Carpenters on Bob Hope Time-Life DVD Collection

[Passenger]

Channel-surfing tonight and caught a portion of a 30-minute infomercial for a new Time-Life Bob Hope DVD collection. Hoping for a Carpenters sighting, as I remembered seeing them on one of his specials in the 70's, and sure enough....Karen and Richard are actually included (!) performing "We've Only Just Begun". Price is five payments of $19.99 for a total of 11 DVDs.

 

[Actorman]

I just read through the description of all the episodes on Time-Life's website and there is no mention of Carpenters being featured (although they could be included in "and others").

Going by the listed original air dates, the only specials included that would have originally appeared during Carpenters' active career are:

Highlights of a Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television
Original Air Date: October 24, 1975

Bob Hope’s World of Comedy
Original Air Date: October 29, 1976

Joys (A Comedy Whodunit)
Original Air Date: March 5, 1976

The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the World with the USO
Original Air Date: January 15, 1970

The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the Globe with the USO
Original Air Date: January 14, 1971

Does anyone know if Carpenters appeared on any of these? None of them are listed on Karen's IMDb entry, but that's not always 100% complete, especially when it comes to one-off appearances.

 

[adam]

Hi
Carpenters appeared on 2 Bob Hope specials.
October 5 1972
November 13 1973

 

[Actorman]

Carpenters appeared on 2 Bob Hope specials.
October 5 1972
November 13 1973

Thanks, Adam! Neither of those specials are included in this collection. It's kind of deceptive of Star Vista (Time-Life) to use a clip of R&K in the infomercial if they aren't including the actual special it appeared in.

I wonder if that special was originally being considered but couldn't end up being used for whatever reason (rights issues, damaged master tape, restoration issues, other costs, etc.). They may have put the promotional material together early on before the final cut was made. That happened with a DVD compilation of Donny & Marie back in 2006. All of the original promotional material indicated that one of the episodes to be included featured Olivia Newton-John as the guest, but when it was finally released that episode was not part of the set. I frequented an Olivia fan forum at the time and members were livid because many had ordered the set only for the Olivia appearance.

 

[Harry]

I know the feeling of being disappointed with a DVD that didn't have what was advertised. Way back in the Internet dark ages of 2000, there were two releases of a show called MUSIC SCENE. It was a show that featured mostly music performances from guests interspersed with a little humor from host David Steinberg and whatever comedic guests appeared. It didn't last long but came along at a classic time in music history, 1969-1970. We'd gotten word here that one of the two volumes contained two songs from Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66: "Ye-Me-Le" and "Wichita Lineman".

Well, the chance to own a Sergio Mendes video on DVD no less, was appealing indeed. In 2000, there was no YouTube. You were lucky to get a really small RealMedia video to play back then, so I jumped on the chance. The descriptions of the two volumes were either incomplete or inaccurate, because I ended up with the wrong one. As these DVDs weren't cheap, I never got around to ordering the other one.

Now, that video is on YouTube for all to see.

Harry

 

[A&M Retro]

The 1973 footage of 'We've Only Just Begun' was part of the 'Highlights' special from 1975. I was attending my neighbor's bat-mitzvah party that night when the show aired. Her Dad knew I was a big Carpenters fan, and he ran and got me before the segment finished. Her parents were sequestered away from the kids watching the show at the establishment's bar. Anyway, I never knew the title of that show until just now after reading this post. Thanks, Actorman!

 

[Actorman]

No, thank YOU, A&M Retro! That solves the mystery. So, they will be included in this collection. They just aren't listed in the description. They are "and others." LOL!!

Highlights of a Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television
Original Air Date: October 24, 1975

Bob Hope, Desi Arnaz, Carroll Baker, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Ingrid Bergman, Carol Burnett, James Cagney, Vikki Carr, Cyd Charisse, Jerry Colonna, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Angie Dickinson, Jimmy Durante,Redd Foxx, William Frawley, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jackie Gleason, Rocky Marciano, Dean Martin, Nelson Rockefeller, Ginger Rogers, Jill St. John, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Vance, John Wayne, Raquel Welch, Flip Wilson, Natalie Wood, and others

Bob Hope celebrates 25 years of television specials with dozens of celebrity guests. Highlights include Dinah Shore in a spot from Bob’s first show, Ingrid Bergman and Bob portraying a self-absorbed Hollywood couple both nominated for Academy Awards, Jackie Gleason and Bob in drag as policewomen in Central Park, and Bob waltzing in the boxing ring with Rocky Marciano.

