# Who's the current Bob Hope? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014 "2016-11-14T23:58:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/21 "2016-11-15T03:24:16Z")
Jerry Seinfeld, maybe? And before she died, I would have said Joan Rivers. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/22 "2016-11-15T03:30:48Z")
Adam West? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/23 "2016-11-15T03:31:54Z")
I don’t think that there really is an analogue to him today. The length of his career, and the fact that he was still regularly working as an emcee / comedian into his 80s and 90s…the only other performers who come to mind with similar credentials are George Burns and Groucho Marx, but they were both contemporaries of Hope’s, and both of them have also been dead for years. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/24 "2016-11-15T03:33:59Z")
How about Betty White? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/25 "2016-11-15T03:36:52Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > How about Betty White? Hmmm. Maybe not a perfect match, but I think that might be the best answer so far. Well done. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/26 "2016-11-15T04:04:34Z")
When’s the last time you saw Jay Leno? Or, for that matter, David Letterman. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/27 "2016-11-15T04:22:17Z")
Jay Leno’s garage? But Dave is retired-retired. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/28 "2016-11-15T04:27:06Z")
Eddie Murphy. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/29 "2016-11-15T04:30:17Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > When’s the last time you saw Jay Leno? Or, for that matter, David Letterman. Leno is currently doing a series on CNBC (“[Jay Leno’s Garage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Leno%27s_Garage)”), in which he shows off his extensive collection of rare and antique cars. He’s also been keeping an active schedule of stand-up comedy. Letterman’s kept a much lower profile since retiring from “Late Night” (but, remember, that was only a year and a half ago). He’s done a very small number of public appearances, but I think that he’s enjoying generally being out of the public eye now (plus, he and his wife have a teenaged son, and I suspect that family has become his focus). Edit: ninja’ed by Lemur866, because I took too long composing this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/30 "2016-11-15T04:31:58Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > How about Betty White? > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Hmmm. Maybe not a perfect match, but I think that might be the best answer so far. Well done. 🙂 Don’t you be pickin’ on Betty White. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/31 "2016-11-15T04:37:40Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > There is no “Bob Hope” the way the OP describes the concept because the media landscape has changed. Again. Similarly, media fragmentation with the decline of TV means there’s no “Johnny Carson” to be _the_ person _everyone_ watches at night. I think the reason there’s no real analogue to Bob Hope any more is precisely because there’s also no real analogue to Johnny Carson. I may be way off base, here, but my impression is that a significant amount of Hope’s late-career celebrity was thanks to his appearances on the talk show circuit, back when that circuit was smaller and more culturally significant. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/32 "2016-11-15T04:44:25Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > How about Betty White? She is retiring , she 93 yo I believe . What has Jay Leno been up too lately ? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/33 "2016-11-15T04:56:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I may be way off base, here, but my impression is that a significant amount of Hope’s late-career celebrity was thanks to his appearances on the talk show circuit, back when that circuit was smaller and more culturally significant. Quite possibly. He was regularly on The Tonight Show (both as guest and as guest host), as well as [Merv Griffin](http://www.tv.com/shows/the-merv-griffin-show/)’s and [Mike Douglas](http://www.tv.com/shows/the-mike-douglas-show/)’s show (a quick search of those sites shows that he was making appearances on both of those shows every few months). It looks like he wasn’t on Dick Cavett’s show as often, but those four shows, combined, were pretty much _the_ talk shows of the 1960s and 1970s. Plus, he was also a staple on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast specials, and he was the longtime host of the Oscars. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/34 "2016-11-15T05:20:36Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I think the reason there’s no real analogue to Bob Hope any more is precisely because there’s also no real analogue to Johnny Carson. I may be way off base, here, but my impression is that a significant amount of Hope’s late-career celebrity was thanks to his appearances on the talk show circuit, back when that circuit was smaller and more culturally significant. I remember one night when Hope was on the _Tonight Show_ shortly after a rumor started that he was worth some ridiculous amount of money. I think it was $200,000,000, which was a lot of money at the time and before everyone had become accustomed to reading about internet and computer company billionaires. Anyway, Carson asked him about it and Hope said, \*“No, that’s ridiculous! I mean, I know where my next meal is coming from, but if I had $200,000,000 dollars, I wouldn’t go to Vietnam every year, I’d just send for it!” \* ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/35 "2016-11-15T05:26:13Z")
Not trying to move my bowels into the thread, but why the need to elect a new Bob Hope? Seems like a silly exercise. That said, howsabout Regis Philbin? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/36 "2016-11-15T05:49:47Z")
It’s not so much that I think there must be an equivalent of Hope today. Just that I was thinking about all the old celebrities I know of that I imagine everyone knows about. Except the kids today might not know them. I mean, maybe they know them…as a name, as somebody that’s supposed to be important, but they have no clue why. So I was wondering what people could fit this criteria…people that old folks think are still relevant, but young people are baffled by. Again, not people who dropped off the radar and retired. People who still show up on TV, but not because they’re doing stuff that’s relevant, but because of stuff they did decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/37 "2016-11-15T06:41:51Z")
As much as I hate to say it, I think that Mary Tyler Moore probably comes pretty close. Some young people have probably seen a few episodes of one of her shows, but I don’t know how many. Another good candidate is Doris Day. She’s retired now. I would say Rose Marie, but I think she’s a little **too** obscure these days. I’d bet that at least 80% of people under 30 have never even heard of her. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/38 "2016-11-15T06:47:32Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Not trying to move my bowels into the thread, but why the need to elect a new Bob Hope? Seems like a silly exercise. > > That said, howsabout Regis Philbin? > mmm What’s Philbin’s talent, besides being a schmoozer? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/39 "2016-11-15T07:32:22Z")
How about Carl Reiner? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014/40 "2016-11-15T08:53:55Z")
funny thing is hope was carsons most frequent but least favorite guest only reason he allowed him on the show was nbc strong armed him [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-current-bob-hope/772014.md?page=3)