The ballad of John and Oko

The NBC Monday Night At the Movies on December 2, 1985, was described in the network promos as being "an unforgettable three-hour world movie premiere." The world! The movie was John & Yoko: A Love Story. I wasn't sure whether or not I'd be able to watch it (I was a freshman in college, living in a tiny dorm room with one TV, which wasn't mine), and I had to see it, so my parents taped it for me. I don't think they watched it while it was being taped, and I'm fairly sure my dad had absolutely no interest in watching it. A good indication of that being he labeled the tape "John & Oko":


That still makes me laugh.

I really liked the movie, and it sort of formed my perception of Lennon and the Beatles for several years. The screenwriters did a pretty good job of depicting the breakup of the Beatles. The best I've seen in any movie, anyway (other than their own Let It Be). The guy who played Lennon is really good, and believable. He didn't actually play the guitar, but he did a good job of faking it (sort of like Stuart Sutcliffe). The woman who played Oko (would that be Oko Yono?) was also good. She is/was much prettier than the actual Oko was, ever, and is much more likeable (as far as Yoko's depiction in the screenplay), as well. I guess the makers of the film were afraid to piss Oko off. You wouldn't want Oko Yono to sic her stable of attorneys upon you, either.

Here is the promo that ran right after the NBC Monday Night At the Movies animation:
And why not, here's the NBC Monday Night At the Movies opening animation:

John & Yoko: A Love Story is still available on VHS, and there's even a poster (the poster is on the left):
But of course, there are two things very wrong with that: first, it wasn't called "John & Yoko: The Complete Story," and secondly, why would you want a poster of two unknown actors, pretending to be John Lennon and Yoko Ono posing for a picture that would eventually appear on their Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins (small picture of the cover, so NSFW?) album cover?? I wouldn't even want a poster of the real thing. Shiver.