One thing to keep in mind if you are only interested in the Carpenters' appearance but don't want to shell out $99 for just that one song, Star Vista (Time Life) almost always sells smaller versions of these collections shortly after the big box sets are released. They did that with The Carol Burnett Show, The Carol Burnett Show:Lost Episodes, Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, Midnight Special and several other sets. This set appears to be broken down into two smaller sets: 6-DVD set called Thanks For The Memories: The Bob Hope Specials and 4-DVD set called Bob Hope: Entertaining The Troops. (The 11th disc is the Dean Martin Roast of Bob.) I would bet money that those two sets will be sold separately after a bit. That seems to be Star Vista's standard model with these classic TV releases.

 

[Passenger]

Just a side-note for you Olivia Newton-John fans....I saw the infomercial again tonight. This one was an hour long, and there were at least two clips of scenes with Olivia (one in a Star Wars parody, another dressed as a vagabond), and possibly a third.

 

[Actorman]

One thing to keep in mind if you are only interested in the Carpenters' appearance but don't want to shell out $99 for just that one song, Star Vista (Time Life) almost always sells smaller versions of these collections shortly after the big box sets are released. They did that with The Carol Burnett Show, The Carol Burnett Show:Lost Episodes, Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, Midnight Special and several other sets. This set appears to be broken down into two smaller sets: 6-DVD set called Thanks For The Memories: The Bob Hope Specials and 4-DVD set called Bob Hope: Entertaining The Troops. (The 11th disc is the Dean Martin Roast of Bob.) I would bet money that those two sets will be sold separately after a bit. That seems to be Star Vista's standard model with these classic TV releases.

I was right! This was just announced. This set contains the 1975 "Highlights" special that A&M Retro confirmed above contains a Carpenters appearance.

The pre-order is already available on Amazon. It's full price right now ($59.95), but will most likely drop before the release date, September 20.

The Bob Hope Show DVD news: Press Release for The Specials: Thanks For The Memories | TVShowsOnDVD.com »

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H3KUHLQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Olivia appeared on Dec 19, 1977 The Bob Hope All Star Christmas Comedy Special, Mark Hamill was also a guest so that's the appearance Olivia plays galactic princess. Olivia sings duet with Bob Hope Silver Bells.

Olivia appeared on Bob Hope Dec 1974 Christmas Special (they are both dressed as a vagabond and they sing Silver Bells)

Carpenters appeared on Bob Hope Oct 05, 1972
Bob Hope's guests include Gold Medal winner Mark Spitz, actress Alexis Smith, chess king Bobby Fischer, pop idol David Cassidy, Peter Leeds and The Carpenters.
Highlights:
The Carpenters sing "Top of the World" and "A Song For You".
David Cassidy sings "Rock Me".
Chess king Bobby Fischer trades quips with Bob over his big summer win.
Mark Spitz talks about his Olympic races and plays a dentist treating patient Bob Hope. (Spitz received a standing ovation for his efforts).
Alexis Smith tries sketch material in "The Road to Sacramento" playing a movie star campagning for governor against her movie star husband Hope.
The Bob Hope Show: October 5, 1972 »


Carpenters appeared again on Bob Hope Nov 13, 1977
Bob Hope's guests are Don Rickles, Joey Heatherton, Mike Connors, Redd Foxx and The Carpenters. Also with Les Brown and His Band of Renown.
Highlights:
A spoof of TV private eyes.
Bob does a sketch where he is a hillbilly football draft choice.
The Carpenters perform "We've Only Just Begun" and "Top of the World".
Joey sings "It Amazes Me".
The Bob Hope Show: November 13, 1973 »

 

[AM Matt]

Actually, the song is "Rock Me Baby" by David Cassidy. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[Song4uman]

The TV commercial does specifically mention the Carpenters and shows a clip. Wouldn't that mean they would be on the DVD?