LUCY ON “THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW” ~ PART 3

November 24, 1969 ~ S3;E9

Directed
by Dave Powers

Written
by Bill Angelos, Stan Burns, Mike Marmer, Hal Goodman, Larry Klein,
Don Hinkley, Kenny Solms, Gail Parent, Buz Kohan

Cast

Carol
Burnett 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 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” was 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 in a mutual agreement with the producers to
appear in “Wonder Woman.”  

Guest
Cast

George
Carlin
was a stand-up comic who specialized in skewering social topics. He
is also noted for his masterful knowledge and use of the English
language. Carlin’s notorious “Seven Dirty Words” comedy
routine was part of a radio censorship case that made its way to the
Supreme Court in 1978.
He made a second appearance on “The Carol Burnett Show” in 1978.
Carlin died in 2008.

Sue
Vogelsanger (Herself,
in Audience and Archival Tape) was an audience member who wrote a
song for Burnett.  Her husband sits next to her.

Gary
Morton (Himself,
in Audience, uncredited) is Lucille Ball’s second husband. He was a
producer on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy” as well as
doing a few on-camera roles.  His laugh can be heard from the studio
audience during the airline sketch.

Two
uncredited extras play the parents in the Bob
& Carol & Ted & Alice
sketch and an uncredited actor plays the telegram delivery man in the
vaudeville sketch.

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

• September 27, 1960 – “The Garry Moore Show” (S3;E1) Lucille Ball, Guest
• March 22, 1966 – “Carol + 2” Lucille Ball, Guest Star
• October 31, 1966 – “Lucy Gets a Roommate” (TLS S5;E7) Carol Burnett as Carol Bradford
• November 7, 1966 – “Lucy and Carol in Palm Springs” (TLS S5;E8) Carol Burnett as Carol Bradford
• October 2, 1967 – “The Carol Burnett Show” (S1;E4) Lucille Ball, Guest Star
• December 4, 1967 – “Lucy and Carol Burnett: Part 1” (TLS S6;E14) Carol Burnett as Carol Bradford
• December 11, 1967 – “Lucy and Carol Burnett: Part 2” (TLS S6;E15) Carol Burnett as Carol Bradford
• November 4, 1968 – “The Carol Burnett Show” (S2;E6) Lucille Ball, Guest
• January 27, 1969 – “Lucy and Carol Burnett” (HL S1;E17) Carol Burnett as Herself
• November 24, 1969 – “The Carol Burnett Show” (S3;E9) Lucille Ball, Guest
• March 2, 1970 – “Lucy Competes With Carol Burnett” (HL S2;E24) Carol Burnett as Carol Krausmeyer
• October 19, 1970 – “The Carol Burnett Show” (S4;E6) Lucille Ball, Guest
• February 8, 1971 – “Lucy and Carol Burnett” (HL S3;E22) Carol Burnett as Carol Krausmeyer

A
week after this episode first aired, the script for Carol’s second
appearance on “Here’s Lucy” was finalized, although it would not
air until March 2, 1970.  

Like
Lucille Ball’s sitcoms, “The Carol Burnett Show” also aired on
Monday
nights,
generally at 10pm.
Earlier that evening, “Here’s Lucy” aired “Lucy, the Cement
Worker” (HL S2;E10) guest-starring Paul Winchell.

In
Carol’s opening remarks she tells the audience about a recent Halloween at her
home. She also tells the audience she was born in San Antonio, but
raised in Hollywood since the age of seven.

Carol
introduces George Carlin, who does a stand-up routine criticizing the
Emmy Awards’ bias in favor of big-budget shows. He compares late
night ‘shows’ like “Sermonette” and “The Star-Spangled Banner”
to the likes of  “The Ed Sullivan Show.” He imagines a big-budge
version of “The FBI List of Most Wanted Men,” including a
commercial for The Justice Department.

Carlin:
“Remember
for anti-trust or Commie bust, the Department that’s just, is really
a must!  Don’t leave your family defenseless.  And now,
heeeeeeeeere’s  J. Edgar!”
(‘Tonight Show’ theme plays).

