Celebrity Cooks

On January 25, 1978, Bob Crane taped an episode of Celebrity Cooks (1975) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Crane's episode aired several times in Canada throughout the winter and spring of 1978 without incident. A network affiliate in the U.S. then purchased several episodes of "Celebrity Cooks" to run in syndication in the U.S. Crane's episode was supposed to lead off the U.S. syndicated run of the series, and it was scheduled to air in the U.S. on July 10, 1978. Immediately after Crane's murder on June 29, the episode was canceled. It was reported that Crane made numerous jokes about death, which would have made the episode too eerily prophetic. However, this claim was based on one network representative's uncorroborated opinion made just days after Crane's murder. "Celebrity Cooks" has officially gone on record to refute this false claim about Crane's appearance made by this network representative. Those who were there on the day of taping claim no such eerie or inappropriate behavior occurred, and that Crane was one of their best guests.

Referenced in Auto Focus (2002)