Desperate Telethon
The gang puts on a makeshift telethon to save their jobs or something else very important to them. Usually they don't raise much money.
Welcome Back, Kotter
Appearances
- Welcome Back, Kotter: Season 1, episode 20, "Telethon" (1976). The school is so low on funds that Mr. Woodman is threatening to cancel the remedial program for the rest of the year unless he gets $700, so Mr. Kotter and the Sweathogs talk a local television station into letting them air a telethon to raise the money.
- Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Season 2, episode 130 (1977). Wanda and Merle convince Vernon to create a GGG political party with him as their first candidate for president. To raise money for his campaign, the gang has a telethon with everyone participating: Cathy is twirling batons, Charlie's doing bird calls while yo-yo-ing, and even Tom's juggling. To motivate people to donate, they plan to donate 10 cents from every dollar towards curing a disease, but they can't decide which disease to use, so they decide to donate to all 112 diseases represented in Fernwood.
- Fernwood 2 Night: Season 1, episode 65, "Save Fernwood 2 Night Telethon" (1977). Barth holds a telethon to raise money to buy back the show's furniture, which he had to pawn to cover his legal fees.
- Newhart: Season 6, episode 10, "Telethon Man" (1987). The TV station is broke, and the staff refuses to work if they don't get paid, so Michael organizes a 48-hour telethon hosted by Dick. Unfortunately, the staff walks out early on, so Dick has to improvise while getting no sleep for two days.
- Sledge Hammer!: Season 2, episode 10, "Hammeroid" (1987). When the so-called "Hooded Hood" robs the bank that held the police pension fund, Sledge comes up with an idea to get the money back and lure the Hood into a trap: hold a telethon. The performances consist of Captain Trunk singing "Havah Nagila" and Office Majoy doing bird calls.
- The Golden Girls: Season 7, episode 8, "The Monkey Show" (1991). Rose and Blanche host a telethon to raise money to save a historical lighthouse, but their broadcast gets cut short when a surprise hurricane hits, completely destroying the lighthouse they were trying to save.