Miss Burnett and Sales teamed as opposite ends of a dancing horse on the small-time vaudeville circuit perform "Where Would You Be Without Me?", when an agent offers only one of them a chance to hit the big-time. In another comedy sketch, Miss Burnett and Sales play a couple of shy customers who lose their inhibitions while testing the potent perfumes at a department store with two persuasive salesclerks. Miss McNair sings "Windows of the World" and "What the World Needs Now" in a solo spot, then joins Miss Burnett in a big production number, "Lido de Paris." The entire cast joins in a musical comedy sketch inspired by the classic "Our Gang" films. Carol and company spoof TV commercials and do the parody "The Lavender Pimpernel". In another skit, "George and Zelda" go camping, and the henpecked George imagines himself at the opening of the transcontinental railroad.
Carol, as the librarian, sings a lament to her husband Al, who's doing time upstate. A "V.I.P." interview of fried chicken tycoon Colonol Flanders; Tim Conway plays a shy comic; in a "Carol and Sis" skit, Carol's husband can't sleep when Sis is out late on a date; Vicki sings and dances to "American Boys"; incompetent house painters sketch; and for the finale a burlesque musical production. From 1967 until 1978, Carol Burnett was the queen of TV comedy.
Her CBS comedy-musical-variety series, "The Carol Burnett Show," featured skits, spoofs of old movies, musical production numbers, guest stars and a wonderful cast of regulars, including Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner. Traditionally, in typical variety show fashion, The Carol Burnett Show hosted a special guest and a musical guest. They started with the musical guest singing something simple with a calm venue. Then, by the end, the musical guest and Burnett herself would sing and dance in a routine straight out of Broadway.
Often, AP notes, co-stars Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner joined in as well. Much of this couldn't stay, however, after syndication and a loss of air time. So, the finalCarol Burnett Showproduct resembled a traditional comedy show with little variety.
The Pointer Sisters sing "How Long", perform with Korman in a disc-jockey comedy sketch, and team up with Miss Burnett and Miss Lawrence for an all-girl musical number, "Get Me to the Church on Time". Other comedy highlights include Miss Burnett as a romantic dropout telling her troubles to a bartender who would rather dwell on his own problems; Mickey Hart joins "The Family" for a game of charades; Carol and Tim in a silent sketch as a hungry couple. Tim Conway plays a bumbling waiter in a Japanese restaurant; in a boxing sketch, Conway is in a match with first woman boxer Carol; Bert tries to convince Molly to see an X-rated movie in "The Old Folks"; a spoof of "The Pirates of Penzance". Carol sings "All of Me", and the whole cast performs "Mack the Black". Kay Ballard and Tim Conway appear for a salute to the old Palace Theater and a preview of Miss Ballard's forthcoming Broadway musical, "Molly's World". As Molly Goldberg, Kay sings the title song, then joins Carol and Vicki Lawrence in a spoof of "The Dating Game".
Miss Ballard sings "Go in the Best of Health" and "I Love the Old Times. The whole cast performs "Tea for Two". Nora Desmond is offered a bug spray TV commercial in a sequel to last season's "Sunset Boulevard" parody; guest Tim Conway as rabbit attorney F. The sixth season begins with Jim Nabors, as in past seasons, being Carol's first guest. Carol and Harvey introduce two new characters, Fred and Marge -- "just plain folks" -- who sit in the audience and talk about contemporary life.
Nabors sings "The Way of Love"; Carol and Nabors duet "The Maggie Blues"; Carol solos "If I Could Write a Song"; the finale is "Star Spangled Jive", a take-off on World War II movie musicals. In a movie spoof of "The Seventh Veil", Harvey Korman plays a cruel man who drives his piano protege to success. Peggy sings "I Can Sing a Rainbow", and duets with Carol on "Happy New Year"/"Something's Coming"/"Great Day". For the finale, a medley of such circus numbers as "Here Come the Clowns", "Clown Alley", and "Be a Clown". Entire cast performs "Call Me Back" and "Auld Lang Syne"; Goulet plays the kissing bandit in a soap opera spoof "As the Stomach Turns"; Little offers his impressions of celebrities giving TV commercials; Goulet sings "Without Love" and joins Carol for "Have I Told You Lately".
