clark, Andy Williams, Freddie Prinze, Don Knotts, Don Adams, Jack Albertson, Rona Barrett,
George Burns, John Byner, Jack Carter, Mike Connors, Angie Dickinson, George Gobel, Arte Johnson,
Marty Allen, Desi Arnaz, Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Sammy Cahn, Charo, Scatman Crothers, Phyllis Diller,
Jim Hutton, Alan King, Fred MacMurray, Steve Allen, Billy Barty, Foster Brooks, Pat Buttram,
Glen Campbell, Jerry Colonna, Bill Dana, Jamie Farr, David Janssen, George Kirby, Dean Martin,
Groucho Marx, Vincent Price, Harry Ritz, Larry Storch, Flip Wilson, Jan Murray, Telly Savalas, Abe Vigoda,
Wayne Newton, Don Rickles, Phil Silvers, Jimmie Walker and Johnny Carson as The Masked Killer (uncredited).
Highlights:
Bob unwittingly hosts a party at his Los Angeles home whereby the country's finest entertainers keep turning up face down in the swimming pool.
Notes: Hope hires 6 TV detectives to solve a series of mysterious disappearances at his house.
David Janssen, as Harry O, is killed off early in a cast which included Angie Dickinson (Police Woman, Pepper Anderson),
Mike Connors (Mannix), Jim Hutton (Ellery Queen), Telly Savalas (Kojak), Abe Vigoda (Fish).

26.05 [179] Texaco Presents The Bob Hope Olympic Benefit Special
(From Montreal, Canada the host city of the 1976 Summer Olympics)
21Apr1976 NBC Mon (90 min)
Producer / Director Bob Wynn
Host Bob Hope
Guests:
Bing Crosby
Freddie Prinze
Shirley Jones
Lynn Anderson
Jesse Owens
Renee Simard
Kathy Kreiner (Olympic skier)
with Les Brown and his Band of Renown.
Highlights:
Freddie Prinze where he serves as Hope's "interpreter" for the French-speaking audience.
Shirley Jones sings "He Touched Me".
Shirley Jones and Bob Hope sing "Darn It, Baby, That's Love".
René Simard performs a partially-French language version of "I Write the Songs".
Bing Crosby sings "Where the Morning Glories Grow" and "At My Time of Life".
Lynn Anderson sings "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Feelings".
Freddie Prinze performs a "Small Fry" routine with Bob.
Lynn, Shirley, Freddie, Bob and Bing in a sketch featuring Bob & Bing as Mounties and Freddie as a poacher.
A film of Hope meeting with chief of the Montreal Olympic Organizing Committee Roger Rousseau and with
famed Olympic athlete Jesse Owens during his visit to the Olympic Village and stadium.
Bob sings "All I Need is the Girl" with Shirley.
Bing Crosby and Bob Hope perform a medley, including "Buttons and Bows," "Please," "Two Sleepy People,"
"Swinging on a Star," "Thanks for the Memories," "White Christmas," "Road to Morocco," and "Put it There, Pal".

*Trivia: On May 7, 1976 Bob Hope was named recipient of the annual Patriot Award given by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
The society is made up of 291 living recipients of the Medal of Honor, highest U.S. decoration for bravery in combat.
The award is "in tribute to Hope's 35 years of dedication and personal effort in entertaining more than 12 million
American armed forces personnel during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflict.

26.06 [180] Bob Hope's Bicentennial Star Spangled Spectacular
04Jul1976 NBC Sun
Producer Paul W. Keyes / Director Dick McDonough
Writers Charles Lee, Gig Henry, Jeffrey Barron, Terry Hart, Bob Keane. Paul Pumpian, and Harvey Weitzman.
Host Bob Hope
Guests:
The Captain and Tennille
Sammy Davis Jr.
Marie Osmond and Donny Osmond
Debbie Reynolds
Ed McMahon
Steve Allen
Angie Dickinson
Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Jimmie Walker
Dan Rowan and Dick Martin.
Phyllis Diller
Doc Severinsen
Highlights:
Sketches relate how television might have been over the last 200 years.
Donny and Marie sing "A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock And Roll."
They were also part of a British Army Sketch and took part in Bob's signature song, Thanks For The Memories.
The Captain and Tennille perform "Shop Around".
Debbie joins Bob in a parody sketch of "Mary Hartford, Mary Hartford".
Ed McMahon introduces "Bobby Hope," host of "The Tonight Show" on July 4, 1876,
and Hope performs his opening monologue, banters with Doc Severinsen and discusses the newly-invented telephone,
the women's suffrage movement, the adventures of Jesse James and his crew, and the rise in popularity of baseball.
Steve Allen then stops by, trying to promote some "real estate" out in the undiscovered west of the United States.
Ron Howard promotes a compilation album of the century's best tunes entitled "A Hundred Years of Revolting Music."
Phyllis Diller offers a "mail-a-bride" service, with special discounts on the "antiques".
Sammy Davis performs "Yankee Doodle Dandy," complete with tap dance.
Debbie Reynolds takes the stage again in an "Alice Blue Gown" and sings "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows"
and "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)".
All of Bob Hope's guests join him for an original "Thanks to the Country for the Memories" song, in which they mention
all of their favorite American people, creations and ideas from the past two hundred years.
Hope then discusses his love of the country and its "uncommon common people," paying tribute to memorable figures
including Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Neil Armstrong, Jonas Salk, Irving Berlin, James Cagney,
and others, including the prisoners of war who made it home safely from Vietnam.
He closes the evening by noting the importance of continuing to work on the country's problems together,
and then bids the audience good night.

############# The Bob Hope Special ############
################ end of season 26 ###############
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