Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Celebrating 50 Years of Carol Burnett & Friends


It took us more than three months to get around to it, but boy am I glad I finally watched the highly rated "Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special." Not only did it kindly remind me that my childhood all but revolved around the show -- my friends and I used to re-enact the skits for my annual "Christmas at Harvey's" Christmas spectacular -- it tickled me to learn that I was in good company with Jane Lynch, Jim Carrey, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Stephen Colbert, Harry Connick Jr. and others. ("The Family" sketches should not be underestimated for their searing portrayal of dysfunction families, with nuances that require multiple viewings to fully appreciate that often get missed in all of the more obvious yelling and name-calling .)




The special also reminded me that Lyle Waggoner was partially to "blame" for my sexuality.


They showed this clip of Lyle undressed as Mark Spitz -- who should have had to turn over his medals after Waggoner's portrayal


Lyle and Vicki Lawrence


The only negative thing I have to say about the special was that it opened my eyes to something very disturbing about another sex symbol from my childhood: it would appear that Tom Selleck is now one piece of confetti away from being Rip Taylor. 


Next up for Carol? After her Amy Poehler-produced pilot, "Household Name," didn't get picked up, the comedy legend inked a 12-episode series order with Netflix for "A Little Help With Carol Burnett," an original unscripted comedy starring Burnett and a panel of straight-talking 4-8-year-olds as they demonstrate how different generations solve life’s biggest dilemmas. 

4 comments:

Jeffery said...

I’ve been reading In Such Good Company by Carol Burnett. I don’t remember a lot of the skits she’s talking about. I also don’t remember it being on at 10. I thought it was on at 8.

BlogMarkBlog said...

One of the highlights of my life was getting to see Carol live on Broadway. Love her.

Dov said...

I have to say that I I found Lyle Waggoner gorgeous. Especially when he took his shirt off. :-)

Carolly We Roll Along said...

I grew up in the '70's and having an unhappy childhood/adolescence The Carol Burnet Show, along with The Mary Tyler Moore Show, was a brief respite each week. Of course I watched the 50th anniversary show, but I remember watching the 25th anniversary show too. On it there was a young man who in the 70's had requested a kiss. He was 14 at the time, long blond hair, and awkward as any teen would be with Carl vamping it up. So he was in the audience of the 25th anniversary show, and requested another kiss. He had grown into a beautiful man, and I got a very strong gay vibe from him as he walked on stage. I remembered the original instance from the 70's so it was great to see him all growed up. I always think of him whenever I watch a Carol Burnett Show episode, and wonder how he's doing today?