Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Bob Hope 45-11-27 – "From USC" (Red Skelton, Peggy Ryan)

Broadcast Date: September 27, 2025 (originally aired November 27, 1945)
Setting: Live from the University of Southern California campus
Featured Guests: Bob Hope, Jerry Colonna, Peggy Ryan, Wendell Niles, with a guest appearance by Red Skelton (as Junior)

Episode Overview

This lively episode celebrates post-WWII college life, the GI Bill, and the homecoming spirit at USC, all in classic Bob Hope style. With quick banter, musical numbers, and satirical sketches, Hope and his crew—Jerry Colonna, Peggy Ryan, and surprise guest Red Skelton—deliver a comedic snapshot of the era, peppered with nods to servicemen returning to school. It's a quintessential "college campus show" blending zany humor, music, and football hijinks.

Key Discussion Points & Highlights

1. Opening Salvos & College Life Satire

Bob Hope welcomes students with his trademark wit, riffing on college culture, returning veterans, and USC traditions.

• [00:49] Bob Hope introduces himself to USC, immediately poking fun at abbreviations, "Usc? That's an abbreviation meaning Stop looking over my shoulder. I don't know what I'm doing either."
• Jokes about never attending college and being sent there for the first time by his sponsor: "He thought it'd be nice if I did a show from someplace I've never been. College."
• Teases about campus life, homecoming, and the football-mad atmosphere: "I won't say they're football crazy, but I bent over to tie my shoe...next thing I knew I was getting a bird's eye view of Los Angeles."
• Pokes fun at his own school record: "In high school, I was known as a very sharp student. Cutting classes was my specialty. Should have cut that joke."

2. Musical & Comic Commercial Sketches

• [04:15] Jerry Colonna and Peggy Ryan perform parody jingles poking fun at toothpaste advertisements ("Don't be like Miriam, you Derium!").
• [06:23] Jerry Colonna and Peggy Ryan deliver a comedic rendition of "It Might as Well Be Spring", filled with playful ad-libs ("I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing. Whee!").

3. Boy Meets Girl, Freshman to Senior

• [08:57] Hope introduces Peggy Ryan as "Universal's Dainey Dynamo," joking about college romance:
  • [09:18] Peggy: "I go for these college men. I was out with one last night and I found out what that SC stands for."
  • [09:26] Hope: "Studious Collegians."
  • [09:28] Peggy: "No, Smoochin' Charlies."
• [11:07] Transformation Sketch: Hope and Ryan dramatize student progression from an awkward freshman to a polished senior.
  • [11:07] Hope as green freshman: "Well, here I am, a freshman at USC... more fun than rinsing the soap off the regular way."
  • [13:43] As a senior, he's "worldly and polished," and the romance is elevated—jabbing at college airs:
    • [14:39] Peggy (Francine): "Goodness, Ronald, I wish you'd wear a smaller Phi Beta Kappa key."
    • [15:32] Hope (Ronald): "Oh, don't be ridic. It saves me the bother of carrying a cane."
    • [15:41] Peggy: "I really consider you the ugliest, stupidest, most hopelessly, half witty..."
    • [15:47] Hope: "I have two tickets to the Rose Bowl game."
    • [15:49] Peggy: "You have?"
    • [15:55] Colonna: "I now pronounce you man and wife. 'Til death or UCLA do you part."

4. More Musical Interludes

• [16:19] Peggy Ryan and Jerry Colonna sing "There For Me," creating a softer, genuinely musical moment amid the shenanigans.

5. Football Hijinks Sketch

• [20:23] The episode shifts to the USC football locker room, with coach Colonna giving an absurd pep talk:
  • [21:29] Colonna as Coach: "We're gonna play hard. We're gonna play for all we're worth. But above all, we're going to play fair. ...Give that cement a chance to hide around your brass knuckles."
  • [22:11] Colonna: "That's all, men. Now get in there and win for dear old UCLA!"
  • [22:22] Hope (aside): "UCLA?"
  • [22:24] Colonna: "Culoda. This is USC."
• Slapstick among teammates: Chest protectors and helmet jokes fly, with Hope directed to "stay in the car and keep the motor running."
• [23:32] Coach Colonna unveils his secret backfield player: "...a cow. Think how confused they'll get trying to figure out whether she's carrying the ball or—"

