Season: 2 (The Sonny & Cher Show)
Episode: 19
Guest(s): Jim Nabors, Jack Albertson, Steve Lawrence
CBS Air Date: November 14 1976
Also aired: Never re-aired
Opening Song: “I Only Want to Be With You” (Audio)
Cover of Dusty Springfield (1963)
I can hear lots of loud clapping by Cher. Not a great rendition. Sonny sings to Cher “you just stepped on my toe.”
Breakout: Bartender Ted Zeigler answers the phone as “Holmes & Yoyo.” (Cher scholar Jay says this was a 1970s TV show. Thank you.) Alvin asks again if that was the ratings people calling and why the bartender (I keep forgetting he has a name; it’s Herbie) didn’t admit they were all really watching The Sonny & Cher Show. Ted says he got it half right (Yoyo). Laverne comes in wanting a double scotch, no ice. Harry left her that night, she says. Here we go. Alvin asks if she is drinking to forget and she says she is drinking to celebrate. (Watching these episodes out of order was really confusing. This is probably one of the first shows to carry a plotline over multiple episodes.)
Opening Banter: Sonny says he’s learning something new and Cher quips “It’s about time.” Sonny says he’s learning the science of numbers (numerology). They seem to be bantering away from the script. Sonny talks about lucky numbers.
Sonny’s Pizza: Steve Lawrence comes in drunk. Sonny is excited because a V.I.P. is coming later to do a photo op at the pizzeria. Turns out it’s a congressman played by Jack Albertson. He’s looking for re-election votes but he’s sleazy and keeps insulting different ethnic groups. He makes a pass at Rosa and pulls her to sit on his lap. Sonny is outraged and tells Albertson he’ll be voting for his opponent but doesn’t know who that person is. Turns out it’s the drunk Steve Lawrence. Har.
Cher Solo: “I Got It Bad and That Aint Good” (Audio)
Cover of Duke Ellington (1941)
Cher sang this solo in episode #11 and episode #43 of the Comedy Hour. Short and sweet. A little raspy this time.
Mother Goose: Cher sings the theme for this series, “And That’s the Truth”
+ Cher plays a ditsy stewardess who doesn’t know where the flight is going. Jack Albertson is in first class and gets caviar. Sonny decides to have some, too. Cher says he’s in second glass and can only have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Steve Lawrence is in the no-frills section and asks what he will get. Cher tells him to put his mouth on the rim and anything that falls into his mouth is his. (This description is from an audio-cast so your guess is as good as ours).
Sonny insists his ticket says he gets to spend all his time with the stewardess. Cher says that offer expired on Sunday. Sonny says it’s only Saturday. But Cher says they just crossed over the international dateline.
Jack claims his ticket says he gets a special treat. Cher gives him a kiss. Sonny asks what he gets: a handshake. Steve asks too and Ted Zeigler (another steward?) playing it as a gay man says, “Hi Sailor. Coffee, tea or a flick of my BIC” from the commercials. Racy!
+ Steve Lawrence and Jack Albertson play speech therapists in Mother Goose Fairy Tale Land. Cher sells seashells by the seashore but can’t say the tongue twister. (As we’ve seen on previous variety shows, Cher is actually very good at tongue twisters.) She learns how to sing the line and the therapists ask for a fifty-dollar fee. She then tells them about her brother, Peter Piper in Pittsburgh who picked a peck of pickled peppers. They teach her to sing that too and ask for another fifty dollars.
Vente Nove: Yes! Cher interviews the director about a new movie called Husband Betrayed. Apparently the movie will be subtitled. Jay says the audio of the film clip seems to elicit a lot of laughter from the audience.
Guest Spot: Steve Lawrence sings “All By Myself.”
Operetta: The Not-So-Grand Hotel” It’s 1918 and the Gershwin Brothers (not the famous composers but Herbie and Alfie) are checking into the hotel. Sonny plays a German spy and Cher plays Roberta, a comedienne doing Bob-Hope-like one-liners. She claims her young son, Bob Hope, is at home waiting to entertain the troops in the next war. They rework the lyrics to old movie musicals for the score.
IGUB: Sonny & Cher sing “I Got You Babe” interrupted by a trip back to the bar with Alvie and Laverne who is still busy insulting Harry. Sonny & Cher come back and say goodnight.
Thanks to Jay for the official run-down on this episode, especially since it has never re-aired and he was cobbling it together from audio.
Highlights: Another Vente Nove.