Carol is joined by guests Eydie Gorme and Joan Rivers in a skit about a popular girls singing trio; Joan gives her opinion on women's lib; an interview with Mrs. King Kong; Gorme sings "You Can Have Him"; Gorme and the cast perform a medley about men and love. A movie censor sketch; TV commercial spoofs; and another episode of "As the Stomach Turns". Lee performs "What about Today?" A musical finale where the cast brings comic strip characters to life, with Burnett as Olive Oyl, Lawrence as Little Iodine and Korman as Superman.
The entire cast performs a musical spoof titled "The Tin Pan Alley Story". In other sketches, Rickles plays a quick-tempered shoe salesman who assails indecisive customer Fabray with a barrage of insults; Carol joins Nanette in a skit about two pregnant wives who meet at the doctor's office. Carney plays a garbage collector who has a jealous wife , with Nanette rounding out the triangle in one skit. In another, Carney and Carol play stunned parents when son Harvey Korman brings a mermaid home to meet the folks.
In a musical number Burnett, Fabray and Carney scoot about on roller skates. Also, Carol and Nanette mimic child movie stars at the Academy Awards, Carol interviews Korman for a change, and Vicki Lawrence does a song and dance. Winters and Carol play television fans who talk like TV commercials.
Recording star Dionne Warwick sings the theme from "Valley of the Dolls" and "This Little Light of Mine". In a hospital sketch, Korman interviews a medical administrator, looks in on a doctor-nurse romance and gets a report from a rare maternity case. In other musical numbers, Miss Warwick joins Miss Burnett in a duet, "T'morra, T'morra" and Miss Burnett solos "Come Rain or Come Shine".
For the first time on DVD, you can now own the best episodes from the groundbreaking years of Carol's beloved variety show. You'll see the first episode aired, the first performances of many of her famous characters, legendary guest stars, and show-stopping musical performances. In other skits, Harvey Korman, Joel and Lyle Waggoner masquerade as puppy dogs in a pet shop window showing off for potential buyers; Carol plays the wife of a political candidate appearing on a TV interview show. Joel and the Ernie Flatt dancers perform in a production, "Me and Julio".
Entire cast performs "Call Me Back" and "Auld Lang Syne"; Goulet plays the kissing bandit in a soap opera spoof, "As the Stomach Turns"; Little offers his impressions of celebrities giving TV commercials; Goulet sings "Without Love" and joins Carol for "Have I Told You Lately". The late Korman didn't like breaking character, says Burnett, who is writing a book that will provide details about show's production, sketches, cast and guest stars. "Harvey used to get mad at himself because he was a consummate comedic actor. Put him in with Conway and there was no hope." Throughout the show's run, Burnett maintained, and increased, her creative input and control. She worked closely with a team of writers, among them Ken Welch and his wife, Mitzi, who had a strong sense of Burnett's attributes and strengths.
(Ken Welch had written the famous "I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles" routine which had catapulted comic chanteuse Burnett to fame in 1956.) The show combined musical comedy with humorous sketches, using the ensemble of players as well as weekly guest stars, such as Jim Naybors, Cher, and Julie Andrews. Along with its guest star, each show typically had a musical guest, who would perform in a simple setting early in the show then sing and dance in a big, costumed, Broadway-style finale at the end alongside Burnett and often singing co-stars Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner. Sammy plays a loan shark attempting to collect from uppity royalty, and in another skit is an oarsman on a slave ship. The company satirizes kitchen commercials, and Carol plays a spoiled socialite having her latest nervous breakdown. Sammy sings "What Became of Me?" and joins the cast for a medley of Broadway show tunes. A musical version of "Little Red Riding Hood" performed in the manner of a Mexican folk story for children.
In another skit, an accident-prone woman and her husband attempt to buy insurance before her next accident. Also, Burnett as a spoiled child star, and a supermarket checkout sketch. Miss Burnett performs "I Wonder What Became of Me" and "Send in the Clowns". Once again Jim Nabors is Carol's first guest for the season. In skits, Carol and Roger move into a new high-rise apartment; Nabors joins in spoofs of TV series "Yung Fool" and "Black Archie". In a spoof of the 1940 film "Waterloo Bridge", Carol plays the showgirl who meets her upper class hero during a London air raid.
