The Carol Burnett Show
Feb. 14th, 2021 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerHawk and I were browsing through Amazon Prime Video a few nights ago, looking for something new to watch. We found something old to watch: The Carol Burnett Show.
"Wow, that's a blast from the past!" I thought to myself. I remember watching it as a child and finding the skit-based comedy hilarious. My parents enjoyed it, too, as the show was family friendly.
Hawk and I have streamed a few episodes now. Here are Five Things:
Right away I was struck by how good the video looks, in color, from 1967. The title gag (above/right) is grainy and faded, but the video of the show content itself is vivid and sharp. So much classic TV from that era was never recorded, or was recorded poorly, or was recorded well but then the tapes were damaged, that it's a treasure to find this 54 year old show in such pristine condition.
Part of that, I found out, is that the show was taped. A lot of TV from that era was aired live; that's the root of the problem for why surviving recordings are so hit-or-miss. The Carol Burnett Show rehearsed all week then did two recordings in front of a live studio audience. Takes from the two shows were mixed, combining the better cuts of each, for broadcast.
BTW, it's those cut-down-for-syndication shows I remember watching as a child. The Carol Burnett Show aired 1967-1978. Toward the end of that run I would've been just old enough to appreciate and remember such a program. But it was aired in the 10-11pm time slot, and I was too young at the time to be staying up that late. Also, I do remember it being a half-hour program and being focused on skit comedy; no musical guests or elaborate song-and-dance numbers.
To give 1967 people some credit, though, when Burnett minutes later introduced show announcer, Lyle Waggoner, and encouraged the audience to ask him questions, someone quickly shouted out, "What are your measurements?"
OTOH, I think that was one of the cameramen. 😂
A note: this first episode in the Lost Episodes compilation was not the first show aired. I believe it was the fourth broadcast episode. Lucille Ball was the guest star. Having Ball on sure made it feel like a premiere episode, though, as she is a comedy legend and was an important mentor to Burnett.
Unlike on a later well-known comedy variety show, Saturday Night Live, where a guest actor such as Adams would be used mostly for send-ups of his own work, Carol Burnett didn't ask him to spoof his Maxwell Smart character aside from a brief gag about the character's memorable vocal quips during the Q&A session. Instead, she had him play broader comedy parts, such as her husband in a skit about a woman trying to remember where she lost a purse full of important documents (pictured). He also played TV host in a spoof about a variety-comedy show, a la The Tonight Show, trying to air when the studio staff are on strike. It was fun for me, as a person who'd studied TV production many years ago, to spot all the technical "goofs" intentionally inserted in the skit such as the shadow of the boom microphone crossing someone's face, the shadow of a person moving behind the backdrop being seen, and the actors facing the wrong camera to deliver their lines. Aside from the technical bits I enjoyed, it was fun to see Adams as a more versatile comedian than just his inimitable Maxwell Smart character.
I'm looking forward to finishing the first season of The Carol Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes. It does skip around, though, relative to the original broadcast, so we're also looking for how to enjoy the complete original episodes.
"Wow, that's a blast from the past!" I thought to myself. I remember watching it as a child and finding the skit-based comedy hilarious. My parents enjoyed it, too, as the show was family friendly.
Hawk and I have streamed a few episodes now. Here are Five Things:
1) 1967 In Living Color!
Right away I was struck by how good the video looks, in color, from 1967. The title gag (above/right) is grainy and faded, but the video of the show content itself is vivid and sharp. So much classic TV from that era was never recorded, or was recorded poorly, or was recorded well but then the tapes were damaged, that it's a treasure to find this 54 year old show in such pristine condition.Part of that, I found out, is that the show was taped. A lot of TV from that era was aired live; that's the root of the problem for why surviving recordings are so hit-or-miss. The Carol Burnett Show rehearsed all week then did two recordings in front of a live studio audience. Takes from the two shows were mixed, combining the better cuts of each, for broadcast.
2) "The Lost Episodes"
What we're streaming on Prime is The Carol Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes. Each episode is a full, original TV broadcast, with a running time of 52 minutes. I point out the running time because a common version of The Carol Burnett Show in syndication cuts down each episode to just 22 minutes, literally editing out more than half the content. It's nice to see full episodes. It shows, among other things, that the show was actually a variety show, not just a skit-comedy show. It had musical guests and song-and-dance numbers. Burnett herself dances and sings, too!BTW, it's those cut-down-for-syndication shows I remember watching as a child. The Carol Burnett Show aired 1967-1978. Toward the end of that run I would've been just old enough to appreciate and remember such a program. But it was aired in the 10-11pm time slot, and I was too young at the time to be staying up that late. Also, I do remember it being a half-hour program and being focused on skit comedy; no musical guests or elaborate song-and-dance numbers.
3) Q&A, 1967 Style
One of the other aspects of the original show edited out to make the 30-minute episodes was the Q&A session. Burnett began each episode, at least in first couple of seasons (all we've seen so far), inviting audience members to ask her questions. And oh, how 1967 it is! The first question on the first episode was, "What are your measurements?" 🤦♀️To give 1967 people some credit, though, when Burnett minutes later introduced show announcer, Lyle Waggoner, and encouraged the audience to ask him questions, someone quickly shouted out, "What are your measurements?"OTOH, I think that was one of the cameramen. 😂
A note: this first episode in the Lost Episodes compilation was not the first show aired. I believe it was the fourth broadcast episode. Lucille Ball was the guest star. Having Ball on sure made it feel like a premiere episode, though, as she is a comedy legend and was an important mentor to Burnett.
4) The Musical Guest is Who?
Another part of the oh-so-1967 character of the early episodes is the choice of musical guests. Many of them are singers whose style and lyrics are laughably quaint by modern standards. Indeed many of their names are completely unrecognizable nowadays. I mean, it's not even good "Oldies" music. It's bad Oldies music— the dull, sappy stuff of the late 60s/early 70s that was gladly left behind a few years later. Even disco was better than that insipid crud.5) So Many Stars
While the musical guests on The Carol Burnett Show are hit-or-miss-but-mostly-miss, the guest actors each week are a veritable who's-who of TV stardom from the era. After the first episode in the Lost series featured Lucille Ball and Tim Conway (a frequent guest who'd later become a regular cast member), the second featured Don Adams, star of the classic TV comedy Get Smart (1965-1970).Unlike on a later well-known comedy variety show, Saturday Night Live, where a guest actor such as Adams would be used mostly for send-ups of his own work, Carol Burnett didn't ask him to spoof his Maxwell Smart character aside from a brief gag about the character's memorable vocal quips during the Q&A session. Instead, she had him play broader comedy parts, such as her husband in a skit about a woman trying to remember where she lost a purse full of important documents (pictured). He also played TV host in a spoof about a variety-comedy show, a la The Tonight Show, trying to air when the studio staff are on strike. It was fun for me, as a person who'd studied TV production many years ago, to spot all the technical "goofs" intentionally inserted in the skit such as the shadow of the boom microphone crossing someone's face, the shadow of a person moving behind the backdrop being seen, and the actors facing the wrong camera to deliver their lines. Aside from the technical bits I enjoyed, it was fun to see Adams as a more versatile comedian than just his inimitable Maxwell Smart character. I'm looking forward to finishing the first season of The Carol Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes. It does skip around, though, relative to the original broadcast, so we're also looking for how to enjoy the complete original episodes.
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Date: 2021-02-15 01:50 am (UTC)I remember this from when I was a kid. I'm not actually sure if what I watched back then was original run or syndication; I rather suspect it was the latter. There was some amazing comedic talent on that show, though, starting with the namesake herself.