📰The Devil Made Me Do It – Article: Mar.1974

Writer: NBC / Episode Documentation

Series: The Snoop Sisters – Season 1, Episode 3

Episode Title: The Devil Made Me Do It!

Length: 3–4 min read

The Snoop Sisters Meet Alice Cooper

8:30 p.m

Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick star as the venerable sisters caught up in a coven of satanism. It's the sleuthing skill of the Snoops against the "witching" power of rock singer Alice Cooper. Rounding out the "witchcraft" circle are guest stors Cyril Ritchard, Greg Morris and Joan Blondell,

Alice Cooper’s surreal, theatrical guest appearance on The Snoop Sisters stands as one of the strangest and most delightful intersections of early‑’70s rock culture and American network television. Airing March 5, 1974, the episode features Cooper as “Prince,” a sinister, charismatic cult performer who delivers a skeletal, occult‑themed rendition of “Sick Things.”

A glam‑horror cameo in a pre‑Murder, She Wrote mystery series — and one of Alice Cooper’s earliest TV acting roles.

Alice appears in full skeletal bodysuit, performing “Sick Things” amid a staged satanic ritual — a moment that blends his shock‑rock persona with the campy mystery tone of the series.

📰 Key Highlights

• Episode aired March 5, 1974 (NBC Tuesday Mystery Movie)

• Alice Cooper plays “Prince,” a theatrical occult performer

• Performs “Sick Things” in a skeleton bodysuit

• Guest cast includes Helen Hayes, Mildred Natwick, Cyril Ritchard, Joan Blondell, and Vincent Price

• Episode later re‑aired in the UK in the 1990s — sometimes in cut form

• Series predated Murder, She Wrote by a decade

• Released on DVD in the U.S. in 2011

• Alice later discussed the role on Old Grey Whistle Test (1974)

📰 Overview

The Snoop Sisters was a short‑lived but charming comedy‑mystery series starring Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick as two elderly writers who repeatedly stumble into murder cases. The tone was light, eccentric, and theatrical — making it a surprisingly fitting venue for Alice Cooper’s early acting experiment.

In The Devil Made Me Do It!, the sisters investigate a supposed satanic cult connected to the murder of an airline passenger. Among the cult’s members is “Prince,” played by Alice Cooper, who appears in a skeletal bodysuit and performs “Sick Things” as part of a ritualistic stage sequence.

The performance is pure early‑’70s Alice: theatrical, eerie, tongue‑in‑cheek, and visually striking. It stands out as one of the earliest examples of a rock star bringing their stage persona into a scripted television drama.

📰 Source Details

Publication / Venue: NBC Television

Date: March 5, 1974 (US broadcast)

Format: 75‑minute mystery movie episode

Provenance Notes: Episode exists in full; UK reruns in the 1990s sometimes aired a cut version removing part of Alice’s scene.

📰 The Story

Alice Cooper as “Prince”

Alice plays a young, theatrical occultist — part witch, part con‑man, part rock‑and‑roll showman. In later interviews, he described the role as:

“A real con man… that type of thing.”

His performance of “Sick Things” is staged as a ritual, complete with dramatic lighting, props, and his now‑iconic skeleton suit.

Working with Helen Hayes

In his 1974 Old Grey Whistle Test interview with Bob Harris, Alice admitted the role terrified him:

“I can go out in front of 20,000 people — that’s not scary at all.

But when you get in front of a camera with somebody as experienced as Helen Hayes…

it was very scary.”

The contrast between Hayes’ classical stage presence and Cooper’s shock‑rock persona gives the episode a unique energy.

The Series Context

The Snoop Sisters aired as part of NBC’s rotating “Tuesday Mystery Movie” wheel. Only five feature‑length episodes were produced, making Cooper’s appearance a rare artifact of early rock‑meets‑television crossover.

Legacy & Reruns

In the 1990s, a UK channel re‑aired the series — including Cooper’s episode — though some broadcasts cut part of his performance. The full version was restored for the 2011 U.S. DVD release.

📰 Visual Archive

Alice Cooper in skeletal bodysuit performing “Sick Things” during The Snoop Sisters episode The Devil Made Me Do It! (1974).

Alice Cooper as “Prince” — a glam‑horror cameo in NBC’s The Snoop Sisters, March 5, 1974.

📰 Related Material

• Old Grey Whistle Test – Alice Cooper interview (Mar. 1974)

• Billion Dollar Babies era TV appearances

• Vincent Price & Alice Cooper collaborations

• 1970s rock stars in network television

📰 Closing Notes

Alice Cooper’s appearance on The Snoop Sisters remains a cult favourite — a moment when shock rock, camp mystery, and early‑’70s television collided in the most unexpected way.

🏷️ Hashtags

#AliceCooper #TheSnoopSisters #SickThings #1974 #HelenHayes #NBCMysteryMovie #ShockRockHistory #ReleaseChronicle

📰 Sources

• NBC broadcast documentation

• The Snoop Sisters DVD release notes

• Contemporary press references

• Alice Cooper interview on Old Grey Whistle Test (1974)

📝 Copyright Notice

All magazine scans, photographs, and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non‑commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.