John Lennon and Yoko Ono filmed the last of five appearances on The Mike Douglas Show on 4 February 1972.
The shows were filmed at the KYW-TV studio at 1619 Walnut Street in Philadelphia. The couple’s other appearances were filmed on 14, 18, 20, and 27 January, and broadcast over a week from 14 February.
This episode was broadcast on 18 February. Filming had originally been scheduled for 28 January, but was postponed due to Ono being unwell.
Little Richard was to have been the show’s special guest, but was unable to attend due to poor weather. In his place, Lennon and Ono were more prominent throughout the episode.
It began with ‘Mend Piece’, which Ono had introduced in the first edition. A broken tea cup was gradually mended over the course of the show’s run until it was fully fixed. On this final day the remaining pieces were fixed in place.
Douglas interviewed Lennon about The Beatles and his musical influences, followed by a Q&A session with members of the audience. The subjects included primal therapy, ‘How Do You Sleep?’, and the current state of Lennon’s relationship with Paul McCartney (“I had dinner with him last week”).
Comedian George Carlin did a routine after the commercial break, after which he joined Douglas, Lennon, and Ono for an interview.
Lennon and Ono performed ‘The Luck Of The Irish’, in which Lennon changed the word “b******s” to “bummers”.
The second guest was NYC attorney and feminist campaigner Rena Uviller, after which the ‘How?’ sequence from the Imagine film was shown.
Ono introduced Dr Gary E Schwartz from Harvard Medical School. He discussed recent research into the ability to control heart rate and blood pressure through willpower.
During the final segment Ono sang a traditional Japanese folk song, ‘Sakura’, after which Douglas sang a farewell tribute to her and Lennon.