50 Fun Facts About The Carol Burnett Show

What is still attached to Starlett's green gown in Carol Burnett's "Went with the Wind!" sketch?

A curtain rod stays threaded through the drapes Starlett turns into a dress. The costume designer swapped it in because he found the script's sagging-drapes gag unfunny.

Carol Burnett's ear tug at the close of each episode was a silent message to which relative?

Her grandmother, who raised her, got the ear tug as a silent hello from the screen. Burnett kept the gesture going long after her grandmother died.

In a famed Carol Burnett Show sketch, Tim Conway's rookie in which job numbs himself by mistake?

Dentist: fresh out of school, Conway's character jabs the Novocaine into his own hand, leg and head while Harvey Korman, the patient in the chair, cracks up.

After leaving The Carol Burnett Show, Lyle Waggoner played Steve Trevor in which superhero series?

Wonder Woman cast Waggoner as Steve Trevor beside Lynda Carter. When the series jumped from the 1940s to the 1970s, he simply carried on as Steve Trevor Jr.

Which trademark sound, self-taught at nine, did Carol Burnett perform on request for studio crowds?

A Tarzan yell was Burnett's party piece, and fans in the studio kept asking for it. She later realized the jungle call doubled as a vocal exercise for volume.

Vicki Lawrence's cranky Thelma Harper from The Carol Burnett Show later headlined which spin-off?

Mama's Family ran from 1983 to 1990, first on NBC and then in syndication. Lawrence had first played the elderly widow in a sketch meant as a one-off.

How did Carol Burnett open most of her shows, a habit borrowed from an earlier variety host?

Audience questions came first: Burnett had the house lights raised and took unrehearsed queries for a few minutes. Her off-the-cuff answers became a favorite part of the hour.

During his Carol Burnett Show years, Harvey Korman played Hedley Lamarr in which Mel Brooks comedy?

Blazing Saddles came out in 1974, midway through Korman's Burnett years. He went on to make three more comedies with Mel Brooks, starting with High Anxiety.

Which network aired The Carol Burnett Show for eleven seasons and four later reunion specials?

CBS carried the series from 1967 to 1978 and brought the cast back for reunion specials decades later. Its 2017 anniversary show still drew over 15 million viewers.

Which role did Carol Burnett play in John Huston's 1982 film of the Broadway musical Annie?

Miss Hannigan, the hard-drinking boss of the orphanage, was Burnett's part. Bette Midler had been considered for the role before her.

Tim Conway grilled Lyle Waggoner with a hand puppet of which dictator on The Carol Burnett Show?

Adolf Hitler, in glove-puppet form, was Conway's surprise for Waggoner, who played a captured American airman. Waggoner fought to keep a straight face and lost.

Which dim secretary did Carol Burnett play opposite Tim Conway's exasperated boss Mr. Tudball?

Mrs. Wiggins got her famous walk by accident: Burnett said the skirt bagged at the back, and the costume designer told her to stick her bottom out to fill it.

Before The Carol Burnett Show, Lyle Waggoner was a finalist to play which superhero on television?

Batman went to Adam West instead. Waggoner joined Burnett's cast when her show began in 1967, often playing the handsome man her characters fawned over.

Fresh from a short-lived variety series, who replaced Harvey Korman on The Carol Burnett Show?

Dick Van Dyke stayed only three months before both sides agreed the fit was wrong. Guest regulars Steve Lawrence and Ken Berry helped fill the gap for the rest of the final season.

Carol Burnett's sketch "As the Stomach Turns", set in Canoga Falls, spoofed which TV genre?

Soap operas were the target, with a title twisting the long-running As the World Turns. Burnett played heroine Marian Clayton, forever parking a baby in her umbrella stand.

Which SpongeBob character did Carol Burnett Show star Tim Conway voice opposite Ernest Borgnine?

Barnacle Boy was Conway's part, sidekick to Borgnine's Mermaid Man. The cartoon's creators, fans of the pair's 1960s work together, had the two actors in mind from the start.

Which designer, famed for dressing Cher, created every costume worn on The Carol Burnett Show?

