Carol Burnett celebrates show’s 50th anniversary
It’s been half a century since the debut of CBS’ “The Carol Burnett Show” in 1967, a milestone celebrated in “The Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special” (8 p.m. Sunday, KDKATV).
Although filmed in front of a studio audience like a 25th anniversary special was in 1992, this time there was less audience interaction and more participation from celebrities who recalled their favorite sketches from the series.
Jim Carrey, Kristin Chenoweth, Stephen Colbert, Harry Connick Jr. and Martin Short are among the famous faces who turned out for this anniversary special alongside Ms. Burnett and her original series costars, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner and costume designer Bob Mackie. (Ms. Burnett said Tim Conway was “under the weather but he sent a funny tweet I read on the show.”)
Ms. Burnett said in a recent phone interview the special also includes a tribute to the late Harvey Korman.
When it was taped in early October the special featured Kevin Spacey in a segment about movie parodies that was recorded before sexual harassment allegations against him mounted. The scene with Mr. Spacey will not be part of the “50th Anniversary Special” when it airs.
Mr. Connick Jr., who was born the day “The Carol Burnett Show” premiered, joins Ms. Burnett to sing the show’s classic theme song, “I’m So Glad We Had this Time Together.”
“His mother was watching our show and she went into labor,” said Ms. Burnett, who intends the special to be “a wonderful trip down memory lane.
“I look back at it and realized today we couldn’t do what we did,” she said, noting the show’s 28-piece orchestra and 65 costumes designed from scratch each week would be considered cost prohibitive today. “Also, I have to say, if I was trying to do this today, the network would never let me hire Vicki Lawrence because she was 18 and right out of high school and she had no professional experience. … CBS left us alone and let us be the artists as opposed to the suits coming in and telling us what to do. Today that is not the case.”
‘Happy’ and ‘Knightfall’
No doubt there will be an audience for the dark, sometimes visually stunning drama “Happy!” (10 p.m. Wednesday, Syfy) but it’s also a series that’s so in love with its nihilistic point of view that it’s a tough sell, particularly during the holiday season.
Chris Meloni (”Law & Order: SVU”) stars as Nick Sax, a corrupt ex-cop-turnedhitman who gets coerced by an animated, imaginary, blue, winged horse named Happy (voice of Patton Oswalt) to rescue a girl who has been kidnapped by an evil Santa.
Based on a graphic novel of the same name, “Happy!” is highly serialized but kind of dull. Scenes go to expected places but take forever to get there. The first two episodes are exposition heavy, especially for a subversive series that sometimes seems to be going for a “Mr. Robot” vibe.
Other than Hailey and Happy all the characters are a different shade of terrible, which gets kind of boring unless you’re tuning in only for the fight scenes that invariably end in bloodbaths.
At least there’s something gonzo about the off-kilter “Happy.” History’s “Knightfall” (10 p.m. Wednesday) is pretty much just a “Vikings” knockoff set in a different, but still bloody, historical period. Instead of pillaging Vikings, this time it’s swordwielding knights.
“Knightfall” follows Crusades veteran Landry (Tom Cullen, “Downton Abbey”), a leader of the Knights Templar, who is tight with France’s King Philip and a righteous defender of Jews who are subject to anti-Semitic discrimination.
There are slow-mo fight scenes aplenty — and one scene in the pilot that, oddly, is shown mostly from a point of view inside the knights’ helmets with close-ups of their faces, presumably because that’s cheaper than showing an actual battle — and the show’s limited character development is entirely predictable.
Steelers pre-empt ABC
Monday night’s Steelers game on WTAE will preempt ABC’s prime-time lineup of “The Great Christmas Light Fight” and “The Good Doctor.”
“The Good Doctor,” an original episode, will air at 1:08 a.m. Wednesday and the season premiere of “Light Fight”will air 3-5 p.m. Dec. 10.
Channel surfing
CBS’s “Wisdom of the Crowd” will not be extended beyond its initial 13-episode order. … Work had already begun on season two of filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Mindhunter,” which was renewed internally months ago by Netflix. The streamer made the official renewal announcement Thursday. ... Showtime renewed “SMILF” for a second season. … NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” welcomes Saoirse Ronan as host this weekend with musical guest U2; James Franco hosts Dec. 9 with SZA; Kevin Hart hosts Dec. 16 with Foo Fighters. … Pittsburgh’s Animal Media Group is selling 3-inch statues of Martin, the dog from canceled ABC sitcom “Downward Dog,” with proceeds going to rescue animal causes. Details at https:// www.animalmediagroup.
Tuned In online
Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about “Poldark,” “Me, Myself & I” and “Bosch.” This week’s Tuned In Journal includes posts on “Vikings.” Read online-only TV content at communityvoices.post-gazette.
This week’s podcast includes conversations about “Marvel’s Runaways” and “Future Man” and Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. Subscribe or listen to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette podcasts at iTunes or at soundcloud.com/pittsburghpg.
TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook for breaking TV news.