Here's an episode of the short-lived series Sara starring Geena Davis - years before such films as "Earth Girls Are Easy," "Beetlejuice," "Thelma and Louise" and "A League of Their Own" - as aired on the NBC Network via its Chicago outlet, WMAQ Channel 5. It
This program (about a recent law school graduate becoming part of a budding law firm) as mentioned starred Geena Davis in the title role; her co-stars were Alfre Woodard, Mark Hudson (one of The Hudson Brothers who were fixtures on many a kiddie-oriented variety show of the '70's, not to mention the short-lived 1978 syndicated series Bonkers!), Bronson Pinchot (pre-Perfect Strangers) playing a gay lawyer - one of the earliest openly gay characters on TV, Ronnie Claire Edwards, Matthew Lawrence (younger brother of Joey from Gimme a Break!) - and (years before he became famous for Politically Incorrect and Real Time) Bill Maher.
This particular episode is entitled "Sara's Mom" (only the second in the entire series out of 13, or in modern parlance S01E02), and the guest is K Callan who plays that title role. It was written by Merrill Markoe who later became famous as one of David Letterman's writers (and was also one of this show's producers).
Includes:
Opening titles (bumper slide with the show title was added to the beginning before the joining of the title sequence already in progress, as the recording came in just before the showing of Ms. Davis' name on the lower-third screen)
Commercials for:
Dristan (contrasting itself with Actifed)
Dove soap - "7-Day Test" (voiceover by Dan Ingram)
Episode Act I
"Sara" bumper
Commercials for:
National Dairy Board - "Milk's Got More" ("Health Kick" motif)
Opti-Clean and Opti-Zyme Enzymatic Cleaner (for contact lenses)
Promo for Diff'rent Strokes, Double Trouble, Gimme a Break! and It's Your Move (voiceover by Danny Dark)
Promo for Berrenger's
Episode Act II
Commercials for:
CoTylenol multi-symptom cold medication
Weight Watchers Baked Cheese Ravioli (with Lynn Redgrave)
Ending credits (with local promo voiceover by Max Robinson for coming Channel 5 News at 10pm previewing stories such as an interview with a man in the middle of an unusual custody battle, John Coleman's weather report [interesting that he's now on Channel 5 while WMAQ's former anchor Floyd Kalber is at Coleman's old stomping grounds of WLS Channel 7], and Illinois vs. Perdue in Big 10 action)
Promo for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
NBC News Digest with Connie Chung (opening voiceover by Fred Facey), with items:
- OPEC decides to cut oil prices for only second time in its history
- U.S. trade deficit soars to $123.3 billion, the worst up to that point
Commercial: Diet 7up cola
More news:
- Pope John Paul II, in Ecuador, advises people not to despair over country's social tensions
- Pirates boarded U.S. Navy ship in Indonesia, left with $19,000
Commercials for:
GTE Sprint
Velamints Spearmint Gum (incomplete; recording ends before ad does)
This aired on local Chicago TV on Wednesday, January 30th 1985 during the 8:30pm to 9:00pm 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: tapes@fuzzy.tv 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 tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help!