There was a recent stream on Twitch which ran for 8 days which broadcast back to back episodes of The joy of Painting which at one point had 170,000 people watching.
Bob made three copies of every painting he made. The first copy always hid off screen, and Ross referred to it while the cameras rolled. (None of his on-air paintings except for Season 13 were spontaneous. All the prep paintings that Season were stolen before the season was filmed.) Ross painted a third copy when filming finished. This time, an assistant would stand behind him and snap photos of each brush stroke. These pictures went into Ross' "How to" books.
During his service for the USAF in Alaska, Bob Ross was a drill sergeant. He said: "I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work. The job requires you to be a mean, tough person. And I was fed up with it." Once retired, he vowed never to yell again, creating his characteristic soothing voice tones.
Bob Ross worked for free on the show. Any income he made came from his company, Bob Ross Incorporated, which still sells his name-brand art products.
Occasionally, Bob Ross would bring in special guest hosts. These included fellow wet-on-wet Native American painter Dana Jester, and Bob's own son Steve.