On This Day in 1975: Cher’s TV Show

42 years ago today, Cher stepped out sans Sonny to star in her own TV series, one which was shorter-lived than the one that she and her ex-husband co-headlined but still managed to deliver a plethora of high-profile guest stars along with some of the most amazing outfits seen on ‘70s TV.

No, we’re not just trying to put a positive spin on Cher because she’s in our catalog, but if you know about her famous medley with David Bowie – and you should, because we post about it every chance we get, because it’s just that awesome – then you’re already aware that the show seemed capable of scoring any guest they tried to get. The first episode featured Elton John, Bette Midler, and Flip Wilson. The second episode? Raquel Welch, Tatum O’Neal, and Wayne Rogers. (Hey, don’t forget: M*A*S*H was huge!) Over the course of the first season, other heavyweights who made appearances included Jerry Lewis, Cloris Leachman, the Jackson 5, Lily Tomlin, Redd Foxx, Teri Garr and Marty Feldman (surely this was around the time Young Frankenstein came out), Tim Conway, Ike and Tina Turner, and – what’s this? – Gregg Allman.

The show made it to a second season, which is when the famous Bowie appearance occurred, and others who popped by for appearances included Bill Cosby, the Smothers Brothers, George Burns, Steve Martin, and even Captain Kangaroo. Unfortunately, viewers never really had an opportunity to see how many seasons Cher had in it, because when Sonny and Cher managed to (temporarily) set aside their differences, suddenly The Sonny & Cher Show was back. Unfortunately, their change in relationship meant that the chemistry between the two wasn’t the same, and viewers noticed.

Alas, Cher’s TV series has never been officially released on DVD, but it’s worth hunting down whatever clips you can find, because we can’t stress this enough: the guest stars and the outfits were both fantastic, and the musical performances were sometimes downright transcendent.

Cue the Bowie clip!