The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour is an American variety show starring American pop-singer Cher and her husband, Sonny Bono. The show ran on CBS in the United States, when it premiered in August 1971. The show was canceled May 1974, due to the couple's divorce, though the duo would reunite in 1976 for the identically-formatted The Sonny & Cher Show, which ran until 1977.
WritersBob Arnott, Chris Bearde, Allan Blye, George Burditt, Bob Einstein, Phil Hahn
Show 1 - Series Premeire
Aug 1, 1971
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with a medley of ""The Beat Goes On"" and ""It Don't Come Easy"", followed by a monologue featuring banter from their nightclub act. 2. As the Bonos sing ""Close To You"", security guards keep Sonny away from Cher, who is wearing the 750-carat Star of Queensland, believed to be the world's largest black sapphire (provided by Kazanjiian Jewels of Beverly Hills). 3. Jimmy is featured in a production number of ""Mrs. Robinson"" and ""Some Of These Days"" 4. Sonny dresses as a penguin to look for his National Geographic magazine. 5. Cher sings ""You Made Me Love You"" 6. Sonny joins Cher on stage, claiming to be a fantastic swordsman who can rescue any fair damsel from the clutches of evil. 7. ""The Vamps"" -- Julius Caesar (Jimmy) comes to claim the hand of Cleopatra (Cher) in marriage; the father of Pocahontas (Jimmy) orders John Smith (Sonny) beheaded for his involvement with the lovely Indian princess (Cher); and Mata Hari (Cher) schemes to get the truth out of Jimmy.
Show 2
Aug 8, 1971
1. As Sonny sings ""Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"" at the piano, Ken comes up to him, claiming to know all about his troubled past. 2. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Joy To the World"" and banter about Sonny's Italian background. 3. Cher sings ""Greensleeves"" in a comedy blackout as Sonny and Ken each take one of her hands and walk off-camera. 4. Ken is featured in a musical production number of ""All I Need Is the Girl."" 5. Ken gets vocally carried away as he and Cher watch the film Love Story. 6. Sonny mimes a recording of Jim Nabors singing ""Gonna Build a Mountain"" as two mountain climbers struggle to get up to him. 7. Cher sings ""It Had To Be You"" 8. Ken is featured in a repetitive vaudeville routine about tap dancers whose top hats are taken by the previous performers. 9. Cher attempts to show Sonny what it is that he does best. 10. Sonny and Cher perform a medley of ""I Believe In Music"" and ""Put Your Hand In the Hand."" 11. Sonny, dressed as German composer Ludwig van Beethov
Show 3
Aug 15, 1971
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""With a Little Help From My Friends"" and an opening dialogue. 2. Cher sings ""God Bless the Child"" 3. The rock group Gideon and Power perform ""In the Upper Room"" 4. Glen sings ""Today Is Mine"" 5. Glen is the musical commentator as Sonny and Cher do blackouts dealing with the future human condition. 6. Glen joins Sonny and Cher for a medley of ""Cry Like a Baby"" and ""Bad Moon Rising""
Show 4
Aug 22, 1971
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Games People Play"" and banter about Sonny's logic that their show will become a mid-season replacement. 2. Merv sings ""Get Together"" as the competition at an unusual ping-pong game in the background gets out of hand. 3. Cher sings ""Stormy Weather"" 4. Sonny appears on-stage with Cher dressed as Superman, claiming that nothing can deter him from fighting crime in America except kryptonite. 5. Sonny proposes to bring a semi-classical spot into the show by singing ""Be My Love"" 6. Sonny is surprised to learn that their next guests will be the carpenters, not the brother-sister duo but a group of construction workers, who erect a frame structure around him. 7. Merv sings ""What Are You Doing the Rest Of Your Life?"" 8. Sonny is taken by a gypsy fortune teller (Cher). 9. Merv sets himself up to be cut down by Cher in the same style she does with Sonny. 10. Cher and the Jimmy Dale Orchestra capture the band sound in an elaborate production number, singing ""S
Show 5
Aug 29, 1971
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Proud Mary"" and banter about Sonny's horoscope having him think that he can't do anything wrong. 2. ""The Cultural Spot"" -- Cher is featured as ""the princess who couldn't smile"", with Phyllis playing a court jester who tries to get her to laugh and Sonny as a peasant with a song. 3. Cher, who is singing ""We'll Meet Again"" while waiting for a romantic movie star to come and sweep her off her feet, jumps from a bridge when Sonny shows up instead. 4. The all-girl rock group Fanny performs ""Charity Ball"" 5. Phyllis and Cher talk about their husbands. 6. Sonny comes on-stage singing ""Puppet Man"", until Cher pulls his strings. 7. ""Cliff House"" -- The master of the house (Sonny) brings his new wife (Cher) home to the eerie mansion, much to the dismay of his housekeeper (Phyllis). 8. Sonny and Cher perform a medley of ""Two Of Us"" and ""We Can Work It Out"" 9. Sonny seeks advice from a gypsy fortune teller (Cher). 10. Cher sings ""Georgia On My Mind"" 11. Phylli
Show 6 - Summer Replacement Series Finale
Sep 5, 1971
1. Sonny and Cher perform ""Something"" and ""Maybe I'm Amazed"" 2. ""The Vamps"" -- Cher is featured in comedy blackouts as Helen of Troy, Catherine the Great and Sadie Thompson. 3. Sonny and Cher appear in a soap opera spoof called ""Cliff House"", a Gothic melodrama complete with crashing thunder and eerie organ music.
