--- title: Bob Hope at the Oscars: Did He Invent the 'Russian Reversal'? description: In 1958, Oscars host Bob Hope may have made comedy history canonical: https://time.com/3715747/bob-hope-russian-reversal/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-23T01:00:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:32.134Z article:section: History og:title: Bob Hope at the Oscars: Did He Invent the 'Russian Reversal'? og:description: In 1958, Oscars host Bob Hope may have made comedy history og:url: https://time.com/3715747/bob-hope-russian-reversal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt718b7adb6d575101/6987801f524fc01927dec8e3/hope.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Actors (L-R) Clark Gable Cary Grant Bob Hope and David og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bob Hope at the Oscars: Did He Invent the 'Russian Reversal'? twitter:description: In 1958, Oscars host Bob Hope may have made comedy history twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt718b7adb6d575101/6987801f524fc01927dec8e3/hope.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # In Soviet Russia, the Oscars Host You  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Feb 23, 2015 1:00 AM UTC  Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Bob Hope and David Niven laughing heartily together at one of Hope's recently-acquired Russian jokes during break from rehearsals for the 1958 Academy Awards Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Bob Hope and David Niven laughing heartily together at one of Hope's recently-acquired Russian jokes during break from rehearsals for the 1958 Academy AwardsLeonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Feb 23, 2015 1:00 AM UTC Stop me if you’ve heard this one. These days, an Oscars host is likely to wish only to avoid[ a complete disaster ](http://time.com/3655616/hathaway-harris-oscars/)— but in 1958, veteran host Bob Hope may have introduced the world to a joke that, decades later, has become part of comedy’s common heritage. Here’s how TIME described the ceremony in the Apr. 7 issue of that year: --- > “” --- Comedy fans will likely recognize a very familiar construction in that first Hope joke. In Soviet Russia, the TV watches you! These days, that construction is often known as the “Russian reversal.” Swap around the order in which things are usually done, add “in \[Soviet\] Russia” to the beginning, and that’s it. The joke has appeared on _The Simpsons_ and _Family Guy_, and the Internet is flush with “t-shirt wears you” gear. Most sources — from [the spot-on Language Log blog at UPenn](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000402.html) to the equally trustworthy (when it comes to viral jokes) [Know Your Meme](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-soviet-russia) — trace the joke’s popularity to Yakov Smirnoff, a Russian-born comedian who came to the U.S. in the 1970s. And it’s not hard to see why he would get the credit: Dig a little deeper, and some sources note that a similar joke (substituting “the Old Country” for “Russia”) appeared on _Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In_, which started airing in 1968 — which is, of course, a full decade after Bob Hope used the joke at the 1958 Oscars. There’s some evidence that Hope’s joke was new at that time: LIFE magazine had a photographer on scene during rehearsals for the telecast, and — though the magazine ended up [printing something different](https://books.google.com/books?id=sFMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA81&dq=%22bob+hope%22+oscars&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2FDmVLaqCaW0sATGtoDoCg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false) — the caption with one of the photos (seen here) indicates that Hope and friends were laughing at one of his “recently acquired Russian jokes.” But, while Bob Hope may have introduced a national television audience to the Russian reversal, the real moral of the story is not that he was first — just that it’s hard to say who came up with something so common. After all, buried in [the meme’s page on TVTropes.org](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RussianReversal?from=Main.InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou) there’s an example from a play written a full two decades earlier, before Bob Hope hosted the Oscars, before the Oscars were on TV, before the Cold War even started. In 1938’s Cole Porter musical _Leave It to Me!_, a man tries to tip a messenger. “No tipping,” he’s told. “In Soviet Russia, messenger tips you.” **_Read the full write-up of the 1958 ceremony, here in the TIME Vault:_** [The Oscars](http://time.com/vault/issue/1958-04-07/page/85/) ### LIFE at the Oscars: Rare Rehearsal Photos From 1958  Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster with choreographer Jack Cole, practicing a mock-bitter song-and-dance number called "It's Great Not to Be Nominated"; the tune ribbed many of the year's Oscar contenders. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Inside Los Angeles' RKO Pantages theater, home of the Academy Awards from 1949 through 1959, Janet Leigh and Shirley MacLaine practice a tune. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Zsa Zsa Gabor arrives at the 1958 Oscar rehearsals in pearls and a fur stole. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Paul Newman appears to wait for a cue, as fellow Oscar presenter Doris Day consults with a director (gesturing toward the audience). On the big night itself, Newman's wife Joanne Woodward won Best Actress for The Three Faces of Eve . Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Mae West and Rock Hudson snuggle while rehearsing the flirty pop standard, "Baby, It's Cold Outside," as Academy president George Seaton looks on. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Clark Gable, known for years as "The King of Hollywood," chats with the band during a break in rehearsals, 1958. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley MacLaine shows off the pixie-cute style that helped make her a "mascot" of the Rat Pack throughout the Fifties and early Sixties. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Doris Day and Clark Gable prepare to present the winners of the writing awards, 1958. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Bob Hope, who hosted (or co-hosted) the Academy Awards 19 times over his long career, appears to pick something off Betty Grable's sweater; standing above them on the steps are Shirley Jones -- then famous for the movie musicals Oklahoma! and Carousel -- and MGM idol Van Johnson. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Debbie Reynolds practices her big number: She was tackling "Tammy," the Oscar-nominated song from her romantic comedy Tammy and the Bachelor. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Russ Tamblyn (center, in dark jacket and shirt with huge lapels), 23-year-old Best Supporting Actor nominee for Peyton Place, stands in a group with other unidentified young actors; to the lower right of the frame are Rock Hudson and Mae West. Three years later, Tamblyn become even more famous playing the Jets' leader Riff in West Side Story. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster check out the scene from the seats. On March 27, 1958 -- the day after the Oscars ceremony -- their war film, Run Silent, Run Deep, was released. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shirley MacLaine checks in with the orchestra, 1958 Oscars rehearsal. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Just a few months away from the release the Hitchcock classic, Vertigo, Jimmy Stewart (a co-host in 1958) pops up at rehearsals in a jaunty fedora. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Top row, from left: Shirley Jones, Van Johnson, Mae West, Rock Hudson, and husband-and-wife dancing team Marge and Gower Champion. Bottom: Janet Leigh, Rhonda Fleming, Bob Hope, and Shirley MacLaine. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Bob Hope, photographed in a quiet moment at the 1958 Oscar rehearsals. According to notes taken during Leonard McCombe's photo shoot, Hope cracked up the likes of Clark Gable and Cary Grant with new material: "Tovarich Hope, newly returned from Moscow, unlimbers his Russian jokes." 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