Season: 1 (Cher)
Episode: 4
Guest(s): Cloris Leachman and Jack Albertson
CBS Air Date: March 2, 1975
Also aired: Never re-aired
Torch Open/Opening Song: “By Myself” (Audio only)
Cover of Jack Buchanan (1937)
Cher sang this song on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, episodes #29 and #61, a song she also did on her 1973 standards album, Bittersweet White Light. She wears a black cape of big sparkly ruffles covering a floor-length dress. She sings much more of the song than she usually does before throwing down the wrap. I love this dress. So pretty. Black, shoulderless with a flowered design down the skirt. And then that little pink peek-a-boo over the right shoulder. This is a good version of the song, with conviction. She does a big bend-over hair flip at the end.
Monologue: Cher talks about being clumsy off camera.
Duet with Guests: Cher, Cloris Leachman and Jack Albertson sing and tap-dance to “Do a Take” (cover of ???).
Skit: Cloris Leachman recites a Shakespearean-like soliloquy to which Cher gives the hip 1970s translation.
Life with Laverne: Laverne takes her car in for 300,000-mile service and is met by Chico and the Man’s character Ed Brown (Jack Albertson). I really would have loved to see this TV-character mashup, similar to the Geraldine one in the first episode.
Cher Medley: “I’ve Got the Music In Me” / “Listen to the Music” (Audio only)
Cover of The Kiki Dee Band (1974) and Doobie Brothers (1972)
Cher wears a sparkly tank top and matching pants. Her backup singers stand in a line with her. Cher tries to get gritty in the middle but it mostly just sounds manic, just like when she tried to sing “Listen to the Music” with Sonny. Not a number she pulls off. The backup singers do some interesting things however. They do a group hug at the end.
Guest Skit: Cloris Leachman and Jack Albertson are a couple in a Geritol commercial spoof.
Guest Skit: Cloris Leachman and Jack Albertson both earned Emmys for this skit. Cloris is a wealthy eccentric woman who puts on annual dinners for former lovers who never show up and Jack plays her butler catering to her whims. (Sounds kinda Sunset Boulevardish)
Saturday Night: Cher talks about dating a Gemini with a split-personality.
Cher Solo: “Am I Blue” (Video)
Cover of Ethel Waters (1929)
Cher wears a long, violet gown and a long bobbed wig. Cher sang this song on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, episodes #14 and #42, a song she also sang very dramatically on her 1973 standards album, Bittersweet White Light. She really fires up at the end of this version and it’s very funny when she sings “that jive man is gone.” Good riddence to jive men, so sayeth Cher.
Guest Spot: Jack Albertson sings “The Man In My Little Girl’s Life”
Closing: Cher closes the show.
Highlights: Emmy-winning show for both its guests. Cher does good renditions of “By Myself” and “Am I Blue.”