Show 7 - Midseason Premiere
Dec 27, 1971
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""All I Ever Need Is You"" and banter about their summer show and Christmas holiday together. 2. As Sonny recites his new poem, ""What Is Life?"", the choir members behind him fall asleep. 3. Cher sings ""Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves"" 4. Sonny, dressed as Henry VIII, is given a citation for overacting by Glenn. 5. ""The Vamps"" -- Cher appears as Nefertiti, one of the best-known Egyptian queens, with Harvey cast as King Tut and Sonny as the official taster for the king; the German songstress Lili Marlene (Cher) faces execution by a firing squad, until she gets kissed by a German sergeant (Harvey) who ends up riddled with bullets instead; and Sadie Thompson (Cher) agrees to help a preacher (Sonny) save a drunken bum (Harvey) from the demon rum. 6. Sonny and Cher perform a medley of ""Love Grows"" and ""Where You Lead"" 7. Sonny turns to Harvey for tips on how to handle Cher's put-downs. 8. Cher sings ""One Tin Soldier"", an anti-war song illustrated by cartoonist
Show 8
Jan 3, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Sooner Or Later"" and banter about what makes their marriage such a solid success. 2. Sonny sings ""Whispering"" until he's distracted by everyone whispering behind his back. 3. Cher sings ""Come Rain Or Come Shine"" 4. Sonny plans a special memorial surprise honoring Tony on the 20th anniversary of his film The Prince Who Was a Thief. 5. Dinah tells Cher how her marriage to Sonny is an inspiration to other couples. 6. Dinah sings ""The Song Is Love"" 7. ""Detective Fat"" -- Everyone is overweight in this spoof of the ""Cannon"" series, starring Tony in the title role, Sonny and Cher as the couple who find a dead man in their living room, and Dinah as the maid. 8. ""Sonny and Cher At Home"" -- The Bonos parody the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle. 9. Tony shares fashion tips with Sonny about the benefits of wearing a ""sit-down suit."" 10. Sonny and Cher perform ""Mr. Tambourine Man"" and (with Dinah) ""Joy To the World"" 11. ""Headlines In the Papers"" -- Tony and Dinah
Show 9
Jan 10, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Good Day Sunshine"" and banter about how Sonny sets Cher up for the big laughs. 2. ""Information Please"" -- The Presidential assistant to Marketing, Research and Economic Stability (Carroll) attempts to explain President Nixon's wage and price freeze. 3. Cher sings ""What a Difference a Day Makes"" 4. Sonny, dressed in a costume of feathers, announces that he's been studying birds and plans to be the first man to fly. 5. ""The Vamps"" -- Napoleon (Carroll) returns home to an unfaithful Josephine (Cher) after his war with the Russians, and Delilah (Cher) learns that the secret of Samson's (Carroll's) strength lies in his hair. 6. Cher sings ""Mountain Greenery"" and ""Big Yellow Taxi"", while showing an animated satire on pollution by cartoonist John Wilson. 7. Carroll proves to a skeptical Sonny that his singing voice can shatter wood. 8. Carroll sings his own lyrics to ""Remembering You"", the closing theme song heard at the end of each ""All In the Family"" sh
Show 10
Jan 17, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""It Takes Two"" and banter about Sonny's new interest in body language. 2. ""I Got You Babe"" -- Sonny is featured in a recurring skit as a struggling writer named Eddie Farber, whose wife (Holly) adds to his frustrations with her shocking confession that she's had an affair. 3. Kate sings ""If He Walked Into My Life Today"" 4. A gypsy fortune teller (Cher) predicts that a rich eccentric Texan will give Sonny one million tax-free dollars. 5. Sonny appears as a motorist whose car has run out of gas in an ecology satire. 6. Cher sings ""How Long Has This Been Going On?"" 7. Sonny, dressed as Thor, the god of lightning and thunder, attempts to bring a big bolt out of the sky with his hammer. 8. A gypsy fortune teller (Cher) predicts that Kate will have lunch with a tall, dark and handsome stranger with a mustache. 9. An overly enthusiastic waitress (Kate) serving two lovebirds (Sonny and Cher) in a tea room has every line Sonny sings about in ""Tea For Two"" br
