The Pepsodent Show Starring Bob Hope premiered on Tuesday night September 27, 1938, over the stations of the National Broadcasting Company. Hope was the star of the program with
Jerry Colonna as Hope's sidekick. Each program usually began with an opening monologue by Hope, a little banter with Colonna, a couple exchanges and a few skits with other members of the cast and the week's guest stars and finally a concluding skit. The original
Pepsodent cast consisted of Bob Hope, Jerry Colonna, Blanche Stewart and
Elvia Allman. Stewart and Allman portrayed high-society crazies Brenda and Cobina, respectively.
Bill Goodwin was the program's original announcer,
Skinnay Ennis was the program's original bandleader and
Judy Garland, 16 at the time, was the program's original vocalist, beginning September 26, 1939. The program's cast changed often over the course of the ten years
Pepsodent was on the air. In total, during the run of
The Pepsodent Show, listeners heard the arrival and departure of four announcers, five vocalists and three bandleaders. Among the program's other vocalists were
Frances Langford and
Doris Day and among the bandleaders to be heard on the program were
Les Brown and
Desi Arnaz.
The Pepsodent Show soon became a part of the
most listened-to radio programs in America and Bob Hope soon became a
household name, due in part because of his opening monologue at the beginning of the program which has been noted as the most popular part of each episode. Originally Hope had a team of eight writers whom he paid out of his salary $2500 a week to compose the jokes and materials he used for the each show. Included in the original team of
Pepsodent writers were
Mel Shavelson,
Norman Panama,
Jack Rose,
Sherwood Schwartz, and Schwartz's brother
Al. His writing eventually grew to fifteen and some of the newcomers to the show included
Milt Josefsberg,
Larry Gelbart and
Hal Block.
World War II The program saw its highest ratings during
World War II. According to
Crossley,
Pepsodent was the no. 1 rated program on the air for two consecutive years (1942–43; 1943–44) receiving a
Hooperating of 40.9 in 1942. As the war ensued, Hope tried to enlist in the service. However, he was told he could better serve as an entertainer. With that, Hope joined the
United Service Organizations (USO). With his USO troupe, Hope traveled to the likes of
Sicily,
England,
Alaska,
North Africa and the
South Pacific entertaining the servicemen and women in the military. Hope also became a regular performer on the
Armed Forces Radio Network. Even with Hope constantly traveling overseas to perform for the troops,
The Pepsodent Show still continued production. Soon after Hope joined the USO,
The Pepsodent Show began broadcasting from military bases across the country. The May 6, 1941, installment of the radio series aired from March Army Air Force Field in
Riverside, California. This was the first remote broadcast of Hope's coast-to-coast radio program and became the first of hundreds of radio and television broadcasts Hope performed for the entertainment of U.S. soldiers. Broadcasting in front of a live audience of soldiers and gearing the subject matter of the monologue to the troops, Hope fashioned a very successful variant on the radio comedy variety format. World War II-era stateside radio audiences, as well as the troops, appreciated Hope's soldier-directed monologues, which provided home audiences with a special affinity with the soldiers' lives and their contributions to the country.
Swan Soap and The Bob Hope Show After the war,
The Pepsodent Show steadily began to decline in the ratings. By 1948, ratings were so low that Pepsodent pulled sponsorship and on Tuesday June 8, 1948, the last broadcast of
The Pepsodent Show aired over NBC. Despite cancellation, Hope still continued on radio.
Lever Brothers'
Swan soap began sponsoring
The Bob Hope Show.
The Bob Hope Show premiered on September 14, 1948 on NBC. By this point, most of the regulars from
The Pepsodent Show left to further pursue their careers.
Doris Day, who was the vocalist for
The Pepsodent Show after
Gloria Jean's departure, was the only one of Hope's
Pepsodent co-stars who continued to perform on
The Bob Hope Show.
Hy Averback was the announcer. Airing Tuesdays at 9, the program was at direct competition with the new sitcom
Life with Luigi, which aired at the same time on
CBS.
Life with Luigi proved to be the season's new hit, crushing
The Bob Hope Show in the ratings. Like Pepsodent before, due to the poor ratings, Swan pulled its sponsorship of
The Bob Hope Show in 1950. The last Swan-sponsored episode of the program aired on June 13. The next fall on October 3,
The Bob Hope Show premiered under the sponsorship of
Chesterfield cigarettes. Over the next five years,
The Bob Hope Show aired under various sponsors, including
Jell-O and
General Foods, in various timeslots until its final episode aired on April 21, 1955. ==Broadcast history==