Season: 3 (The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour)
Episode: 39
Guest(s): Danny Thomas, Miss Universe
CBS air date: Date: February 21, 1973
Also aired: TV Land
Opening Song: “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” (Video)
Cover of Jackie DeShannon (1969)
Sonny and Cher are in matching light blue outfits and Indian jewelry, Cher in a light blue polyester dress with a turquoise squash blossom necklace, concho belt, and thick good, hair. She’s also wearing big bracelets, a silver arm band and a big ring. Sonny is in a matching shirt and coat and pants with similar squash blossom necklace and concho belt. Sonny isn’t singing much. Cher looks great and has more confidence.
Banter: Sonny plans to make an adult film. They talk about nudity versus violence. Marlon Brando and Leonardo Di Vinci are mentioned. There’s a penis joke and an Indian joke.
Vamp: Cher wears the same curly wig, heart pin and sparkly earrings. She now also has a long scarf.
– Bride of Frankenstein: Sonny plays the hunchback and Danny Thomas plays the doctor. I’ve starred this one. Cher wears an awesome wig. There are a lot of nose jokes for Danny Thomas. There’s a Burt Reynolds joke. Ted Zeigler plays the monster and there’s a gay joke. I can’t remember if Zeigler plays Frankenstein as a gay man. Not sure what to make of that.
– Lucrezia Borgia: She’s an Italian-Spanish nobelwoman, the daughter of a pope. Billy Van’s silly laugh is mentionable. I’ve starred this one too. Cher poisoned by kingdom’s pizza man. Cher does a dramatic death scene with her Laverne voice. There’s a Victor Borge joke. Historically Lucrezia was known for her big parties and the poison she kept in a hollow ring she wore. In reality, she died after childbirth.
– Sadie Thompson: Danny Thomas visits the island. He’s Sadie’s old childhood sweetheart, now a mafia crime boss named Big Louie. There’s a nose joke. Danny and Sonny look at cue cards a lot.
Fortune Teller: No slot, my notes say. That’s interesting. Sonny is predicted to meet Miss Universe, Miss Australia, who makes a cameo.
Concert: “I Believe in Music/Put Your Hand in the Hand” (Video)
Cover of Mac Davis (1970) and Ocean (1970)
Sonny wears a yellow suit with white shirt. Cher in an afro wig and multi-colored halter top and pants. Cher is thin enough to see her the bottom of her ribs.
Mr. and Mrs.: Cher sports a shorter wig here. Cher’s character interviews a new French maid, Henri, played by Danny Thomas. Sonny flies into a jealous rage. I’ve noted that Cher looks tiny as a man.
Cultural Spot (Video, dance part at 6:25)
On the Road to Sirocco, a spoof on Bob Hope/Bing Crosby movies like “Road to Zanzibar. Sonny & Cher play the worlds greatest illusionists trying to get out of Arabia. Danny Thomas plays an Arabian sheikh trying to get Cher to become part of his harem. There’s a meta joke about writers and they do an old Hollywood 1940s-style dance.
Solo: “How Long Has This Been Going On” (Video)
Cover of George and Ira Gershwin from the musical Funny Face (1927)
Cher wears her hair in a simple do and is dressed in an orange and brown halter outfit. Lots of close ups, lick lips, unrolling of the hands. There’s a big red light behind her. The rendition is similar but not exactly like the one in her album of the time, Bittersweet White Light. Good performance.
IGUB: Sonny & Cher ask Chasity if she has any boyfriends. Teddy? Jeremy? She sees herself in the monitor. Again, oddly meta.
Notes: Credits say Ralph Morrow (from second season) and Amos Jacobs are “also appearing.”
Highlights: Cher in an afro, the problems of Cher doing mandrag. It actually makes her look smaller. Sonny & Cher gently prodding Chastity’s girl identity in the close of the show.
