The Carol Burnett Show – Showstoppers and Let’s Bump Up the Lights

Editorial Review of The Carol Burnett Show : Let’s Bump Up the Lights, starring Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner courtesy of Amazon.com

One of the most endearing features of The Carol Burnett Show was the Q&A session with the audience that opened every show; it provided a charming forum for Burnett’s warm rapport with her fans, as well as a showcase for her improvisational skills. This 2004 TV special (which, like Burnett’s Showstoppers retrospective from 2001, posted huge ratings) puts the comedienne and her series co-stars–Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner—in front of an audience once again to reminisce and introduce some vintage Q&A clips. Burnett remains fast with a quip, and game enough to once again venture a stellar Tarzan yell, and she’s well-matched by her former castmates, who spin some terrific stories about smooching male and female audience members, wrangling with the legendary Mrs. Miller, and struggling to keep a straight face while one of them (usually Conway) stole the show. For fans of the series, this is an enjoyable highlight reel of its funniest unscripted moments. —Paul Gaita

Product Description

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW – LET’S BUMP UP THE LIGHTS! reunites Carol Burnett with her illustrious cast to relive personal favorites and expose never-before-seen clips from the legendary studio audience Q&A sessions. This hilarious television special kept more than 13 million viewers in stitches.

Editorial Review of The Carol Burnett Show – Showstoppers starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, courtesy of Amazon.com

If you don’t get at least a half-dozen belly laughs from this compilation of outtakes from The Carol Burnett Show, you’d better check your pulse. Originally broadcast on CBS in 2001, this affectionate retrospective reunites the peerless cast of Burnett’s variety show–Burnett, Vicki Lawrence, Tim Conway, and Harvey Korman–to answer audience questions and reminisce. The cast recalls the many times they lost composure on camera, halting sketches due to all varieties of faux pas, from faulty props (or urinating horses) to mutual crack-ups. Culled from the show’s mid-1970s heyday, the clips are infectiously hilarious, and the cast never missed an opportunity to inject a little raunchiness (later deleted) into their otherwise wholesome entertainment. Conway’s the real conspirator here, frequently turning Korman into a helpless heap of giggles, and costume designer Bob Mackie (pulled from the audience) is given fair tribute for his outlandish creativity. TV like this doesn’t exist any more, and Show Stoppers will make you wonder why. —Jeff Shannon

Funny Quotes from The Carol Burnett Show: Let’s Bump Up the Lights (2004), starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence

Audience Member: How old are you now?
Vicki Lawrence: I dunno!
Harvey Korman: I’m 77, and I can still go to the bathroom by myself!
Tim Conway: The amazing thing is, he’s doing it right now!