The Carol Burnett Show

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The Carol Burnett Show
Genre sketch comedy
Starring Carol Burnett
Tim Conway
Harvey Korman
Vicki Lawrence
Lyle Waggoner
Country of origin USA
Production
Running time 60 mins.
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Original run 11 September 196729 March 1978
Links
IMDb profile
The original cast in 1967.
The original cast in 1967.
The cast in 1991.
The cast in 1991.

The Carol Burnett Show was a sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner. 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 (the Bob Barker studio).

The popular variety show made the stars household names with such sketches as "As the Stomach Turns", "Went with the Wind" (a parody of Gone with the Wind featuring a scene with Burnett as Scarlett O'Hara in the dress made from a window curtain, complete with rod), "Carol & Sis", "Mrs. Wiggins", "The Family" (which would become Mama's Family), "Nora Desmond" (Burnett's send-up of Gloria Swanson's character in Sunset Boulevard), and "Stella Toddler." With such guest stars as Lucille Ball, Shirley MacLaine, Lily Tomlin, Liza Minnelli, Sonny and Cher, Vincent Price, Dinah Shore, the Jackson 5, Gloria Swanson, and many more (see below) appearing weekly to bring entertainment into the living rooms of Americans all over the country, the long-running show was nominated for many Emmys and won quite a few.

Vicki Lawrence was the only cast member, other than Burnett, to remain with the series for its entire run. Tim Conway, though well remembered for his appearances on the show, didn't become a full-time cast member until 1975. Harvey Korman left the show prior to its final season; he was temporarily replaced in the fall of 1977 by Dick Van Dyke. Original cast member Lyle Waggoner left the series in 1974 to pursue a dramatic acting career and the next year was cast in Wonder Woman.

Burnett went on to star in movies, write a Broadway play, and continues to make appearances. Conway and Korman travel to do comedy routines all over the country. Vicki Lawrence had a U.S. #1 hit record in 1973 ("The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia") and went on to star in several shows of her own (the popular spin-off Mama's Family, the NBC daytime edition of Win, Lose or Draw and her short-lived talk show, Vicki) and continues to perform around America doing comedy sketches of her own.

Contents

The comedy sketches of the show were reedited into freestanding programs; the resulting show enjoyed success for many years in syndicated reruns (as Carol Burnett and Friends). In the early 2000s, certain full-length episodes of The Carol Burnett Show were released on VHS and DVD by Columbia House on a subscription basis (now discontinued).

Following repeats of The Carol Burnett Show on CBS from June to August 1978, 4 new shows were aired between August and September 1979 on ABC as Carol Burnett & Company, just prior to the beginning of the regular fall season and plans were announced for this to become an annual event but it did not. NBC aired a comedy anthology called Carol & Company between March 1990 and July 1991.

CBS brought back The Carol Burnett Show for another run in the fall of 1991; new regulars included Meagan Fay and Richard Kind (brought over from the NBC show), and Chris Barnes, Roger Kabler and Jessica Lundy. Only nine episodes of this revival were aired.

In the fall of 2001, the cast of The Carol Burnett Show reunited for a special broadcast entitled Carol Burnett: Show Stoppers, which consisted mostly of bloopers and outtakes from the series. The program was a major ratings success; the media credited its timing, being broadcast not long after the September 11, 2001 attacks, with contributing to its success.

In 2004 Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, Harvey Korman and Lyle Waggoner made another reunion special featuring one of Carol's favorite ongoing bits, turning up the house lights and then taking questions from members of the studio audience.

Jim Nabors traditionally appeared in the first episode of every season. In addition to those mentioned above, other notable guest stars were a who's who of performers of that era, including such diverse names as Edward Villella, Marilyn Horne, Eileen Farrell, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis, Jr., Pearl Bailey, Mel Torme, Peggy Lee, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, then Gov. Ronald Reagan, Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Art Carney, Emmett Kelly, Jonathan Winters, Flip Wilson, Roddy McDowall, Nanette Fabray, Joanne Woodward, Richard Kiley, Ethel Merman, Martha Raye, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme, Alan King, Phyllis Diller, Totie Fields, Don Rickles, Joan Rivers, Dom DeLuise, Nancy Walker, Pat Carroll, the Smothers Brothers, Shecky Green, Scoey Mitchlll, George Carlin, Rich Little, Frank Gorshin, Steve Martin, Minnie Pearl, Glen Campbell, Maggie Smith (making her American television debut), Lynn Redgrave, Betty Grable, Lana Turner, Rock Hudson, Mickey Rooney, Betty White, Buddy Ebsen, Jack Palance, Alan Alda, Martin Landau, Leonard Nimoy, Jack Klugman, Tony Randall, Madeline Kahn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Joel Grey, Chita Rivera, Gwen Verdon, Ben Vereen, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Diahann Carroll, Cass Elliot, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, the Pointer Sisters, and the Carpenters.

Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows

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