THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW
At 84, Carol Burnett is still pulling in work — and accolades,
An evening of laughs, reflection at the NAC
Carol Burnett could fill a warehouse with all the awards she and her variety show won. But almost nothing compares to the reception Burnett got when she presented the Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series last month (alongside another TV master, Norman Lear).
It wasn’t just the tumultuous standing ovation. It was that pretty much every member of the audience tugged on their left ear as they stood.
Burnett almost broke into tears. That gesture was the ultimate homage.
It was 50 years ago that the Carol Burnett Show hit the airwaves. It ran for 11 years, averaged 30 million viewers weekly and won 25 Emmys. Burnett ended each show by tugging on her left ear, serving as a message to the grandmother who raised her that she was doing well and that she loved her. Although her grandmother died during the show’s run, the ear tug became Burnett’s trademark and she kept repeating it.
That goes a long way toward explaining Burnett’s popularity then and now. There’s no denying her humour, but it’s also that homespun charm that has so captivated audiences.
It should be pointed out that TV life didn’t end for Burnett when her series wrapped. Among a slew of other parts, she has had recent recurring roles, both comedic and dramatic, in Glee, Hot in Cleveland and Hawaii Five-0.
One of her memorable guest appearances came in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in which she played a murderous widow, probably throwing her fans for a loop.
“It’s actually really fun for me to play a villain,” Burnett, 84, says in a phone interview. “We’re all three-dimensional, but although now it’s getting better, we used to be pigeonholed in America. In England, it was always different.
“I remember my friend Glenda Jackson would be doing a musical comedy one day and turn around and do a Shakespearean tragedy the next day. That was expected out of English actors. Some of the best comedians, like Lily Tomlin and Martin Short, are really good dramatic actors when given the opportunity.”
Apart from her live appearances, she’s still working on other projects, which explains her winning the 2017 Grammy for best spoken-word album for In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox.
And she just finished taping a two-hour special for CBS celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Carol Burnett Show, which will air in December.
“It was just wild,” Burnett says. “We had 18 guest stars, like Kevin Spacey, Jim Carrey, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Jay Leno and Kristin Chenoweth, come on to do takeoffs of their favourite movies.”
That speaks volumes about how another generation of stars not only remembers her contributions, but wants to partake in some sketch-comedy mayhem with her.
Original cast members Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner were also on hand. Tim Conway was under the weather and couldn’t make it, but did send out a tweet for the occasion. Much missed was Harvey Korman, who died in 2008.
Burnett is abundantly aware that variety shows like hers could not be replicated in today’s cluttered TV and streaming universe.
“It was appointment television in those years,” she says. “There weren’t any VCRs, and people made a point of being around at night for the variety shows as well as All in the Family, MASH, Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart.
“If we wanted to do a weekly show like ours today, we wouldn’t be able to — largely because of the cost. We were able to have a 28-piece orchestra, 12 dancers, two guest stars a week and an average of 65 costumes a week. It was like doing summer stock every week. We’d put on one show, then, boom, it was right on to the next. We just had such a ball.
“And that was just one show. In our building alone, taping on the same night were the Smothers Brothers, Sonny and Cher and Glen Campbell. And down in the valley they were taping Flip Wilson and Laugh-In, and on and on.
“But it’s just dead today. These shows went the way of the dodo bird. Pity, too, because the talent is there.”
Curiously, Burnett doesn’t watch much comedy on television these days.
“I think Modern Family has some very good writing, as do a couple of other comedies,” she says. “But honestly, I’m more into Breaking Bad, Homeland and House of Cards. I love those shows.
“But as far as comedy in general goes, I wish they would balance it all out a little. Now it has to be edgy rather than belly-laugh funny. I like to do the heavy stuff, but I’m a clown. That’s what I love to do. I don’t care what I look like or what kind of outfit they put me in.
“When we taped our special, we were doing material that was 45 years old and the studio audience and even the cameramen, who were so young, were doubled over. Good humour holds up. Funny is funny.” bbrownstein@postmedia.com twitter.com/ billbrownstein