Show 11
Jan 24, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Put a Little Love In Your Heart"" and an opening dialogue. 2. ""The Vamps"" -- Cher appears in comedy sketches as Scarlett O'Hara of Gone With the Wind, Greta Garbo and Queen Alexandra. 3. Chad sings ""Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone"" 4. Lorne recites Shakespeare to Sonny's version of the gunfight at the OK Corral. 5. Cher sings ""I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good"" 6. Chad tries to get a nude shot of his model (Cher) despite Sonny's objections. 7. Sonny and Cher perform a medley of ""Ain't No Mountain High Enough"" and ""Suspicious Minds""
Show 12
Jan 31, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""More Today Than Yesterday"" and banter about Sonny's new organic health food diet. 2. Cher sings ""The Way Of Love"" 3. Tony leads the cast in a sing-along of ""Heart Of My Heart"" at the piano bar of a 747. 4. ""The Vamps"" -- Lady Chatterley (Cher) turns to her gardener (Tony) for affection after Lord Chatterley (Sonny) seems to have neglected her; Sadie Thompson and the preacher (Sonny and Cher) anticipate the arrival of a man sent from headquarters (Tony), who is coming to review the preacher's progress on the island; and Maid Marion (Cher) confesses to Robin Hood (Sonny) that she's been seeing Little John (Tony) behind his back. 5. The female rock group Honey Cone performs ""One Monkey Don't Stop No Show"" 6. A gypsy fortune teller (Cher) predicts great opportunity in Tony's future. 7. Cher sings ""Brand New Key"" to John Wilson's animated satire of the hit song. 8. Sonny and Cher perform a medley of ""We'll Sing In the Sunshine"" and ""You Are My Sunshine""
Show 13
Feb 7, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""People Got To Be Free"" and banter about the art of self-control. 2. Sonny and Cher are joined on-stage by Mike and Jean, who only seem to have compliments for each other. 3. Jean shows Cher a secondhand pair of magic dancing shoes that she's just bought. 4. Cher sings ""Body and Soul"" 5. A gypsy fortune teller (Cher) predicts good news and bad news for Mike. 6. ""Meet the Candidate"" -- A televised at-home interview with a Presidential candidate (Mike) is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of his tipsy wife (Jean) and a ""surprise"" visit from his close friend and black neighbor (regular Freeman King), whom Jean reveals on the air is actually the couple's butler. 7. Mike and Jean are featured in ""The First Annual Daytime TV Academy Awards"", a takeoff on awards shows, spoofing everything from daytime soap operas like General Hospital to instructional cooking shows like The Galloping Gourmet. The coveted awards are presented in such silly categories as
Show 14
Feb 14, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Cry Like a Baby"" and banter about Sonny's start in the music business. 2. Sonny gets Burt to re-create one of the breathtaking stunts he's so famous for. 3. Cher sings ""Am I Blue?"" 4. Burt appears with Sonny and regular Ted Zeigler as Americans during the Revolutionary War in a comedy blackout about ""Yankee Doodle Dandy."" 5. Raggedy Cher breaks the news to Raggedy Sonny that she's knitting them a baby. 6. Sonny encourages Cher to help Burt get over his nervousness about meeting her. 7. Sonny's recitation of a soliloquy from Hamlet causes Shakespeare to turn over in his grave. 8. ""The Vamps"" -- The serpent (Burt) tries to tempt Eve (Cher) to get Adam (Sonny) to take a bite of the forbidden apple in the Garden Of Eden; Wild Bill Hickok (Burt) rides into town to challenge pioneer crusader Calamity Jane (Cher) when he hears that she's been claiming to be his equal; and, in a comic spoof of A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche Dubois (Cher) forces her affe
Show 15
