Friday, January 17, 2020

FRIDAY HALL OF FAMER 01/17/2020 - LOVE THAT BOB COLLINS!


Image result for "Love That Bob"

For this Friday’s Hall of Famer, keeping it in the Classic TV Groove, we’re inducting a true museum piece – Bob Collins of ‘Love That Bob!’’

BOB COLLINS

From Wikipedia:
‘The Bob Cummings Show’ (also known as ‘Love That Bob’) is an American sitcom starring Bob Cummings, which was produced from January 2, 1955, to September 15, 1959.  ‘The Bob Cummings Show’ was the first series to debut as a midseason replacement.


The series stars Cummings as dashing Hollywood photographer, Air Force reserve officer, and ladies' man, Bob Collins. The character's interest in aviation and photography mirrored Cummings' own, with his character's name the same as the role he played in the 1945 film “You Came Along”.


O'Bservation:
There may be more in that movie which Zonks the main Toobworld, so I'll just leave it there in the Cineverse and have two Bob Collins living in separate metafictional universes.


Back to Wikipedia:
The series also stars Rosemary DeCamp as his sister Margaret MacDonald.


From Rod Amateau:
He [Cummings' character] was unsuccessful. He would never score with these girls because his nephew, his sister or Schultzy would show up.He had dreams and illusions of being a playboy but he wasn't making it. His frustration is what made the show funny.



O’Bservation:
Amateau wrote many of the scripts.

Here are the reasons why Bob Collins is elegible for membership in the Hall:


The Bob Cummings Show
160 episodes
(1955-1959)

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
- A Marital Mix-Up

(1957)

From the IMDb:
Gracie plays Cupid by trying to find a wife for their plumber, Mr. Jansen.  Robert Cummings appears in his role as fashion model photographer Bob Collins.





O’Bservation:
Interestingly, Bob Cummings also appeared in an episode of this series as himself.  This was just a cameo.

Here's Lucy
- Lucy's Punctured Romance

(1972)

From the IMDb:
Lucy has a new boyfriend Bob Collins, but Kim and Uncle Harry are worried. The milkman doesn't help matters when he informs the pair the Lucy's boyfriend is a playboy. Kim & Harry cook up all kinds of crazy stunts to scare off Bob.




O’Bservation:
Cummings also played a different character in another episode, but although his first name was Robert/Bob, his interests lay in antique furniture.  Not worth jumping through hoops to come up with a splainin to do about them being the same guy.  Instead, I think it’s easier to claim that they were “identical cousins”….


From Wikipedia:
In some episodes, Cummings also doubled as Bob and Margaret's grandfather, Josh Collins of Joplin, Missouri.

O’Bservation:
If Bob Collins does have DNA as strong Corporal Randolph Agarn’s, it’s pozz’ble, just pozz’ble that other TV characters played by Bob Cummings in Toobworld could be related to him… including Bob Cummings.

The Twilight Zone
King Nine Will Not Return


From the IMDb:
A pilot of a downed WWII comes to in the African desert and desperately tries to find out what happened to the rest of his crew.


If all the relatives to Bob Collins (hopefully just the males) look alike, then Captain James Embry, who piloted the B-25 bomber nicknamed the King Nine during World War II, could be his uncle.

I figure he’d be the son of Josh Collins’ sister and he served as an inspiration for Bob Collins to get into aviation.

No fate was ever mentioned for Bob Collins, but I think it’s safe to say that he most likely died around the same time as Robert Cummings did, in 1990.


Whether he was still flying at age 80 like his Grandfather Josh did, he may have died flying his plane at that age.

It might not only be the date of death for Bob Collins which connects him to Cummings.  If other facets of the actor’s life influenced that of his character’s off-screen life, it could be that Bob Collins was pretty "methed-up" when he took off on his last flight….

Welcome to the Hall, Mr. Collins.  You should meet up with a few others you know here – George Burns and Lucille Carter among them….


Don't get all teary-eyed....

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