The Best of The Carol Burnett Show Volume One contains 15 episodes for the 6th & 7th seasons (1972-1973). These episodes feature uproarious guest appearances from Carl Reiner, Lily Tomlin, Tim Conway, Jack Gilford, John Byner, Andy Griffith and Helen Reddy. Fan favorite sketches include “Rebecky” (the movie take off of Rebecca), “Carol & Sis,” “Nora Desmond,” and “Snow White: 15 Years Later.”
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 1 (November 29, 1972)
Dynamic young singer and Tony Award-winning actress Melba Moore and comedy legend Carl Reiner bring high energy to the program. Hospital dramas and soap operas were big at the time, and General Hospital combined both. “Terminal Hospital” is overstocked with loonies, from crazed nurse Melba to misunderstood nurse Harvey to flawed surgeon Dr. Goldenstein (Carl), who can’t cut it anymore.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 2 (September 27, 1972)
Carol learns to speak Australian from Helen Reddy. Helen also sings I Am Woman, which recently had reentered the charts on its way to No. 1. Andy Griffith returns to his country roots with Turn Your Radio On. He parodies his law enforcement ways in a skit as an officious warden responsible for Carol’s first conjugal visit to her frustrated jailed husband, Harvey Korman.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 3 (October 25, 1972)
Tim Conway lampoons high-profile defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey as a rabbit named F. Lee Bunny. Pearl Bailey plays a talkative shrink trying to help Carol with her man problem. This triggers A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Carol revives the Norma Desmond role from Sunset Boulevard as “Nora Desmond,” looking for career salvation … Via a Knock ‘Em Dead bug spray commercial.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 4 (November 8, 1972)
Lily Tomlin plays a recent divorcee and gets Harvey to dance an absurd version of the funky chicken. Steve Lawrence plays a cotton-mouthed mobster who makes Brando’s Don Corleone sound like a master of elocution. Carol’s iconic charwoman delivers one of her finest performances ever! The full cast does the parody Caged Dames, and Vicki, playing Carol’s ditzy cellmate, steals the scene.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 5 (January 6, 1973)
Jack Cassidy soars in The Story of a Star, homage to A Star Is Born. He’s the dissolute fading star Norman Swain opposite rising star Esther “Vicki” Crotchett, played by Carol. Elsewhere, Carol and Harvey go to an orphanage and choose Leon (Tim), aged 35! Up in heaven, angel Harvey gets a new cloud mate-Tim, a Jew’s harp player ill suited for this celestial realm.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 6 (January 1, 1973)
Jack Gilford guest stars in a wonderfully touching sketch. It showcases his musical comedy abilities as a very nervous father to Carol’s bride. Watch for Ruth Buzzi‘s remarkable transformation from one of her typically frumpy characters into a red-hot rock ‘n’ roller. Carol also sings the theme song to the just-released film Pete ‘n’ Tillie. The film where she had her first big-screen starring role.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 7 (January 27, 1973)
Tim Conway‘s up to his unusual mischief. A wardrobe malfunction on the set of “The Dater’s Game” forces him to fill in as Bachelorette No. 3, and Harvey is the gold-chained bachelor. In another tense situation, bank robber Harvey rushes to buy gas from doofus station attendant Tim. A funny skit ending with Tim trapped under the car hood. Kay Ballard also guest stars
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 8 (February 10, 1973)
Guest comedian John Byner does “celebrities in other lines of work,” from John Wayne as a brain surgeon to Tonto as an interior designer. Byner & Harvey Korman are amazing as they kidnap a bratty Girl Scout (Carol) who foils their plan. Hollywood honcho Harvey must fire Donald Duck (Byner) after 25 years of service. The feathers fly when Donald receives his commemorative watch. Petula Clark guests
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 8 (March 24, 1973)
Season 6 ends with this Family Show, which features interesting surprises. Vicki Lawrence had recently recorded the hit The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia. She’s startled when Carol calls her out on stage to present her with her first gold record. And the ending showcases some then state-of-the-art video effects that allow Carol to appear as six characters in the same scene.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 10 (September 22, 1973)
Charo guest stars and laughs abound. The show’s unexpected highlight comes from the Campbellock Dancers, an influential LA group. Choreographed by Toni Basil, the sextet busts loose to Dennis Coffey’s Scorpio. That’s Fred “Rerun” Berry, future star of What’s Happening!! in the red-patterned shirt, helping to make hip-hop history on Carol’s prime-time TV show.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 11 (November 10, 1973)
By Season 7 Lyle Waggoner was considered a regular sketch player. In this episode’s As the Stomach Turns he shows off all his charms as a tank top-wearing “Olympic weightlifter and freelance bellhop”. Note how much fun Carol and Petula Clark have playing against type as rock ‘n’ roll bad girls in the “Salute to the ’50s and ’60s” closing number.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 12 (September 29, 1973)
The spry septuagenarian Gloria Swanson guest starred for her new-fangled tango routine, in which the male dancers do a lot of lifting. In one of Burnett’s cleverest Charwoman sketches, she and Swanson return to the pre-talkies movie era. Cavorting on-screen as Charlie Chaplin in Silents Is Golden, Swanson beckons Carol to join the story-the adventures of two stars captured in a double fantasy
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 13 (October 13, 1973)
Paul Sand and Eydie Gorme guest star in this episode, which includes a salute to movie series such as “Dr. Kildaire”, and Paul and Eydie joining Carol for an outrageous werewolf sketch.
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 14 (October 20, 1973)
In this episode, guest Jack Weston matches up with Carol on a computer date, Carol sings “The Lady Is A Tramp“, and Harvey plays Dr. Jekyll–with none other than Carol as his Ms. Hyde. I absolutely love the ending of the sketch with Harvey, Carol, Vicki Lawrence & Lyle Waggoner!
The Best of The Carol Burnett Show: Volume One: Episode 15 (December 8, 1973)
This is one of only two episodes of Carol’s show filmed outside of the United States. Carol and the regulars headed Down Under and took over the stage of the Sydney Opera House-now an international landmark, but a brand new venue at the time. This show was shot live in front of a sold-out crowd, and it stands as proof of the powerful, universal appeal of Carol’s presence and her comedy.
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