"Well, I doubt you'd be reading this unless you are a Sonny and Cher fan, so I'll concentrate on the highlights of these sweet holiday-themed shows. And, I hope you like "Jingle Bells", because that's the song that opens all three shows!
Both of the first two shows feature William Conrad (television's 'Cannon', which was also the inspiration for the skits they used to do with everyone in huge 'fat suits' in case you remember those) and Chastity as their only guests, with their crew of regulars joining in more than usual in the comedy and song bits. Conrad seems to be having a ball, particularly while doing some pantomime bits as a vagabond bumming some Christmas cheer. For a guy who was mainly known as being a great 'voice' (he was Matt Dillon on radio's version of Gunsmoke and the announcer on Rocky and Bullwinkle), he is very effective in these silent skits. He also appears to do some singing, even trying a solo during the Victorian Village Caroling part of the second show.
Perhaps they meant to continue this tradition (Christmas shows with only Bill Conrad as their guest), but Sonny and Cher's divorce meant that a few years passed before their next Xmas outing (or, in their case, Ex-Mrs outing?). Chastity, Bernadette Peters and Bob (Captain Kangaroo) Keeshan are the guests on the final show, from the 'divorce show' years, with Elijah Blue Allman making a small appearance as well.
A nice package, the only extra being a 'video jukebox' of some of the musical highlights. No commentary, but considering how spare Cher's remarks were on the three-disc package of the shows, I don't think we're missing much.
One cavaet-the first two shows only run about 35 minutes each, so it looks like there must have been some music or other copyrighted material that had to be omitted. Anyone know what was cut out of these shows? The last show runs almost 45 minutes, which is what you would expect of an hour-long show without the commercials."
Joyfully! The Holiday Beat Goes On!
Susan Loffredi | Clearfield, PA USA | 11/22/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas with the Sonny & Cher Christmas Collection DVD! How wonderful for us to have Sonny and Cher celebrating the holidays on this great new DVD which is sure to become a Holiday viewing tradition for many!
The collection contains the Christmas episodes of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Show wrapped up in one great DVD! The shows are full of laughter, music, and holiday cheer along with the unmistakable Sonny and Cher banter! Chastity, joins Sonny & Cher for a number of scenes to make the family holiday complete! Guests include William Conrad, Bernadette Peters, Shields amd Yarnell and Captian Kangaroo!
"Jingle Bells", "Oh Holy Night", And a Christmas medley that includes a very young Chastity singing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause" are just a few of the musical highlights!
Regular segments including "Raggedy Sonny and Raggedy Cher" and "Sonny's Pizza" are given a holiday twist along with lots of segments created just for the holiday episodes.
This must have Christmas Collection DVD is a great follow-up to "The Sonny and Cher Ultimate Collection", a 3 DVD set which was released last year. The Ultimate Collection which has a new low price was worth every penny at it's original price and is also a must have for Sonny and Cher fans as well as anyone who enjoys relaxing, fun filled evenings of great musical entertainment !
"
Have a 70's Christmas!
Lemon | 10/31/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you are a Sonny and Cher fan this is a terrific, campy collection, and it feels great to go back to a simpler, sillier time. The pair does their take many Christmas classics, and Cher looks terrific in her typical wild constumes."
Sonny & Cher's Christmas shows.
johnnyb | 10/18/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a single DVD release of "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour", that contain three Christmas themed episodes. They originally aired on CBS in 1972, 1973 and 1976 respectively. The first show in 1972 has special guest William Conrad who also starred on his CBS show "Cannon" at that time, who appears in a few of the sketches, including one where he plays a street corner Santa. Another segment in this episode is a memorable animated music video part of the series where Sonny and Cher sing Three Dog Night's "Black and White" that was a hit that same year.
In 1973, William Conrad guest stars again on another Christmas show. This time, playing different characters like a vagabond visiting homes on Christmas Eve. Plus a sketch where Sonny Bono shows Conrad a fictitious Christmas album, "Sonny Bono Sings Christmas Songs". There's a lot more to see on this show too!
The most surprising episode of all, from 1976, was their 'post divorce' holiday show, appearing with their daughter Chasity and a surprise guest, Bob Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo from his daily series also airing on CBS that time. Hey! Watch where Bob Keeshan in a "Sonny's Pizza" sketch where he plays an unusual kind of angel flying over people dining alone on Christmas Eve. You'll really flip yourself over this!
You won't find a great true 1970's holiday treasure DVD like this one. Sonny and Cher's Christmas shows is a 'must have' for DVD collectors today!"
Very Corny, but still Nostalgic
N. Mann | Orangevale, CA United States | 12/03/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I remembered these two being much less corny than they appear now, but the music was great. I didn't care for the "Sonny's Pizza" skit in each of the three episodes, as they seemed to go on forever and weren't very funny. They also must have recorded the episodes live because the stumbling over words and long pauses are all in tact. But the elderly people I care for (in their 90's) seemed to like the episodes just fine and thanked me for playing them. At least it was in color and the costumes were very entertaining."