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Carol Burnett Show
(1967-1976
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After Jim Nabors appeared on the premiere episode, Carol Burnett would have him as the guest for each seasons first show because she considered him her "good luck charm".
But I don't begrudge anybody, because I know how hard it is to have that dream and to make it happen, whether or not it's just to put a roof over your head and food on the table.
Carol Burnett
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The Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967 to March 29, 1978 for 278 episodes, and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33 (known today as the Bob Barker Studio). The series won 25 prime time Emmy Awards, and in 2007 was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All Time."
The popular variety show made the stars household names with such sketches as "As the Stomach Turns", (a parody of As the World Turns) and "Went with the Wind" (a parody of Gone with the Wind, featuring a scene with Burnett as Starlett O'Hara in the dress made from a window curtain, complete with the curtain rod), "Carol & Sis", "Mr. Tudball and Mrs. Wiggins", "The Family" (which would later spin off into a show called Mama's Family), "Nora Desmond" (Burnett's send-up of Gloria Swanson's character Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard), and "Stella Toddler." A frequent repeated segment was "Kitchen Commercials", in which cast members parodied TV commercials that drove a woman (Burnett) crazy. The show had frequent, high recognition guest stars. The long-running show was frequently nominated for Emmys, and won three times.
A unique feature of the show consisted of a question-and-answer segment involving Carol Burnett with the audience, in CBS Studio 33. Burnett usually did this for about 3–4 minutes at the start of most shows. Burnett would ask for the lights above the audience to be turned up ("Let's bump up the lights...") and then randomly pick audience members who raised their hand to ask her a question. This informality was possible due to the design of Studio 33; cameras were to the left and right of the stage with one below in the pit and one suspended, so the actors were very close to the audience.
Sample question from young woman in audience: "Have you ever taken acting lessons?"
Carol: "Yes, I have." Audience member: "Do you think it did any good?"
The show was rehearsed for three to four hours each day until the Friday tapings, when two recordings were made. As there were only two recordings, if an actor flubbed a line in both takes, the error appeared in the broadcast, giving the show some immediacy. Pick ups were exceptions, and usually only used for musical numbers.
A true variety show in its simplest of forms, The Carol Burnett Show struck a harmonious chord with viewers through parodies of films ("Went With the Wind"), television ("As the Stomach Turns") and TV commercials. Burnett and team struck gold with the original skit "The Family" which eventually spun off into a television show, "Mama's Family", starring Lawrence.
The show also became known for its closing theme song, written by Burnett's husband, with the following lyrics:
I'm so glad we had this time together
Just to have a laugh or sing a song
Seems we just get started and before you know it
Comes the time we have to say, "So long."
At the close of each episode Burnett would tug her ear. This silent message was meant for her grandmother who raised her. It meant she was thinking of her 'Nanny' at that moment. After her grandmother's death, Burnett continued the tradition.
The most frequently cited sketch was the 1976 parody, "Went with the Wind", a send-up of the classic 1939 movie Gone with the Wind. Burnett, as Starlett, descends a long staircase wearing a green curtain complete with hanging rod. The outfit, designed by Bob Mackie, is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
Other notable clips included Conway as a Nazi interrogator berating an American captive (Lyle Waggoner). Using a Hitler puppet and a pencil as a "club," Conway sang three verses of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Conway's best dupe, however, was Korman who dissolved into hilarity in bits with Conway as a dentist misusing Novocain, and Conway in the recurring role of "Duane"- a shuffling, senile/forgetful, elderly man who rolled down stairways and fell prey to various mechanical mishaps (including an electric wheelchair and an automated dry cleaning rack).
Burnett and Conway shared the screen many times as the heavily accented, toupeed boss Mr. Tudball confronting his empty-headed secretary Mrs. Wiggins.
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It was revealed years later that each week's show was taped twice in front of different audiences and the best parts from each taping were edited together.
The final episode of the series was a "best of" episode featuring highlights from the show's run.
At the end of the final show of the first season, Carol Burnett appeared as her "washerwoman" character, and walked out of the theater, every seat empty save for a bald man who had fallen asleep in his seat. In a touching gesture, she stopped by him, leaned over, kissed him on his scalp, and walked out the doors of the back of the theater. It was so well-received that every subsequent season ending, the scene was repeated with a bald actor in the audience. At the end of the last show of the series, she walked out to the back of the stage (amid the wild applause of the audience) and kissed a similarly "sleeping" security guard.
Even though he left the cast the previous season, Harvey Korman can briefly be seen at the end of the final episode as he is leaving the theater.
The Carol Burnett Show was taped at CBS Studio 33 in Television City. It is now referred to The Bob Barker Studio.
Although many consider Tim Conway to have been a series regular from the start, in fact he was only a frequent guest star for many years, and didn't become a regular weekly cast member until the later seasons.
The first five seasons of the series (1967-1972) are co-owned with Bob Banner, which is why the earliest sketches that were compiled for the syndicated "Carol Burnett and Friends" came from the sixth season (1972-73) onwards.
The print dress Carol Burnett always wore as Eunice in "The Family" sketches was an actual vintage garment from the 1930's. The sketch was originally to have a "Tennessee Williams"-type style to it, and costume designer Bob Mackie found it in a thrift shop. It was originally a long, sleeveless evening dress, which Mackie shortened, creating the "capelet" top detail by using the surplus fabric. The well-worn costume acquired many small tears over the years, and was patched from the inside with many bits of chiffon. At one point Mackie copied the dress exactly, using a similar fabric, but Burnett preferred to keep wearing the original out of superstition even though it had become extremely fragile.
Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence were the only series regulars to stay with the program throughout its entire run
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