Papermoon Loves Lucy

A Lucille Ball Supersite!

LUCY ON “THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW” ~ PART 1

October
2, 1967 ~ S1;E4

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Directed by Clark Jones

Written by Stan Burns, Mike Marmer, Don Hinkley, Saul Turteltaub, Kenny Solms, Gail Parent, Bill Angelos, Buz Kohan

Cast

Carol
Burnett (Herself)
got her first big break on “The Paul Winchell Show” in 1955. A
years later she was a regular on “The Garry Moore Show.” In 1959
she made her Broadway debut in Once
Upon a Mattress,
which she also appeared in on television three times. From 1960 to
1965 she did a number of TV specials, and often appeared with Julie
Andrews. Her second Broadway musical was Fade
Out – Fade In which
ran for more than 270 performances. From 1967 to 1978 she hosted her
own highly successful variety show, “The Carol Burnett Show.”
Lucille Ball made several appearances on “The Carol Burnett Show.”
Burnett guest starred in four episodes of “The Lucy Show” and
three episodes of “Here’s Lucy,” subsequently playing a
character named Carol Krausmeyer. After Lucille Ball’s passing,
Burnett was hailed as the natural heir to Lucy’s title of ‘The
Queen of TV Comedy.’

Lucille
Ball (Herself)
was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her
screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the
B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard
Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite
Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,”
a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her
real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was
phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was
once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960
(in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so
did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu
financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The
Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a
similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life
children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined
the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death
in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With
Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled
after just 13 episodes.

Supporting
Cast

Vicki
Lawrence
was
born Vicki Ann Axelrad in Inglewood, California. She sent Carol
Burnett a newspaper clipping showing their uncanny resemblance to
her.  Burnett called Vicki hoping to find an entertainer who could
play her kid sister on her variety show. Lawrence was chosen as the
kid sister and in the fall of 1967, she made her debut on the first
episode of “The Carol Burnett Show.” She spent 11 years with the
show and earned one Emmy Award and five more nominations. She created
the role of Mama in the ‘Family’ sketches, which was spun off to
“Mama’s Family.” An accomplished singer, her recording of “The
Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia” (written by her then husband) hit number one and earned
a Gold Record. Lawrence attended the tribute shows “All Star Party
for Carol Burnett” in 1982 and “All Star Party for Lucille Ball”
in 1984.  

Harvey
Korman
got his
first big break as a featured performer on “The
Danny Kaye Show”
in 1963.
After
ten successful seasons he left “The
Carol Burnett Show”
in 1977 to appear in his own series which only lasted six episodes.
From 1964 to 1965 Korman appeared in three episodes of “The Lucy
Show” as various characters. He found screen success in many of the
films of Mel Brooks. Harvey Korman died in 2008 at age 81.

Lyle
Waggoner was
a handsome leading man who had little success in films but found fame
as the announcer and character actor on “The Carol Burnett Show.”
He left the show in 1974 (by mutual agreement with the producers) to
appear in “Wonder Woman.”  

Tim
Conway
got
into comedy when he started writing and performing comedy skits
between morning movies on CBS. He became a regular performer on “The
Steve Allen Plymouth Show”
(1956). However, Conway would not earn true fame until starring as
Ensign Charles Parker on “McHale’s
Navy”
(1962).
This was his first appearance on “The Carol Burnett Show.”  Even
though it is widely thought he was a series regular throughout the
whole show, he only became a regular in 1975.

Guest
Cast

Gloria
Loring
(Herself, Singer) later wrote the theme songs for “The Facts of
Life” and “Diff’rent Stokes.”  She played Liz Chandler on “Days
of Our Lives” from 1981 to 1986.

Durwood
Kirby
(Himself, from Audience) was the announcer of “The Garry Moore
Show” on which Carol Burnett was a featured player. He was married
to Mary Paxton Young, who sits next to him in the audience and is
also greeted by Burnett.

Vikki
Dougan
(Bus Driver)

Don
Crichton (Schultz, uncredited) was one of the Ernie Flatt Dancers and also made three appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”  

The
character’s name is probably meant to recall Sergeant Schultz, a
German character from “Hogan’s Heroes.”  