6. Red Skelton as Junior: Bleachers Comedy

• [24:17] Red Skelton arrives as "Junior," the bratty nephew, with Peggy Ryan as "Aunt Frances."
  • [24:20] Junior: "Goodness, this is awful high up, isn't it? ...A P-38 just passed underneath."
  • [25:43] Peggy introduces Junior to Bob Hope; Junior resists meeting him with comic logic, "You let me ignore him or I will bang my head against this cement wall."
  • [26:07] Hope: "Stop banging your head on that wall. Do you want to chip the cement?"
• Hope "lets" Junior kick the football, expecting mischief:
  • [26:54] Colonna: "Trusting old soul, ain't you? Okay, you ready? Here I come."
• Song Parody Sendoff:
  • [27:01] Hope: "Thanks for the memory of USC, our host known from coast to coast... and we thank you so much."

7. Salute to the GI Bill & Call to Action

• [27:25] Hope delivers a heartfelt tribute to veterans pursuing education:
  • "You know, folks, a lot of guys who were out digging foxholes not long ago here at USC under the GI Bill of Rights, digging for an education that got nipped when the nips went berserk in '41... The GI Bill of Rights is America's promise to the serviceman... victory bonds are the teeth in that promise."
  • Hope urges listeners to support returning veterans by buying government bonds.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On college atmosphere
  • Bob Hope (00:49): "That's where you learn how to make money. Like Crosby after spending four years dressing like him."
• On dating at college
  • Peggy Ryan (09:28): "No, Smoochin' Charlies."
• Freshman to Senior transformation
  • Peggy (15:41): "Well, I don't want to hurt your feelings, Ronald, but I really consider you the ugliest, stupidest, most hopelessly, half witty–"
  • Hope (interrupts; 15:47): "I have two tickets to the Rose Bowl game."
  • (15:49) Peggy, instantly: "You have?"
• Coach Colonna’s pep talk
  • (21:29) Colonna (Coach): "We're going out there to play football today. We're gonna play hard... But above all, we're going to play fair. Oh, no, no, no, no. Don't applaud, don't applaud. Give that cement a chance to hide around your brass knuckles."
• Locker room confusion
  • (22:24) Colonna: "Of course. Silly Bee must have gone on the wrong bus this morning. All right now, man, get dressed."
• Junior in the stands
  • (24:20) Junior (Red Skelton): "Goodness, this is awful high up, isn't it?...A P-38 just passed underneath."
  • (26:07) Bob Hope to Junior: "Stop banging your head on that wall. Do you want to chip the cement?"
• Hope's closing tribute to veterans
  • (27:25–28:45) Hope: "The GI Bill of Rights is America's promise to the serviceman... victory bonds are the teeth in that promise."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening Monologue/College Satire: 00:49–04:15
• Comedy Sketch/Commercial Parodies: 04:15–06:56
• Musical Performance ("It Might as Well Be Spring"): 06:23–08:35
• Peggy Ryan Joins & College Romancing Riffs: 08:57–10:24
• Freshman vs Senior Sketch: 11:07–15:55
• Football Locker Room Sketch: 20:23–23:53
• Red Skelton/Junior in Stands: 24:17–26:54
• Closing GI Bill Tribute & Farewell: 27:01–28:46

Tone & Style

The episode bubbles with Hope's vaudeville energy, delivering rapid-fire jokes, winking innuendos, extended wordplay, and affectionate lampooning of both academia and military service. The cast effortlessly shifts from sketch to musical number, keeping the pace brisk and the laughs frequent, while also pausing for genuine patriotic warmth in its salute to the GI Bill.

Summary

For listeners, this episode offers a rollicking ride through postwar college culture, seen through Bob Hope's irreverent eye. With a supporting cast of beloved comics and musicians, the show cleverly blends youthful romance, football fever, and a tribute to returning veterans—plus the zaniness of Red Skelton’s unforgettable "Junior." Both a comedy time capsule and a heartfelt thank-you to the Greatest Generation, it’s a vintage treat from radio’s golden era.