Fernwood Tonight - "Save Fernwood 2 Night Telethon" - WFLD-TV (Complete Broadcast, 9/30/1977) 📺

Here's another full broadcast of Fernwood Tonight (a.k.a. Fernwood 2 Night), "Save Fernwood 2 Night Telethon" (S01E65, the last original episode of this incarnation of the series), as aired over WFLD Channel 32, from very early on after Field Communications resumed ownership of the station, after four years under Kaiser Broadcasting. (previous to this we saw another complete Fernwood Tonight from WFLD:    • Fernwood Tonight - "Lattimore Diet Pr...  )

This episode (along with regulars Martin Mull and Fred Willard of course) featured Vern Rowe as Vern Taylor, Geraldine Papel as Candy Lee Hargrove, and of course Frank DeVol as bandleader Happy Kyne. (The character Frankie 'Kid' Carbone was referenced in the opening intro, but Frank Marocco who played him did not appear.)

Includes:

Field Communications ID slide, with logo justified left and synth music (and still-unknown voiceover)

Station ID (with Kaiser-era 32 logo still in effect) / promo for The World At War for Sunday at 6pm (voiceover by Bud Kelly)

Segment 1, with opening (and title on chalkboard), Barth's monologue, and Vern coming on to recite a poem and play "When the Saints Go Marching In" on trumpet

WFLD Fernwood Tonight bumper (1st variant)

Commercials for:

Preparation H

Short 1 minute version of "Elvis" record offer that ran for years starting in 1973 (but ran up again after The King's death) (main voiceover by ??) (ending voiceover by ??)

WFLD "Look at Us!" promo for the premiere of (Norman Lear's newest comedy) Forever Fernwood beginning Monday, October 3rd at 10:00pm (voiceover by Bud Kelly)

WFLD Fernwood Tonight bumper (2nd variant)

In Segment 2, Barth and Jerry commence their telethon, then welcome Candy Lee who does a tap dance while singing "I Am Woman"

WFLD Fernwood Tonight bumper (1st variant)

Commercials for:

Twin theatrical trailer for TV for "The Night Child" and "Beyond the Door" (main voiceover by ??) (ending voiceover by Bud Kelly)

Record offer for "62 Golden Greats" from Sessions (main voiceover by ??) (ending voiceover by ??)

WFLD Fernwood Tonight bumper (2nd variant)

Segment 3, with Barth making the PBS station announcer's plea for funds as Vern and Candy Lee join him and Jerry at the desk

WFLD Fernwood Tonight bumper (1st variant)

Commercials for:

Visa - "Everything's a Snap" (this after they adopted that name after being known for years aforehand as BankAmericard) - tied in with The First National Bank of Chicago (includes a neat shot of the inside of an A&P store)

Sports Cards - encyclopedia of sports info - how sports announcers have all info about baseball players' stats (ending voiceover by Doug Dahlgren?)

Segment 4, with ending credits (and promo voiceover for The Honeymooners episode "Pardon My Glove" by Bud Kelly)

"30 minutes of very remarkable entertainment, almost live..."

Station ID / promo for The World at War for Sunday at 6pm (voiceover by Bud Kelly)

First few seconds of The Honeymooners opening titles (voiceover by Gaylord Avery)

This aired on local Chicago TV on Friday, September 30th 1977 during the 10:00pm to 10:30pm 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!