The Sonny and Cher Show

Sonny and Cher open the show with “More Today Than Yesterday,” with Cher playfully mocking Sonny’s hand gestures before he tugs a stray hair from her face. Their banter is particularly sharp, with Cher teasing Sonny about his failed solo show and expertly delivering a risky tongue twister, while Sonny stumbles over his own. He then attempts a dramatic reading of “Fly Robin Fly” by Silver Convention—made funnier by the song’s lack of real lyrics—while Cher provides ethereal vocalizations offstage. The “Sonnytone News” segment includes a Meow Mix parody for Mao Zedong’s birthday, another hilarious installment of “King Kong Returns” with Cher as Faye Wray questioning Kong’s commitment, and a chillingly ironic ski-sketch with Sonny that foreshadows his tragic future. Daredevil Evel Knievel makes an appearance trying to secure accident insurance. In the episode’s musical centerpiece, Sonny and Cher join Neil Sedaka for a medley of his hits, including “The Hungry Years,” a song he reveals was inspired by their relationship. Cher’s vocals shine on “Laughter in the Rain,” and the trio closes with “That’s Where the Music Takes Me.” The night’s big comedy set, “Murder on the Oriental Choo-Choo,” spoofs Murder on the Orient Express, with Sonny as Inspector Poirot, Cher as a Prussian countess, and Sedaka as a train conductor. The recurring “Always a Woman Behind Every Man” sketch features Ted Zeigler, Billy Van, and Gailard Sartain as over-the-top fairy godmothers in drag, with segments on Napoleon and Josephine, Popeye and Olive Oyl, and Johann Bach—subtly referencing Sonny’s songwriting. The episode wraps with a subdued performance of “I Got You Babe,” where Cher appears nearly bare-lipped and the tempo feels slower, giving the farewell an unexpectedly wistful tone.