ABC Network - John Ritter: Being of Sound Mind and Body - WLS-TV (Complete Broadcast, 5/4/1980) 📺

Here's the complete, original broadcast of a neat special that aired over the ABC Network (and thus, in Chicago, via WLS Channel 7), John Ritter: Being of Sound Mind and Body. The Three's Company star is joined by his cohorts on the show, Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers; plus David Doyle of Charlie's Angels, Howard Hesseman of WKRP in Cincinnati and everybody's favorite horror film star, Vincent Price, in a satiric look at contemporary attitudes on various subjects. That is, when John isn't doing his trademark pratfalls. A lot of this almost seems like a "lost" Three's Company episode. (Also be sure to note an ahead-of-it's-time acknowledgement of a same-sex hookup on broadcast television:    • ABC Network - John Ritter: Being of Sound ...  ) Voiceover by Ernie Anderson. Includes: Animated 1979-80 ABC ID Show opening, with Ritter biking onto set, and guest list; behind-the-scenes look at dress rehearsals, and then first sketch "The Movement Is the Message" (featuring Suzanne) which starts out at a swank party, followed by Vincent as book author R. Montague Crawford where passages are acted out and an alternate scenario then presented [Note: the first four minutes of the program were missing from the recording, so it was added in from another source. I also added the Animated ABC ID at the beginning to give some sense of context - everything else is shown as originally aired] Commercials for: Pontiac Firebird Ragu Extra Thick & Zesty Spaghetti Sauce Promo for That's Incredible and "Off the Minnesota Strip" for Monday (main voiceover by Ernie Anderson) (ending voiceover by Allan Jefferys) Animated 1979-80 ABC ID More dress rehearsals, followed by next sketch "Fear Itself" (inside a movie theatre, featuring Joyce) Commercials for: Stayfree Super Maxi Pads (Beltless Feminine Napkins) One-a-Day Plus Iron (with ending voiceover by Peter Thomas touting Inflation Fighter package) Promo for "Angel on My Shoulder" (voiceover by Ernie Anderson) "We will return" bumper Promo for Hart to Hart for Tuesday (voiceover by Ernie Anderson) Commercial: RC Cola (with racing motif) Promo for 3:30 Movie airing of "The Night Strangler" for Monday (voiceover by Gary Gears) Eyewitness Newsbrief with Jay Levine (voiceover by Wayne Atkinson), with previews: Target 7 report from Peter Karl on Chicago high school dropout rates Yugoslavian President Tito dies Mayor Byrne to appoint another top aide Governor Thompson finally endorses Ronald Reagan for President (The whole news brief is a technical difficulty nightmare - the screen is all white throughout, starting with Wayne's voiceover. No idea what happened here but this was the way it aired) Commercial: Sizzler (voiceover by William Conrad) (no picture, this time it's all black) Next sketch, "My Life," about a Walter Simmons (starting out sped-up in B&W in 1925, then in sepia tone during World War II era, then ending in color); followed by "The Over-Reactor" which takes places at an airline terminal security screening line (and features David) Commercials for: McDonald's - "The Fastest Show in Town" Polaroid One-Step - with James Garner and a woman who is not Mariette Hartley Promo for Eight Is Enough, Charlie's Angels and Vega$ for Wednesday (voiceover by Ernie Anderson) Next sketch, "The Rock Doctor," involving a punk-rock artist being transformed into another Elvis (this one has Howard in it) Commercials for: Anacin (with a skeptical Miss MacArthur being convinced of the difference from other aspirins) Clairol Condition shampoo and conditioner set Final sketch, "Sleep," with John as a father tending to a baby Commercials for: Kellogg's Most - fiber with wheat germ Pontiac Bonneville PSA for National High Blood Pressure Education Program - "Treat It and Live" Closing credits (with voiceover promo for Good Morning America by David Hartman, and for Three's Company, Taxi and Hart to Hart by Allan Jefferys) This aired on local Chicago TV on Sunday, May 4th 1980 during the 9:00pm to 10:00pm timeframe. About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television: The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: [email protected] Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to DVD, please e-mail [email protected] Thank you for your help!