Bob Mackie designed the lot, from evening gowns to character outfits. Burnett credited his visual gags with rescuing some of the weaker sketches.

How did teenager Vicki Lawrence first catch Carol Burnett's eye before joining her show at 18?

A fan letter did it: Lawrence enclosed a newspaper clipping noting how much she looked like Burnett. The star found her father in the phone book and came to watch her in a local contest.

Which Tim Conway character on The Carol Burnett Show turned up as a fireman, a butcher and a galley slave?

The Oldest Man, sometimes named Duane Toddleberry, shuffled through jobs that demanded speed. Conway said the character began on air, when his slow walk across the set made Harvey Korman fall apart.

Calling variety a man's genre, executives first offered Carol Burnett what kind of series instead?

A sitcom called Here's Agnes was the network's counter-offer. Burnett refused, and a clause in her contract obliged it to give her the variety hour she wanted.

Which daughter of Thelma Harper did Carol Burnett play, always in the same green floral dress?

Eunice Higgins was written for a guest star, with Burnett as the mother, until Burnett asked to swap. She also chose the Southern accents, drawing on her own Texas roots.

Before The Carol Burnett Show, Tim Conway won fame as inept officer Charles Parker in which comedy?

McHale's Navy ran from 1962 to 1966 and earned Conway an Emmy nomination. Its star Ernest Borgnine became his mentor and good friend.

Which real-life ruler did Carol Burnett regularly spoof, with Harvey Korman as her consort?

Queen Elizabeth II was the model for Burnett's monarch, who first turned up in a celebrity-interview sketch. Later scripts quietly moved her throne to a made-up Freedonia.

Carol Burnett Show star Vicki Lawrence had a 1973 number one about lights going out in which state?

Georgia was the setting of The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, which sold over two million copies. Burnett surprised Lawrence with its gold record on the air.

Joe Hamilton, who wrote The Carol Burnett Show's closing theme, was related to its star in what way?

Her husband Joe Hamilton was also the executive producer, and the couple had three daughters. Their 1984 divorce later kept Burnett off most of the Thelma Harper spin-off he owned.

Which institution now holds the green dress from Carol Burnett's "Went with the Wind!" sketch?

The Smithsonian received the outfit in 2009, donated by Burnett and its designer. When she first wore it down the staircase, the studio laughter ran so long it had to be trimmed for broadcast.

Besides acting in sketches, which other job did Lyle Waggoner hold on The Carol Burnett Show?

Announcer was Waggoner's second hat, a double duty modeled on Durward Kirby's on an earlier variety hour. Ernie Anderson took over the microphone when he left.

Tim Conway's rambling ad-lib about which circus animal broke up the Carol Burnett Show cast in 1977?

An elephant, or rather Siamese twins joined at the trunk, starred in the tale Conway made up on the spot. The uncut outtake reached viewers only years later in blooper specials.

Which TV comedy legend mentored Carol Burnett and sent her flowers on every birthday until 1989?

Lucille Ball died on Burnett's 56th birthday, and the flowers still arrived that afternoon with a note calling her Kid. The two had been friends since 1959.

Before The Carol Burnett Show, Harvey Korman voiced the alien Great Gazoo on which cartoon?

The Flintstones introduced Gazoo in its final network season, 1965 to 1966, with Korman supplying the voice. He returned to Bedrock decades later as the Dictabird in the 1994 live-action film.

Carol Burnett's faded silent-film star Nora Desmond spoofed the heroine of which 1950 movie?

Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond became Nora, with Harvey Korman as her bald, dutiful butler Max. Gloria Swanson, who starred in the film, praised Burnett's take-off.

Which country's accent did Tim Conway, copying his mother, give Carol Burnett Show boss Mr. Tudball?

Romania it was: Conway's mother was a first-generation Romanian-American. Viewers widely took the fussy office boss for a Swede.

Which singer did Carol Burnett call her good-luck charm, booking him for every season premiere?

Jim Nabors opened all eleven seasons, starting with the very first episode in 1967. Burnett guested as a tough corporal on his Marine Corps comedy, and he became godfather to her daughter Jody.

