Jack Benny is one of the great American comedians. His work spans the 20th century, from vaudeville to radio and movies to TV. In vaudeville, he delivered the snappy comebacks and one liners with intelligence and wit, but it was only with the continuing development of his personal trait comedy that he really became the Jack Benny we all know so well. "Who else could play for four decades the part of a vain, miserly, argumentative skinflint, and emerge a national treasure?The secret of his success was deceptively simple: he was a man of great heart." That's John Dunning's assessment from "On the Air, The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio," which gives a great history of the man and his show. "Where would I be today without my writers, without Rochester, Dennis Day, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, and Don Wilson?" Benny asked in Newsweek in 1947.

Jack Benny is one of the great American comedians. His work spans the 20th century, from vaudeville to radio and movies to TV. In vaudeville, he delivered the snappy comebacks and one liners with intelligence and wit, but it was only with the continuing development of his personal trait comedy that he really became the Jack Benny we all know so well. "Who else could play for four decades the part of a vain, miserly, argumentative skinflint, and emerge a national treasure?The secret of his success was deceptively simple: he was a man of great heart." That's John Dunning's assessment from "On the Air, The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio," which gives a great history of the man and his show. "Where would I be today without my writers, without Rochester, Dennis Day, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, and Don Wilson?" Benny asked in Newsweek in 1947.

• How he first got into basketball as a youngster, making the switch from gymnastics
• His early days of getting into basketball administration with the Exhall Eagles in the Warwickshire league
• Founding and coaching the club Granwood (later Team Fiat and then Birmingham Bullets) and entering the National League in 1974)
• The inter-county tournament that used to run at Loughborough which was predominantly made up of National League clubs representing as counties
• The early signs of tensions between clubs and the federation - England Basketball - in the late 70s
• What happened at the 1979 England Basketball AGM where the clubs - led by Bob Hope and David Last - voted out Chair Ken Charles to be replaced with Harry Keats
• The negotiations that ensued and what happened for the BBL to be formed 8 years later with the clubs effectively breaking away
• Raising money and sponsorship for the 1980 and 1984 Olympic qualifying GB teams
• The formation of Basketball Marketing Ltd set up by England Basketball which Bob Hope became the Director of Sales and
  Marketing for as he retired from coaching
• How they could move over the sponsorship and TV contracts from Basketball Marketing Ltd to the BBL when the clubs broke away, with Hope joining the league in charge of commercial
• All the secretive meetings clubs were having as breaking away to form the BBL became a reality
• The differences between raising sponsorship in the early days of the BBL to now
• Forming Bob Hope TV Productions Ltd in 1988 to produce live basketball TV coverage for the likes of Channel 4, the BBC, ITV2 and Sky
• How he became the UK-rights holder for Molten Sports
• Re-joining the BBL in 2016 as Commercial Director after having been retired for 1 month
• Discovering the monetary value of the betting rights of the BBL - with over €16million (accidentally stated as €60million in the interview - 16million is the correct figure!) being betted on the league each year 
• How Premier League football is the biggest barrier to getting the BBL back on TV
• The issues the league is having with Keemotion and it not being up to broadcast standard at the moment
• How close the league is to signing a major commercial deal
• The importance of social media and digital for the BBL's growth and future sponsorship deals
• How COVID-19 has impacted the league and what it could mean for the future
• The growth of the league and aim to get to 16 franchises
• And much, much more! 

Jason Edwards joins me for a surrealistic conflict between father & son.

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What a Creep

Season 4, Episode 4

Bob Hope

Bob Hope is a Hollywood legend who starred in multiple successful films, was a big hit in radio & television, and was one of the biggest supporters of the USO program entertaining the men & women of our armed services for decades. He was also a terrible husband, a tyrannical boss and stubbornly out of touch for much of his life. Hear all of his bad deeds and then enjoy learning about what of the most generous actors of his or any generation. 

We have a little help from our friends at:

Bob Hope-Wikipedia

Hope: Entertainer of the Century (Richard Zoglin)

The Secret Life of Bob Hope by Arthur Marx

Bob Hope and His Ladies of Hope (Forbes)

Isn't It Funny Bob Hope & Bing Crosby Were Woman-Hating Bigots (Vice)

Bob Hope "Sex Machine" (New York Post)

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