In the "Carol and Sis" sketch, Carol's high school flame has her husband burning. Lawrence performs "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia". Spoofs of TV commercials, including Carol as Mother Nature and Cass as a child using toothpaste; Carol impersonates Sonia Henie in a parody of the late skater/actress' movie musicals; Cass sings "There's a Lull in My Life" and duets with Carol on a "Love Medley"; and Ken performs "Razz-Ma-Tazz" with the dancers. Carol and guest Debbie Reynolds play nurses in a spoof of the wartime movie "So Proudly We Hail!"; guest John Davidson performs a banjo medley which includes "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", and joins the ladies on "Thank You Very Much" from "Scrooge"; and Debbie performs a musical number, "Look at Me". The accent is on the holiday season when Carol Burnett's old friends Garry Moore and Durward Kirby drop in for their annual visit.
Carol and Harvey play the old folks as they reminisce about their marriage. Moore and Kirby play opposing attorneys in the courtroom trial of Mrs. Peter Piper, whose husband picked a peck of pickled peppers. Miss Burnett recites an original Christmas poem and solos "Make Your Own Kind of Music" and later joins the Bob Mitchell Boys Choir in singing "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?" Garry Moore assists Durward Kirby in delivering some "commercials" merchandising gifts for kids. In the "Carol and Sis" sketch, Carol throws a tantrum when husband Korman hosts his poker club. A spoof of French, Polish and Japanese airline service; A "V.I.P." interview sketch with Carol as a nudist; an office triangle sketch; Carol and Nanette perform "Bosom Buddies"; Cher performs "You Better Sit Down Kids"; Sonny & Cher sing "Living for You"; and the whole cast performs "Take Me Along".
Carol and company spoof TV commercials and a costume movie, "The Lavender Pimpernel", with Reynolds as the swashbuckling hero. Carol and Nanette team up in a production number, "I''ve Been Working on the Railroad". Reynolds sings "As Time Goes By"; Carol, as the librarian, sings a lament to her husband Al, who's doing time upstate.
Mama Cass sings "Glory of Love" and joins Carol for a "smile" medley; Paulsen tells how to become a sensuous female; Harvey Korman and Vicki Lawrence team with Miss Burnett for a fireside chat at "San Clemente by the Sea"; Carol, Vicki, guests and dancers perform the finale, "Mr. Tambourine Man". Lopez sings "Lemon Tree" with Carol and solos "Yesterday I Heard the Rain"; Miss Fabray performs "Good Old Sounds" and dances the soft shoe with Carol and Trini. She also plays a secret drinker who outwits Carol in the soap opera chapter of the show. Carol and Harvey Korman celebrate a 70th wedding anniversary in the Old Folks sketch, and Carol comes close to hysteria suspecting husband Korman of running off with another woman in the "Carol and Sis" portion. Since its inception in 1967, The Carol Burnett Show stood out with its framework as a variety show.
But through the process of editing episodes down for syndication, it more often resembled a modern comedy sketch show rather than the way it was originally presented. However, the show once again has time — literally — to stretch its wings and include music. Characters and skits made famous over the run of the series include Eunice and her bickering family, the queen of England, Mr. Tudball and his secretary Mrs. Wiggins, aged-out movie star Nora Desmond and broad satires of classic movies and TV shows. The Carol Burnett Show is one of the most popular and beloved shows in the history of television. It began in 1967 and ran for 11 years straight as the ultimate variety show- with music, acting, hilarious guest stars and of course, Carol Burnett Show comedy- sketches, jokes, and parodies that are still just as funny today as they were 40 years ago. And in 1967, she began hosting her own musical variety series on CBS at a time when even her own network had doubts that a woman could carry a variety show.
But "The Carol Burnett Show" ran for 11 years and, for a time, was part of what's still thought of as the best night of television ever shown. It was a Saturday night lineup that began with "All In The Family" and "MASH," continued with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Bob Newhart Show" and concluded with "The Carol Burnett Show." Imogene Coca and Vic Damone guest star in this episode, which features Imogene and Carol attempting to secure air travel at family rates, a look at taboo commercials, and "The Old Folks."
From her iconic cast to larger-than-life guest stars, music, acting, and of course, comedy — Burnett's variety show contained comedic gold for all ages and generations. Carol Burnett joins Dolly Parton for a night of music and comedy at The Grand Ole Opry. Includes a couple of original songs ("What Am I Doing Up Here?," "No One Picks Like a Nashville Picker Picks"), a gospel medley, a heart-song medley, and a sketch featuring Burnett's real-life daughter, Erin Hamilton. Mr. Tudball and Mrs. Wiggins enjoy a champagne-laden Christmas Eve; guest Helen Reddy sings "Blue"; a water department inspector causes a married couple to feud; Ken Berry and the dancers perform "Song and Dance Man"; and a "Persons Weekly" magazine sketch. Spoofs of the most unforgettable television commercials of the year; Mrs. Wiggins goes to Hawaii for a convention with Mr. and Mrs. Tudball; a divorced couple get together to reminisce about the bad old days; and Tim Conway and Dick Van Dyke play legendary baseball hall-of-fame players from the turn of the century.
