Americathon (1979)

Directed by: Neal Israel

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: America is in debt so the President (John Ritter) decides to hold a telethon to help the country raise needed funds.

Kitty Cameo: At the beginning of the film we see television consultant Eric McMerkin (Peter Riegert) getting up in the morning and leaving for work. Like many Americans in the future he is living in his car (we have depleted all natural oil resources, you see). As he leaves he stops to pet a long-haired white Persian cat and give the kitty its bowl of food before riding off on his bicycle.

Americathon - Eric McMerkin Peter Riegert leaving car with white Persian cat on chair nearby
Americathon - Eric McMerkin Peter Riegert petting white Persian cat on chair
Americathon - Eric McMerkin Peter Riegert giving bowl of food to white Persian cat on chair
Americathon - Eric McMerkin Peter Riegert getting bike with white Persian cat on chair in background
Americathon - Eric McMerkin Peter Riegert getting on bike with white Persian cat on chair in background

Later Eric brings the President’s girlfriend Lucy Beth (Nancy Morgan) to his car to visit. She finds the cat in the back seat then pets it and laughs before putting it back.

Americathon - Eric McMerkin Peter Riegert and Lucy Beth Nancy Morgan in car with white Persian cat
Americathon - Eric McMerkin Peter Riegert and Lucy Beth Nancy Morgan in car with white Persian cat
Americathon - Eric McMerkin Peter Riegert and Lucy Beth Nancy Morgan in car with white Persian cat
Americathon - Eric McMerkin Peter Riegert with Lucy Beth Nancy Morgan finding white Persian cat in backseat of car animated

Final Mewsings: Let’s hope the car was also equipped with a litter box!

Many thanks to Erin T. Aardvark for letting us know about the cat in this film!

Relevant Links:

IMDb logo
tcmlogo
Amazon logo
Amazon Instant Video logo




To discuss this film and other cats in movies and on television, join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Share this with your cat and movie loving friends!