Only five years after Nixon and Mao signed their historic Trade Agreement in 1974, Bob Hope was allowed to spend three weeks in Peking and a month in Shanghai taping a TV special.  The show, on which the author was a script writer, was part of a cultural exchange deemed by the press "Ping Pong Diplomacy." Though historic and ground-breaking, 3-hour special from China was not without some unique challenges, not the least of which was China's government itself.  

Then, as it is now, The Communist government of the Peoples Republic is divided into Ministries — a Ministry of Commerce, a Ministry of Health, a Ministry of Education and so on. From day one, the nemesis of The Bob Hope Show — and Hope personally — was the Ministry of Culture.

As a condition of being allowed to tape within their borders, the Culture Ministers insisted on approving every word of our script beforehand. This was not only unrealistic, but virtually impossible since we made script changes right up until tape began rolling. Allowing them to check each segment after it had been shot wouldn’t have been a problem, but for some reason known only to Confucius, the Culture Ministers wouldn’t go along.  Their insistence on a policy of prior approval would be major stumbling block during the entire shoot. 

This excerpt, read by the author, is 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.  www.bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id370.html

The book will soon be available in an audio version from Bear Manor media.