In the musical finale, Miss Burnett, Dick Van Dyke, and Ben Vereen sing songs of "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow". Guest Sammy Davis Jr. plays a star returning to his hometown and encountering a childhood friend who is somewhat of a racist. Harvey and Tim do a sketch about an airline whose treatment of regular and no-frills passengers is radically different. Sammy appears in a Western skit as a deputy with hurt feelings after getting dumped by the Marshall.
The Caribbean-themed finale is a salute to composer Harold Arlen. The Jackson Five perform "The Life of the Party," returning for the musical finale, a rousing salute to such musical groups as The Mills Brothers, The Andrews Sisters, The Coasters, And The Supreme's. Guest William Conrad shows his versatility by singing a "Movies Were Movies" tribute to silent-comedy stars, then slipping into a mime routine as Oliver Hardy. He next shows his flair for comedy in a sketch with Harvey (they're doctors and golfing buddies). But the highlight is his portrayal of Willy, the widowed Mama's wealthy suitor in the "Family" sketch titled "The Gentleman Caller." In a spoof of "Algiers", Savalas plays a great lover at the Casbah, facing Carol, the world's most beautiful woman.
In "The Family" skit, Eunice, Ed and Mama visit brother Jack in the hospital. Also, Savalas and Korman play two men discussing a business merger as if it were a love affair. Savalas croons "Rubber Bands and Bits of String" and the Smothers Brothers perform "Love Me with All Your Heart".
A tribute to composer Stephen Sondheim with songs performed by Carol and guest star Michele Lee. As for the skits of the show, guest Jack Weston plays a patient who believes he is going to die in a soap opera bit; Carol becomes a lady of the evening; and Miss Burnett teams with Weston to play a couple giving marriage a bad name. Star-crossed lovers meet on a Pacific cruise in a spoof of the movie "One-Way Passage"; a woman argues with her tub of margarine in a parody of Parkay commercials; a man is nervous about a blind date and gets advice from Harvey Korman; a spoof of "Kojak". Musical numbers include guests The Pointer Sisters performing "Steam Heat", and joined by Carol on "Salt Peanuts".
Jim Nabors helps Carol launch her eighth season as guest star. Nabors plays the dumb wide-eyed attendant at a shooting gallery, watching Carol shoot it out with the Ringo Kid . Cabaret singer Carol wails "Just a Gigolo" to ex-boyfriend Korman with his new girl, Vicki Lawrence.
The cast spoofs TV commercials featuring such subjects as hamburgers, stewardesses and detergents. Guest John Byner plays a movie studio's star duck who is called in to be fired. Petula Clark sings "Without You" and duets "Turn Around" and "Without You" together with Miss Burnett.
A musical comedy salute to the great Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movies, including "Lust for Life", "National Velvet" and "Camille". In another skit, two women are members of the studio audience in a taping of "The Carol Burnett Show". Also, Miss Buzzi appears as a retiring beauty queen who is making her last appearance before relinquishing her crown and, much to the embarrassment of the emcee, she tells it like it is. Douglas solos "Theme From Love Story" and Miss Peters joins the dancers in "Tea for Two"; Mike and Carol offer a musical medley; a movie spoof titled "Most Happy Stella". As Vanessa Vanilla, Carol is found dishing ice cream and becomes a star. Miss Lee plays a welfare worker inspecting the residence of the Tenth Avenue Family.
Torme, Michele and Carol perform a medley of country-western tunes. Mel solos "Strike Up the Band" and "I Hear Music"; Miss Lee offers "In Times Like These". Nancy Wilson solos "Spinning Wheel"; Carol and guests explore the generation gap in song and dance; Miss Burnett stars in the show's recurring daytime soap opera spoof. The entire company joins in for a salute to MGM; O'Connor sings and dances to "Without a Song"; Miss Wilson solos "The Girl's a Woman Now"; Carol portrays a housewife haunted by characters from TV commercials.
