Whatever.
For me, whatever is planned is not big enough a celebration. Carol's birthday should be a national holiday because she has influenced the lives of so many people in my generation. Indeed, her variety show was my indoctrination into adulthood in so many ways.
Back in the day when her show started in 1967, my school night bedtime was still a trifle early. For years, I had to enter into negotiations just to stay up for Andy Griffith's show which was Mondays at 930PM originally. If my family had a busy weekend, they would scoff at me staying up on Mondays. It was a television tug-of-war I remember to this day.
But, by the time Carol debuted, I was a little older and it was deemed okay for me to last till 11PM at least one night. Perhaps I was entering adulthood. In more ways than one. Carol Burnett and her troupe of merrymakers were essentially my creative puberty.
As a kid, my television tastes were certainly child-like. Oh, sure, I loved the reruns of such "adult" fare as "I Love Lucy" and "Dick Van Dyke." But most of what I watched were things like Bullwinkle cartoons, "Mr. Ed," and "The Munsters."
The day I outgrew them was probably the day I started following Carol Burnett. There was something about her variety series that was so novel and inside and directed right at me. The movie parodies. The Q and A with the audience. Mama's family. It seemed so organic that was a live theater performance solely for me.
The key for all of this was the spontaneity of it all. While it was taped in CBS Television City, the show seemed to be live. The glory of it all was they didn't really stop tape for any reason. If Carol or Harvey or Tim or Vicki broke up or "went up" with their lines, that was part of the show. In an odd way, this humanized it in a way that made it seem these folks were my friends or extended members of my family. It was the first time that show business felt personal to me.
Naturally, the would-be writer in me watched intently as this TV show, like Lucy and Dick and Mary and Archie, taught me how to craft a joke. This was all Comedy Writing 101. And Sigma Delta Chi at Fordham asked me several years later to craft an evening of comedy sketches for a dinner, I naturally channeled everything I learned from Carol and company.
Those were the hallmark days of TV comedy. Think about CBS Saturday nights in the 70s. There was one season where the line-up was virtually magical.
All In The Family.
M*A*S*H*
Mary Tyler Moore.
Bob Newhart.
Carol Burnett.
That will never be topped. Ever.
There are so many special moments from Carol's show from "Gone With The Wind" to "As The Stomach Turns" to Tim as the Dentist. Hopefully, the NBC special this week is jam packed with all of them. For me, anything with Harvey Korman as Mother Marcus stands out. A Jewish mother impersonation that would never fly in today's super sensitive society.
Brilliance.
About twelve years ago, my writing partner and I were sitting in the now-gone Cheesecake Factory of Brentwood. Sitting at the next table was Carol. Trying to hide behind dark sunglasses and a column. When I am out and about among celebrities, I always refrain from bothering them. That day, I came pretty darn close to invading her space. But I didn't.
That's the way people should act toward royalty. And, for us, Carol Burnett was a queen.
Happy birthday, Carol, and wishes you more years of laughs. For you and for all of us.
Dinner last night: Pepperoni pizza at CPK.
1 comment:
I doubt she's still doing them, but 4-5 years ago, Carol came to the Tillis Center at LIU Post (C.W. Post for us older folks) for an evening of chatter and clips.
My wife and I were treated to a wonderful walk down memory lane. Her pacing and the mixture of talk and clips were fabulous; the only drawback was that it came to an end after about 90 minutes.
Carol Burnett is an American icon, and we're blessed to still have her with us.
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