The host was awkward on camera as he navigated the emerging medium. The musical numbers and sketches didn’t translate well to the home screen. Bob Hope’s first-ever television special for NBC — “The Frigidaire Star Spangled Revue” — was a big hit with viewers when it aired in the late afternoon in Eastern time zones on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1950.
Hope was already a big box office draw and a major radio star for NBC. He was the first of the big radio comedy titans to try out a TV program. He earned a whopping $40,000 (from Frigidaire) for the first special.
A few months later, Variety reported that Hope had signed with Frigidaire for six more NBC specials, also for $40,000 apiece (or about $555,000 today). Hope would go on to host another 283 variety and comedy specials for NBC over the ensuing 46 years. The run, which included specials broadcast from behind the lines during the Vietnam War, remains a hallmark of longevity between a star and a network.
It helped cement NBC’s reputation as a home for big entertainment specials and live events. In radio and TV, NBC has consistently invested in special events to offset its regularly scheduled series. Some were designed to draw huge crowds to one-night-only performances, such as the famed 1983 concert special “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.” Some were designed to become annual traditions, such as the Tournament of Roses parade, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting and the reigning champion of NBC’s holiday specials, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
For NBC, the company born as a radio network that is marking its 100th anniversary this year, the specials tradition endures. NBC delivered a surprise smash 13 years ago with an ambitious live musical staging of “The Sound of Music” starring Carrie Underwood. More recently, NBC brought Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande together for the musical special late last year, “Wicked: One Wonderful Night” that doubled as promotion for Universal Pictures’ theatrical release of “Wicked: For Good.” Many of NBC’s top franchises are decades-old traditions that have become part of the annual calendar for viewers, a way to mark time between seasons.
That’s a gift from NBC’s stewards of the past to the current generation of executives. Jen Neal, executive VP of live events and specials for NBC and Peacock, never takes it for granted. But with the big live specials, it’s truly the place that you can bring people together for those habitual patterns during certain times of year.” Here’s a look at some of the event-izing of its airwaves in roughly its first 50 years. 1938Bob Hope is tapped to host NBC’s “The Pepsodent Show,” which vaults him to radio stardom and begins Hope’s 60-year partnership with NBC. 1951NBC televises the annual Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center for the first time as part of “The Kate Smith Show.” 1953The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade airs on NBC as an hourlong special.
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