Hope for the Worst

Recently here, we talked about a certain 1983 episode of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson featuring among its guests, Richard Pryor and the infamous Rod Hull and Emu. I said wrongly that it was Pryor's first TV appearance after that ghastly "accident" in which he suffered serious burns. It wasn't. I have since learned that it was his third time on with Carson after setting himself on fire. It was however his first appearance after what was supposed to be his final surgical reconstructions on his face.

The first time he was on with Johnny after the ghastly incident was in late 1980, a few months after the incident. That same night, Bob Hope was on and here's an article about it by Bob Mills, who was one of Hope's legions of writers.

I was on the set once when Mr. Hope guested with Mr. Carson and I've written here before about what I observed. As noted, Johnny was annoyed at Hope's plug-heavy appearances but I guess he wasn't annoyed enough to refuse to allow them or to say something that indicated his displeasure.