Season: 2 (The Sonny & Cher Show)
Episode: 32
Guest(s): Charo, George Gobel
CBS Air Date: March 4, 1977
Also aired: TVLand
Opening Song: “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” (Video)
Cover of Stevie Wonder (1973)
Sonny & Cher also sang this song on this show, episode #6 and Cher sang it on her solo show during the Stevie Wonder tribute in episode #3. They’re coordinated in light and dark brown outfits. I’ve starred Cher’s long, sparkly gown in my notes. Sonny’s got on his resplendent bling. He seems grumpy throughout, putting on his stern face as Cher unsuccessfully tries to cajole him out of it. They do a big finish.
Opening Banter: They talk about letters the show gets about Cher putting her hands on Sonny too much. They talk about Cher’s sister, Georganne, who since 1976 the actress on General Hospital who originated the villainous role of Heather Webber. Sonny says something about not giving a damn and it’s an uncomfortable moment. He says he has the toughest job because he has to carry the show. He wants a role reversal with Cher and he plays with his hair and looks bored and says Cher can do all the talking. Cher happily takes over and starts talking about the Equal Rights Amendment. Sonny complains about her cooking and how tired he is of being treated like a sex object and something about losing a house (I believe Sonny lost the infamous Carolwood house in the divorce). Sonny’s unfortunate bitterness is showing.
Vente Nove: The Italian again says he was born in a bingo parlor and how he likes to make abstract films. He talks to Cher about his latest movie, “Another Movie,” a Japanese kabuki Western mashup between Madame Butterfly and Gone with the Wind, dubbed with American voices that all sound like John Wayne. When he says, “Roll it, Luigi,” they roll out a tin barrel. “The film, Luigi, the film!” They make fun of the foley in Westerns. Sonny makes a Barry Manilow reference. There’s a reference to “Jewish pizza” in the “after thoughts” segment.
Guest Spot: Charo performs classical guitar and sings “Concerto de Aranjuez” on a set with a mirrored floor.
Skit: Sonny plays a city cop and George Gobel is trying to turn himself in for the crime of pulling a tag off a pillow. He’s also done other such crimes and tries to confess those, too. Sonny tries to get rid of him as a bother. The skit feels very Barney Miller. For some reason obscene phone caller is mentioned as one of the “meaningless crimes” too inconsequential to arrest on.
Cher Solo: “Come Rain or Come Shine” (Audio)
Cover of Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer (1946)
Cher also sang this on the Comedy Hour episode #8. Cher wears a pink, off-the-shoulder big Mumu dress with a pink spay of a headdress. It’s very hot pink with pretty trim, my notes say. Cher really soaks this one in syrup. My notes say this version is more “bombastic” than the Comedy Hour version.
Skit: Charo recites a Shakespearean soliloquy from Hamlet in her own special Charo-esque way.
Concert: “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” (Video)
Cover of Jim Croce (1973)
Sonny & Cher sang this song to a John Wilson animation in the Comedy Hour episodes #44 and #67. This is the first time they’ve sung the song in a Concert segment. Sonny & Cher are in matching white outfits. Cher wears a halter and harem pants. She’s got enormous, gold earrings on and a long, side ponytail. This version is a bit off, not for all the trying. It’s a good time to point out that Sonny depended heavily on cue cards for many of these performances. Later Cher acknowledged her dyslexia forced her to memorize songs, tv skits and movie lines quickly. It’s also timely to note some people considered Sonny “meaner than a junkyard dog.” After he died, one of his opponents was quoted on VH-1’s Behind the Music saying Sonny came across like “a mean little Italian.” Wow.
Great Lovers: Jay says he appreciates the work that went into Sonny’s interstitial dance routines and that his moves are pretty disciplined.
+ George Gobel plays Tarzan (or George of the Jungle?) and Charo plays his wife June (in a takeoff on Jane). George can’t understand anything June says and she gets mad and goes back to New York City, which is less dangerous.
+ Big Daddy and Superman: a gray-haired Cher tells her dad, George Gobel, that her marriage to Superperson, Sonny, is falling apart because he won’t acknowledge his middle age and slow down.
IGUB: No song. a Goodnight and walk off.
Thanks to Jay for the official run-down on this episode.
Highlights: Not an specially memorable one.