Carol
sings a song written by audience member Sue Vogelsanger. It is titled
“Just
Talkin’.” Vogelsanger and her husband are in the audience.

In
Lucille Ball’s first appearance on the show, two flight attendants
Finster (Carol) and Agnes Hooper (Lucille Ball) compete for a best
employee award from their employer, BWA. They encounter a mysterious
passenger (Harvey Korman) with a Fidel Castro-like beard, cigars
tucked in his breast pocket, and a Spanish accent.

Hooper:
“Where
are you from, sir?  Havana?”
Passenger:
(alarmed) “Havana?
What makes you think I’m from Havana?”
Hooper:
“Well,
if it’s one thing I know, it’s a Cuban accent.”

This
meta moment relies on the audience knowing that Lucille Ball was
married to Desi Arnaz, a Cuban immigrant, as was his sitcom
counterpart, Ricky Ricardo.

When
the passenger pulls out a gun, Hooper and Finster fight over who will
clean it for him. In the struggle, they inadvertently push him out
the plane door, foiling his hijacking.

Lucy Carmichael and Carol Bradford trained as flight attendants in a two-part “The Lucy Show” in 1967.  

Lyle
and Vicki perform “Try
a Little Kindness”
by
Curt Sapaugh and Bobby
Austin,
first recorded by Glen
Campbell
less than a month earlier.

The
second half of the show opens with Carol in the shower singing
“I Say A Little Prayer” written
by
Burt
Bacharach
and
Hal
David
for
Dionne
Warwick
in 1967.
The song opens, however, with a verse of “Singin’
in the Rain”
by
Arthur
Freed
and
music by Nacio
Herb Brown (1931).
At the end of the song, Carol leaves the shower, and the camera
reveals four soaking wet musicians in tuxedos inside.

Next
is a spoof of Bob
& Carol & Ted & Alice,
a controversial 1969 film about two couples who end up in bed
together. It was made into a short-lived TV series in 1973. Bob
(originally Robert Culp) is played by Lyle Waggoner, Carol
(originally Natalie Wood) is played by Carol Burnett, Ted (originally
Elliott Gould) is played by Harvey Korman, and Alice (originally Dyan
Cannon) is played by Lucille Ball.  

Ted:
“I’m
afraid the neighbors will talk.”
Alice:
“No,
they won’t.”
Carol:
“Why
not?”
Alice:
“We’re
the neighbors.”

In
the final sketch, Harvey Korman plays Tommy Two Step, the emcee at an
old vaudeville theatre in 1919. Onstage, he introduces Polly (Carol)
and Dolly (Lucy), the Rock Sisters. 

They sing “Happiness
Cocktail”
while strumming ukuleles. Dolly then breaks out a saxophone, and
Polly a coronet. Although Lucille Ball had a basic knowledge of both
saxophone and ukulele (and demonstrated it on her sitcoms), she is
pantomiming to the offstage orchestra, as is Carol. Lyle Waggoner
plays the theatre manager who fires the act.

Fast
forward to 1969, where fast-talking disc jockey Big Daddy (George
Carlin) desperately needs one more act for a big 100-group rock
concert. His dim-witted girlfriend / groupie Tondalayo (Vicki Lawrence) hires the
Rock Sisters by telegram, based on their name alone.

Polly:
“Our
gowns!  Where are our gowns?”
Dolly:
“I
took them to the cleaners.”
Polly:
“Do
you think they’re ready?”
Dolly:
“They
should be. I took them in 1931.”

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Oops!
During
the airline sketch, during a more serious moment with Carol and
Harvey, Lucy starts to smile, about to break character, but quickly
regains her composure.  

When
Lucy catches Harvey’s spat-out cigar in mid-air, Korman gives her a
long, admiring glance as if to say “Well done!” Gary Morton’s
laugh from the audience can be heard during this moment.  

When
Korman’s character loudly announces he’s got a gun and is hijacking
the plane to Cuba, the other passengers (background actors) don’t
react at all!  

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This
Date in Lucy History – November 24th

“Redecorating”
(ILL S2;E8) – November 24, 1952

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