2 Reasons Johnny Carson did not like Bob Hope

Behind the scenes, there was a rivalry between the two comedians. This article delves into 2 reasons why Johnny Carson did not particularly like Bob Hope, shedding light on the dynamics of their relationship.

Hope was Very Controlling

Hope lived to be 100.

As he got older his memory began failing him. Therefore, whenever he was booked to appear on The Tonight Show, he would provide Carson a list of questions that he wanted to be asked - only those questions, and only in the order they appeared on the list.

That put Carson in the position of being Hope's straight man, with no opportunity to ad-lib, which was one of Carson's greatest talents. Carson, who knew he was NBC's biggest money maker, wasn't the type to take orders. In fact, he usually was the one giving orders to NBC because that was the way he wanted it. The Tonight Show was shortened to one hour. Carson had veto power over his guest hosts. He stopped the network's practice of airing reruns on nights when he was off. Also, he didn't work five nights a week. And so on.

Hope often relied on a script and was highly dependent on his writers. Unlike some other comedians, such as Jonathan Winters, Hope was not very good at ad-lib.

Hope used the Tonight Show for His Own Gain

Bob Hope was a business man, and was always promoting something. As far as the Tonight Show was concerned, Hope used the show to promote his TV Specials.

Carson resented the way Hope could just book himself on The Tonight Show whenever he had something to promote, which was very often.

Hope might have been a comedy legend, but among the older generation of comedians, it was Jack Benny whom Carson most respected. Hope just became too much of an annoyance.

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