The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
|
|
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was a variety show which ran on CBS from August 1971 until May 1974.
In 1971, Sonny and Cher had stopped producing hit singles. Cher's first feature film, Chastity, was not a success, and the duo decided to sing and tell jokes in nightclubs across the country. CBS head of programming Fred Silverman saw them one evening and offered them their own show. The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was originally supposed to be a summer replacement series, but high ratings gave Silverman sufficient reason to bring it back later that year, with a permanent spot on the schedule. The show was taped at Television City in Hollywood.
The show was a Top 20 hit in the ratings for its entire run. Each episode would open with the show's theme song, which would segue into the first few notes of "The Beat Goes On". Every episode, Sonny would exchange banter with Cher, who was usually very proficient in one-liners. Comedy skits would follow, mixed in with musical numbers. At the end of each episode, Sonny and Cher would sing their hit I Got You, Babe to the audience, sometimes, with daughter Chastity Bono in tow.
In 1974, Sonny and Cher agreed to end the show as they were separating from each other. Their timeslot was given to Tony Orlando and Dawn the next fall. They both starred in separate variety shows over the next two years. Sonny Bono's 1974 variety series, The Sonny Comedy Revue, only lasted a few episodes due to poor publicity from the tabloids. Cher's, on the other hand, was a moderate success and lasted for a season in 1975. In 1976, still being good friends, the couple reunited for one last try with The Sonny and Cher Show. It was basically the first variety series, but with different writers on board to create new sketches and songs. However, with Cher being married to Gregg Allman and being pregnant with his child, plus with the looming threat of sketch comedy shows like Saturday Night Live that were putting the nail in the coffin for variety shows, the show lasted a season.
In 2004, selected episodes from The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour were released in a three-disc set on Region 1 DVD.
For guest stars, please see List of guest stars on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.