During my two decades as a script writer for Bob Hope in the 70s and 80s, problems were bound to crop up now and again, but when they didn't arise until after a show had been taped, this made them even more troublesome and costly.

One year, we taped a Halloween special on which one of the guests was Cassandra Peterson, well-known as a Charles Addams-like character who called herself " Elvira." She appeared in a parody of the popular sitcom "Cheers" as a customer in the bar opposite Hope as the show’s bartender, Coach. In our sketch, Cassandra entered the bar, looked Hope up and down, and said, “Nice job. Who’s your undertaker?”  As usual, the sketch was edited,sound-checked and transferred, along with the rest of the show to tape that would be transmitted by satellite to New York, from whence the show would be broadcast.

The Halloween special was scheduled to air on a Sunday night but on the previous Friday, Nick Callesandro, the actor who played “Coach” on Cheers, suffered a sudden heart attack at his home in Burbank and, despite all efforts by paramedics to revive him, was declared dead on his arrival at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Minutes after the grim news was broadcast, my phone rang. It was Hope with instructions to call the writers and have them begin working on a replacement line that could be dubbed onto the master tape. In the meantime, he said, he would notify Cassandra to meet us at Glen Glen Sound in Hollywood where the emergency looping session would take place.

Hear in the author's own words, what happened next --- how this unexpected and tragic situation was resolved.

This article is excerpted from THE LAUGH MAKERS:  A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media.