A famous Texan (born in San Antonio) and a funny one to boot. Carol Burnett was a fixture at home and Grandma’s house when I was growing up. Her variety hour on CBS was one of the few shows all three generations could agree on to watch without heckling. Even the Maggi side liked it because I remember seeing it at Aunt Colleen & Uncle Skip’s house during a visit; thus humor isn’t always genetic. Too bad a program like hers is a relic. The idea of a comedy-variety hour is an alien concept with today’s audiences and networks run by accountants and culturally illiterate MBA grads now. Her show’s comic bits remain funny after 30 years whether it’s the misadventures of Eunice (Mama’s Family to a younger generation), random jabs at advertising campaigns, cultural touchstones my grandparents would recognize (Sunset Boulevard‘s deluded silent-movie star) and every-day life. The musical bits never seemed out of place then, especially if the guest was Helen Reddy, the Pointer Sisters or Bernadette Peters. Despite the cultural shift in comedy through National Lampoon, SNL, SCTV and eventually HBO-Showtime, I feel Carol’s show could adjust, especially when Steve Martin appeared. What I’ve read of his writings, Steve probably thought it was a dream come true to appear on stage with the Grande Dame herself, right there with Lucille Ball and Imogen Coco.
Outside of her element, Carol is a skilled actress doing dramas (Friendly Fire or Between Friends with Liz Taylor) and comedic dramas (Pete ‘n’ Tilie with Walter Mathau or The Four Seasons with Alan Alda). As a kid, seeing her in the lead of a Robert Altman movie puzzled me. Usually kids figure everything a particular actress or comedian does is safe to watch, hence the puzzlement over the parents’ objection. This was repeated with Robin Williams’ stand-up material and Bob Newhart’s movie First Family. Thankfully she was still active and game to appear as “herself” on The Larry Sanders Show in one of the best episodes. Hearing her say a couple dirty words was hilarious because of the context.