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The Carol Burnett Variety Show was a half hour television comedy program that was composed of sketches and parodies. The show spoofed movies, TV shows, soaps and operas. It was a really great program that you were able to watch with your whole family. It was your classic variety skit show and considered to be very funny for it's time. Burnett's recounting of her Emmy-winning, 11-year run on The Carol Burnett Show is a central element of her new book, This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection, which she describes as "a quasi-memoir".
The pioneering sketch comedy show ran from 1967-1978 on CBS and won 24 Emmys. Before each show, Carol would come on stage and ask the producers to turn on the lights above the audience saying, "Let's bump up the lights." Burnett loved the task of putting the show together each week from scratch, then taping it twice before different studio audiences. Burnett and team struck gold with the classic skit "The Family" which later spun off into a popular television show, "Mama's Family". Burnett says that, these days, the closest thing that we have to The Carol Burnett Variety Show is Saturday Night Live!
A true comedy show in its simplest of forms, The Carol Burnett Variety Show struck a balanced chord with audiences through parodies of films ("Went With the Wind"), television ("As the Stomach Turns") and TV commercials of the time. This show was considered to be one of the funniest television series in the 1970s, and the best part of the show, besides the cast, were the great recurring sketches. It was the first network television show to successfully integrate controversial characters and won numerous awards and nominations during its run.
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. Vicki Lawrence was the only cast member, other than Burnett, to remain with the series for its entire run. Tim Conway did not become a regular cast member until later in the series run. Conway was a key part of the show and eventually went on to star in the legendary Dorf series. Those performers, Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner and of course, the unique Harvey Korman could always create laugh out loud comedy.
About this Author
To learn more about the Carol Burnett Variety Show, check out her new book, This Time Together. In the book she reflects on her life and what really went on inside the legendary show. This book is sure to be a classic, just like her show! You can also visit http://www.squidoo.com/the-carol-burnett-book-this-time-together- to look at the book and see other Carol Burnett products!
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