During the 1970s and 1980s, viewers of The Tonight Show might have concluded that Bob Hope was one of Johnny Carson’s favorite guests.

Bob Hope was the most frequent guest on the program, with well over 100 appearances, and even had a similar comic style with Johnny Carson.

At the NBC headquarters, Bob Hope was always one step ahead of Johnny, having previously occupied the same stage that Johnny utilized on The Tonight Show. Bob could allegedly schedule himself on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson whenever he wanted, according to legend. When Bob had a new special to promote, he would frequently request an appearance on the show.

He’d step out to the strains of “Thanks for the Memory,” his theme tune, sometimes unannounced, ostensibly as a “surprise” guest.

He’d deliver a reel of filmed highlights from his upcoming special after some discussion with Johnny, interspersed with Hope’s plainly rehearsed funny lines. Then he’d slither away.

Johnny Carson was one of those who grew tired of the routine.

Studio portrait of comedian and actor Bob Hope, sitting at an NBC radio microphone in the 1940s | Hulton Archive/Getty Images

And it now looks that Johnny was never a fan of having him on the show, according to Tonight Show producer Peter Lassally. According to People, the Tonight Show producer remarked, “Johnny admired Hope’s place in show business, but he was not a great admirer of his work.”

Carson may have been labeled the King of Late Night TV, but Hope had been a network power figure since 1950, and the two comedians clashed over their positions at NBC. Carson loathed Hope’s ability to schedule himself on The Tonight Show anytime he wanted to sell something, even as a “surprise” last-minute guest, according to Lassally.

“We’d get a request, and Johnny would go, ‘Again?’ And I’d say, ‘Do you want to tell him no?’ And he’d say, ‘No. You can’t turn down Bob Hope,'” Lassally recalled.

While other guests were entertaining for Johnny Carson to interview, Bob Hope was famous for bringing five-minute highlight clips to The Tonight Show, despite being instructed to keep it to two minutes. He also walked onto the stage with written gags and rarely engaged Carson in actual conversation. According to People, Tonight Show head writer Andrew Nicholls said that Hope wasn’t “spontaneous” and relied on his writers for everything. Carson’s out-of-order queries really produced issues with Hope’s rehearsed replies.

Unlike Johnny Carson, who quit as soon as his health began to deteriorate, Bob pushed past his years and continued to perform even when his health was failing.

“The entertainer of the century could not give up the stage,” the Huffington Post said.

“He trooped on well beyond his prime and into his failing years,” the site continued, claiming that Hope’s old age had an impact on his Tonight Show appearances.

The Huffington Post noted, “In his refusal to quit, he used his acquired celebrity royalty to gain appearances on TV and in concerts where he appeared doddering and almost dead on arrival.”

Carson allegedly told his writers, “If I ever end up like that, guys, I want you to shoot me,” according to Richard Zoglin’s book, following a particularly terrible experience with an elderly Hope’s written interview replies.

Carson left the company in 1992. Hope, on the other hand, persevered, doing NBC specials far into his nineties. Carson was one of the guests that paid homage to Hope on NBC’s 90th birthday special in May 1993.