Lyle Waggoner of The Carol Burnett Show later made a fortune renting what to Hollywood productions?

Location trailers became his business after he learned the studio was renting the motorhome he used on a TV set from a local resident. Star Waggons and its sister firm sold for $222 million in 2021.

Who played Ellen, Thelma Harper's snobbish elder daughter, on The Carol Burnett Show?

Betty White played haughty Ellen in the sketches, a 1982 TV movie and the later spin-off. Ellen was one of her mother's favorites and made no secret of her glee at getting what her sister wanted.

What title did The Carol Burnett Show give its spoof of the shark thriller Jaws?

Jowls joined a long list of punning movie send-ups, alongside Mildred Fierce and Natural Velvet. The show's writers included Larry Siegel, one of Mad magazine's top movie satirists.

Carol Burnett Show regular Harvey Korman had three comic roles in which saga's 1978 holiday special?

Star Wars got a televised holiday special in 1978, and Korman turned up in it three times. One of his characters was a four-armed alien cook modeled on Julia Child.

On which night did The Carol Burnett Show close a famed 1970s lineup that included M*A*S*H and The Bob Newhart Show?

Saturday at ten became its home in December 1972, closing a powerhouse lineup of hit comedies. The series had started on Mondays and ended its run on Sundays.

Carol Burnett's Walk of Fame star lies outside a cinema that once fired her from which job?

Usherette Burnett was sacked for urging latecomers not to spoil a Hitchcock ending for themselves. Offered a star decades later, she asked for the spot in front of that same theater.

Which pint-sized character did Carol Burnett Show star Tim Conway play in a string of sports videos?

Dorf debuted on The Tonight Show in 1986 before tackling golf, fishing and other sports on video. Conway gave the little man the same accent he had used for Mr. Tudball.

What does Tim Conway's hand puppet do to make captive Lyle Waggoner crack on The Carol Burnett Show?

Sings a song: in a shrill falsetto the puppet works through I've Been Working on the Railroad, verse after verse, until Waggoner finally collapses in laughter.

Which singer and talk-show host played Melody in Carol Burnett's "Went with the Wind!" sketch?

Dinah Shore guested as sweet Melody, who dies only after shoving Starlett down the stairs. The sketch aired days after Gone with the Wind's first network TV showing.

Which British-born actor played Thelma Harper's screenwriter son Phillip on The Carol Burnett Show?

Roddy McDowall played Phillip, the clan's golden boy at the center of the very first sketch in 1974. In the later TV movie the role passed to Ken Berry.

Thelma Harper and her bickering relatives on The Carol Burnett Show live in which town?

Raytown was home to the Harpers and the Higginses, and the spin-off kept the setting. Burnett insisted the clan be played as Southern, to the writers' initial fury.

In Carol Burnett's palace sketches, Tim Conway's Private Newberry is hollow after swallowing what?

A live grenade left the private completely hollow inside. The running joke was his list of absurd requests, such as animal-flavored ice cream.

Harvey Korman came to The Carol Burnett Show from four seasons on which star's variety hour?

Danny Kaye's series ended in spring 1967, just as Burnett was casting. She already admired Korman's sketch work there and insisted he be signed.

On which host's variety series did Carol Burnett become a regular in 1959, winning her first Emmy?

Garry Moore kept Burnett in his cast until 1962. Her success there made her a headliner and led to the ten-year network contract that produced her own series.

Which Hollywood legend surprised lifelong fan Carol Burnett on the 1978 finale of her show?

James Stewart made a surprise cameo in the two-hour farewell in March 1978. Burnett chose to end the series herself, though the network wanted another season.

Studio 33, where The Carol Burnett Show was taped, was later renamed for which game-show host?

Bob Barker got the honor in 1998, when The Price Is Right reached its 5,000th episode. The game show taped in the same Television City studio from 1972 to 2023.

What job does Carol Burnett's signature character, drawn as a cartoon in the opening credits, do?

A charwoman, never given a name, was Burnett's alter ego, usually seen in a musical number. She had first played the cleaner years earlier as a regular on another variety series.