Feb 21, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You"" and banter about Sonny's new interest in exercising and staying in shape. 2. Art joins Sonny and Cher on stage, complimenting Cher and searching for small talk with Sonny. 3. Sonny attempts to perform one of the old songs on the piano, despite Cher's warning that Art doesn't like his voice. 4. Cher sings ""Ain't Misbehavin'"" 5. Sonny invites Art to play an impromptu piece on the piano before the show's audience, and then can't get him to stop. 6. ""Army Life"" -- Cher heads a chorus line of dancers introducing an elaborate salute to life in the US Army. In comedy blackouts, a World War II Field commander (Art) has difficulty persuading his infantrymen to follow him to the battlefront; Patti Andrews (Cher) is willing to do whatever it takes to please the GI's while working at the U.S.O. During World War II, and a sergeant (Art) brings a tough new recruit into the undisciplined barracks of today's army. 7. ""I Got You Babe""
Show 16
Feb 28, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Eight Days a Week"" and an opening dialogue. 2. Ralph Edwards surprises Sonny with his This Is Your Life presentation. 3. Cher sings ""As Time Goes By"" 4. ""The Vamps"" -- Cher appears in comedy blackouts as Salome, Marie Antoinette and Sadie Thompson. 5. Sonny and Cher perform ""Dancing In the Streets"" 6. Ken joins Sonny and Cher in a Viking opera, country-western style.
Show 17
Mar 6, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Got To Get You Into My Life"" and banter with Sonny comparing himself to a finely tuned Italian race car. 2. Sandy joins Sonny and Cher on stage, asking for Cher's permission to name her kitten after her. 3. Cher and Sandy are approached by a Hollywood prince (Burt) in the park. 4. Cher sings ""The Man That Got Away"" 5. Sandy sings and dances through an elaborate commercial spot for McTavish Aspirin. 6. ""I Got You Babe"" -- A struggling young couple (Sonny and Cher) offers to keep Sandy's pet sheep dog while she's out of town modeling in a ski show. 7. Sonny and Cher perform a medley of ""I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"" and ""My World Is Empty Without You"" 8. ""The Cultural Spot"" -- In The Gypsy Doodle, an opera set to music from the Roaring Twenties, two sisters (Sandy and Cher) compete for the gypsy king's hand in marriage, despite the frantic warnings from an old gypsy crone (regular Ted Zeigler) that an evil curse will come upon everyone in the camp if t
Show 18
Mar 13, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with a medley of ""The Beat Goes On"" and ""It Don't Come Easy"" and banter about Cher being named one of the ten best dressed women in America. 2. Sonny shares the stage with George, who delivers his own style of standup comedy. 3. Cher sings ""You Made Me Love You"" 4. ""The Vamps"" -- King Ferdinand of Spain (George) sends Christopher Columbus (Sonny) off to discover the New World after he catches him making love with Queen Isabella (Cher); and while attempting to help his best friend (George) win the affections of the lovely Roxanne (Cher), Cyrano de Bergerac (Sonny) ends up getting the girl himself. 5. Singer David Clayton Thomas (former with the group Blood, Sweat and Tears) makes his television debut as a soloist with ""Magnificent Sanctuary Band."" 6. George appears as a bartender offering advice on life and love to Sonny and Cher. 7. Sonny and Cher perform a medley of ""Two Of Us"" and ""We Can Work It Out"" 8. ""The Cultural Spot"" -- Sonny and Cher are joined
Show 19 - Season Finale
Mar 20, 1972
1. Sonny and Cher open the show with ""Get Ready"" and an opening dialogue. 2. Cher sings ""The Way Of Love"" 3. ""The Vamps"" -- Merv joins Cher in vamp blackouts of Bonnie and Clyde, Theda Bara and Sadie Thompson. 4. Sonny sings ""For Once In My Life"" to backdrop photos of Chastity. 5. Sonny and Cher sing ""A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done"" 6. Merv appears as Vlada the Horror in a Russian opera with a Xavier Cugat beat. 7. Sonny and Cher, along with the Tony Mordente dancers, perform ""The Sonny and Cher Stomp.""
