THE CAROL BURNETT
SHOW
U.S. Comedy/Variety Show
When The
Carol Burnett show aired in September of 1967 on CBS, no one
expected it to run eleven years. The show gave Carol Burnett, along
with regulars Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner (who
left in 1974), and Tim Conway (whose occasional guest appearances
became permanent in 1975) an opportunity to fuse the best of live,
vaudeville-style performance with the creative benefits of time
and tape. Burnett's ensemble quickly bonded into a tight unit of
professionals who looked, and acted, as if performing on The
Carol Burnett Show was the best fun an entertainer could have.
In reality, the meticulously-structured, musical-comedy program
became one of the last, and one of the finest prime time variety
shows to link the modern television age with Tin Pan Alley and the
Golden Ages of motion pictures and television.
The show brought
Carol Burnett's working class persona into a unique relationship
with her audience. There was a glamorous, celebrity-brushed side
to her work: Burnett could wear exclusive Bob Mackie gowns, banter
with popular celebrities, and illustrate her brilliant talent for
physical and intellectual comedy in cleverly written and produced
skits. Her musical abilities ranged from Shubert's Alley to more
refined venues, and her voice could amuse and inspire. She vamped
with Hollywood royalty--Lucille Ball, Liza Minelli, Sammy Davis,
Jr., even then-California governor Ronald Reagan joked and performed.
On the other hand, Burnett's Charwoman character, her dysfunctional
and beleaguered "Family" member, Eunice, her zestful Tarzan call,
and her weekly question-and-answer sessions with the studio audience
gave her an accessibility and down-to-earth warmth that firmly reinstated
her back within the world of her viewers. The dichotomy between
the two Carols--one homespun, the other neon-minted--gave The Carol
Burnett Show a flavor and personality that showcased the idiosyncrasies
of its eponymous star. Only later did Burnett reveal the source
of that working-class quality--the talented comedienne had lifted
herself from appalling poverty, a dysfunctional family, and emotional
abuse to become a beloved star. One of Burnett's insightful actions,
as she constructed her characters and her persona, was to draw on
the contradictions that informed her artistic evolution.
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.
Burnett's three-tiered
abilities--singer, actress, comedienne--allowed the writers to create
and sustain characters throughout the eleven-year-run. The Charwoman,
whose pantomimed mishaps often brought her into the shadow of greatness,
became the show's trademark; a caricature of the dusty maid adorned
credits and teasers for the program. Eunice, who was always under
the abusive power of her Mama, blended the kind of sharply-sketched
comedy and tragedy that informs the finest comedic characters. Eunice,
Mama, and the rest of the working-class family members insulted,
demeaned, and belittled one another, in acrimonious skits that revealed
the dark heart of a family in turmoil. Critics complained that Eunice
became more disturbing, rather than amusing, as the show progressed.
Eventually, the "Family" skits were spun off into a situation comedy,
without Burnett, entitled Mama's Family, in which Vicki Lawrence
reprised her role as the bilious Mama.
The show centered
on Burnett, but its enduring qualities also arose from its talented
ensemble of players, whose interactions contributed to the overwhelming
sense of "live" performance exuded by the show. Vicki Lawrence was
fresh out of high school when her resemblance to Burnett won her
a role; her transformation from sprightly youth to dour Mama astonished
and delighted audience and cast. The infamous comic rivalry between
perennial bemused Harvey Korman and the irrepressible Tim Conway
remains one of the show's most distinctive features, as Conway's
scripted and ad-libbed highjinks forced Korman to battle uncontrollable
laughter during skits. Bits would halt as Korman struggled to stay
in character; Conway would continue to pile on more egregious additions,
trying to break up his costar. While the other cast members joined
in unexpected break-ups, the anarchic camaraderie of Korman and
Conway became legendary.
These
refreshing ad-libs often appeared during movie parodies, another
of the show's trademarks. Burnett had been deeply influenced by
classical Hollywood films during her childhood, and she and her
writers drew from a copious knowledge of motion pictures to design
film-related skits. Nothing was sacred: genres, films, actors, and
characters from familiar and obscure pictures provided fodder for
the ensemble. A take-off of Gone With the Wind ("Went With
the Wind") found Burnett dressed in Bob Mackie window drapes, complete
with curtain rods doubling as shoulder pads, rolling down the stairs
as she deconstructed one of the film's most famous moments--Scarlett's
miscarriage during a fight with Rhett. "From Here to Maternity,"
"Sunnyset Boulevard," "Lovely Story:" Burnett and her ensemble paid
tribute to the bygone Golden Age with arch and loving comic elegies.
The
show ended in 1978, still attaining decent ratings at a time when
variety shows no longer attracted large audiences. Burnett wished
to go on to other projects, and wanted to close The Carol Burnett
Show while it could still entertain its viewers. The show periodically
appears in syndication as Carol and Company; in 1992, Carol
Burnett: A Reunion, brought highlights of the run back to CBS
prime time, where the special did well in the ratings. Ultimately,
The Carol Burnett Show represents a sophisticated fusion
of music, comedy, drama, celebrity, parody, and slapstick which
both resurrected and archived the traditions of America's vaudeville-variety
past.
-Kathryn
C. D'Alessandro
Marc,
David. "Carol Burnett: The Last of the Big-time Comedy-Variety Stars."
Quarterly Review of Film Studies (Chur, Netherlands), July
1992.
O'Connor,
John J. "Funny Women of Television: A Museum of Television and Radio
Tribute." The New York Times, 24 October, 1991.