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Timeline
of collaborations between Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett (not
including award and talk shows):

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Like
Lucille Ball’s sitcoms, “The Carol Burnett Show” also aired
on Monday nights, generally at 10pm. On October 2, 1967,
“The Lucy Show” aired “Lucy, and the Starmaker” (TLS S6;E4)
guest-starring Frankie Avalon.  

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In
the sketch “Cafe
Argentine,”
Carol and Lucy play Selma and Blanche, two secretaries on their lunch
hour. They decide to try a new place called the Cafe Argentine. 

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The
maitre d’ (Harvey Korman) says his name is Pedro, but he speaks with
a strident, barking German accent and makes them goose-step to their
table. 

Blanche: “Danke schoen.”
Pedro: “Oh, you speak Argentine?”
Blanche: “Just a few words I picked up from the manual that came with my Volkswagen.”

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The girls feel uneasy when a periscope rises up from an
adjacent table and a sniper (Don Crichton) emerges from under a
silver cloche. When they ask to speak to the manager, Senor Jose, he
is the spitting image of  Adolf Hitler. The girls run for their
lives.  

This
sketch was written shortly after headlines reported that several Nazis wanted for war crimes
were found hiding out in South America, particularly in Argentina.  

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Lucy
and Carol wear mod, bright-colored mini-dresses and go-go boots,
doubtless to increase the impact of the innovation of color TV.  Costumes were designed by Bob Mackie.

Carol
does a solo sketch that skewers various TV commercials aimed at housewives.

Carol
and Vicki sing “I
Dig Rock and Roll Music,” a
1967 song by Peter Paul and Mary,
written by Paul
Stookey,
James Mason, and Dave Dixon.

Tim
Conway does a solo sketch about a newscaster named Paul Bedford who is
forced to ad lib when his ‘news machine’ breaks down.

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Lucy
and Carol stand in front of the curtain for some banter. At Lucy’s
insistence, Carol introduces her to Lyle Waggoner. Much to Carol’s
dismay, the two share a prolonged kiss and leave together.

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Lucy
and Carol and Lucy competing car rental agents at the airport. Carol
for Mavis (“We Try Harder”), Lucy for Gertz (“We’re Number
One”). They vie for the business of a prospective customer played by Tim
Conway.

Carol: “Watch it, green eyes.”
Lucy: “Green? My eyes are blue.”
Carol: “Oh? You have them dyed, too?”

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The
Avis motto
“We Try Harder” was adopted in 1962 to put a positive spin
on their status as the second largest car rental company in the
United States while also taking a shot at larger competitor The
Hertz Corporation.
The slogan was used for 50 years before a re-branding in 2012.

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In
the end, Conway goes off with a pretty blonde (Vikki Dougan) who says
“Why
not take the bus and leave the driving to us?”
This was the advertising slogan for Greyhound Bus Lines.

Carol
introduces Gloria
Loring,
who she first saw on “The Merv Griffin Show.” Loring sings
“Going Out of My Head” by Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein,
initially
recorded by Little
Anthony & the Imperials
in 1964.
She then sings “Try
To Remember”
by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones for the musical “The Fantasticks”
in 1960.

Carol
plays a poor, stay-at-home wife to a superhero named Super Guy Harvey
Korman. When he tries to hug her with his superhuman strength, Carol
compares herself to Fay Wray being mauled by King Kong. In a nod to
TV’s “Superman” (1952-58), he says
“I’ve leaped over a lot of buildings in a single bound.  I’m really
beat.”  

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Lucy
and Carol play dance hall girls in a musical sequence featuring “See
What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have” by
Frank
Loesser and Frederick Hollander.
It was first performed by Marlene
Dietrich
in the film Destry
Rides Again
(1939).
The song turns into “Belly Up to the Bar, Boys” written by
Meredith Willson for the stage musical The
Unsinkable Molly Brown
in 1960, filmed in 1964.

This Date in Lucy History – October 2nd 

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“A
Home Is Not an Office”
(HL S5;E4) – October 2, 1972

Michael T. Mooney

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