[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' post=\'166234\' date=\'Oct 10 2007, 10:26 PM\']
[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'166188\' date=\'Oct 10 2007, 04:17 PM\']
Now that you remind me, I've heard stories about Hope having an ownership interest in it. Why RCA would need Bob Hope's money is an interesting question, and makes me wonder whether that saga is so much urban mythology.[/quote] The story I was told is that when NBC had overgrown the Sunset/Vine facility and was looking for a site to build a new TV complex their uber-star Bob Hope sold them the land in Burbank. Hope owned lots of Valley real eatate, including much of the property in adjacent Toluca Lake. Studio 1 was built to specifications that included input from Hope, and featured some advanced acoustical designs for the 1950s. I've told that story to so many audiences in that studio that it has already been upgraded from urban myth to probable reality ;-)[/quote]
And Hope continued to tape his specials in Studio 1. Even though by the end of his active period they were shot without an audience, whenever he appeared on Carson to plug the special (and show outtake clips), the Carson audience was always asked to stay, they pulled out his curtain and then he came out and taped the opening monologue and his closing for his specials with the Carson audience for that night. I would imagine that hardly anyone left when they were told that Hope would do his monologue.
Of course, that reveals that when Hope looked over to his right and said, "Les?" and Les Brown and His Band of Renown would play "Thanks for the Memory" under his closing--well, the music was canned. (Unless Doc's band stuck around and Les conducted them playing the music.)
