FERNWOOD TONIGHT {FERNWOOD 2 NIGHT}: LEISURE SUITS CAUSE CANCER (TV)
Summary
One in this series of satirical, mock talk shows set in Fernwood, Ohio, hosted by the smarmy Barth Gimble and his dim-witted sidekick Jerry Hubbard.
Barth opens the show by thanking viewers for helping him renew his night-to-night contract, enabling him to host this evening's program. Barth then welcomes Howie Palmer, a pianist confined to an iron lung. In a segment called "Rocket to Stardom," five-year-old entertainer Baby Irene belts out "I Didn't Know the Gun Was Loaded." Bandleader Happy Kyne joins the panel to discuss his dental and fast-food concerns, followed by guest Dr. Richard Osgood's startling revelation that leisure suits cause cancer, as demonstrated by his rats. In the show's "Bury the Hatchet" segment, Barth mediates a dispute between Catholic priest Joseph Case and his non-Catholic parents, who want to "de-program" their son and free him from his cult. Finally, Baby Irene tap dances to Palmer's "laid back" accompaniment. Commercials deleted.
(Martin Mull and Fred Willard reprised their roles as Barth Gimble and Jerry Hubbard in "America Tonight," telecast in syndication in 1978.)
Details
- NETWORK: Syndicated
- DATE: July 5, 1977 11:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:21:52
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:51100
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Talk shows - Comedy
- SERIES RUN: Syndicated - TV series, 1977
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Alan Thicke … Producer, Writer
- Patricia Fass Palmer … Associate Producer
- Louis J. Horvitz … Director
- Norman Lear … Created by
- Tom Moore … Writer
- Jeremy Stevens … Writer
- Happy Kyne and the Mirth Makers … Music Group
- Martin Mull … Cast, Barth Gimble
- Fred Willard … Cast, Jerry Hubbard
- Frank DeVol … Cast, Happy Kyne
- Bruce Mahler … Cast, Howie Palmer
- Georgi Irene … Cast, Baby Irene
- Craig Richard Nelson … Cast, Dr. Richard Osgood
- Brian Avery … Cast, Father Joseph Case
- Pearl Shear … Cast, Iris Case
- Wayne Winton … Cast, Franklin Case