Hello, miss Carol Burnette. How are you? I'm good? Hi,
Renee, how are you? I don't know how I am. I'm sweating
and they told me ten minutes ago. And how can you talk to your
lifelong idol in ten minutes? I don't know? So wait, let's do
this. Oh my goodness, so um hello, hello Renee. Oh my
gosh. And the book is fantastic in such good company, sort of like
a little homage, if you will. You're a love letter to to this
industry in that era that you made amazing. So thank you for that.
Well, thank you for the compliment. Absolutely, I before we get into
the book though, I'm a huge fan of Turner classic movies and um,
of course um Lucille Ball and I love that narrative you did. Oh,
thank you, thank you. She was a very good friend, a very
close friend. And I you know, this kind of a Renee is kind
of nat day goes by that she kind of doesn't dip into my mind and
heart, you know, just just even if it's a fleeting moment I think
of her. That's so cool to know that and to know that you had
people that inspired you, especially strong leading women, because for someone like myself
who breaking into this industry, and you know, I'm trying to be funny.
I don't know if it works all the time, but you were sort
of an inspiration and made me believe I could go after my dreams and passion
and know that funny is funny whether you're a female or not. Well that's
true. Thank you for that, and you know, keep it up,
keep doing it. And it's so wonderful today when there's so many I mean,
with Kristin Wig and Tina and Amy, and it's just it's it's great.
You know. I remember when I wanted to do my show, I
was kind of the network didn't want me to do it because they kept saying,
no, no, it's a man's game. Variety is a man's game,
like Sid Caesar and Milton Burrows, you know, Dean Martin and Jackie
Gleason and so forth, and so I was, you know, they tried
to dissuade me from doing it. And so are we to get a lot
of the insight stuff that maybe we haven't even seen in one of the many
specials you've done with with in such good company. Oh yeah, I've got
Well, it's got a lot of anecdotes about some of the guest stars,
backstage things that went on, how we got the show, how I found
Harvey and Vicky and Lyle and Tim and just a general and then I list
some of my favorite questions and answers that we had, and then I list
I talked about some of the iconic sketches that we did. You know,
La Gone with the Wind and take Off on Love Story and Doris Day movies
and Sunset Boulevard and so forth, how all of those things came about.
So it's really kind of an homage to that, to that time, that
era, and also when we were doing our show, there was just tons
of other variety shows on the air. It was a golden age for variety
in the seventies when you think of Laughing and Sonny and Chair and the Mothers
Brothers and Arry Como had a show, Glenn Campbell, Jim Neighbors, it
was just and Flip Wilson, just really wonderful, wonderful time for variety.
How did you come up with the structure of your show and how much say
did you have at that time? Well, what happened, Renee was I
had started out. One of my big breaks was when I was in my
twenties, I was chosen to be a regular performer on the Gary Moore Show,
which was a wonderful comedy variety show that was based here in New York.
And so I learned to do sketches and comedic sketches from the Gary Moore
Show. So when I got my show, what was wonderful was that several
of the people who had worked on Gary show the risk and came out to
California to be on my show. The head writer, the choreographer, and
one of the lead dancers, some of the other writers and the producers and
all so that we just it was there were no labor pains. We just
fell right into doing my show the way we learned on the Gary Moore Show.
And You're no stranger. Two Awards, Emmy's, you know, all
kinds of honors. Of course, obviously the Kennedy Center Honor, that's that's
a pretty big deal. But I need to point out the Mark Twain Prize
because obviously Mark Twain house right here in Connecticut, and you know, growing
up and with the reading and writing and things like that, who inspired you
as a little girl to turn into this amazing icon. You are today.
Well, thank you for that. But actually I wanted to be a writer,
and I that that was my goal, and at one point even the
cartoonist and I'd had my own comment strip. But so then when I got
to UCLA, I took a theater arts English course in order to get playwriting
courses and you know, other kinds of writing. But because it was also
a theater arts course, I had to take an acting course as a freshman,
which I wasn't really I was scared about, but I had to take
the course. And I remember I did a scene from a play and I
picked something that would be easy. I thought, easy to do, you
know, I didn't want to do any heavy dramatic stuff. And they laughed,
you know, the kids in the class laughed, and I thought,
wow, that's a good feeling. Eighteen years old, before I realized that's
really what I wanted to do. We are chatting with Carol Burnett, and
I know my time is quickly coming to an end. The book is in
such good company, and I'll leave you just with I'll try to get this
last question in here. The rapport between you, Harvey, Vicky and Tim
Unlike I know, there were many other people involved, and I know that
there were great bits and skits and things like that whatever, but that I
don't think. I'm trying to think in my head right now, quick off
the top of my head. Maybe if I had more time, But I
don't know if there is such a rapport right now or even something close to.
I know there's great you know, sidekicks, of course, and there's
great groups of people together. But my god, that was magic. It
was magic. And I think that in that era it was too. It
wasn't just our show. You look at the rapport on Mary's show, Mary
Tyler Moore, Dick Van Die right right, you know All in the Family,
my goodness, and you know that was those we're all on the same
night. You know, it was really a pointment television. And I think
today the networks and some of the producers and writers say they were it to
death. They don't seem to want to have fun and be loose, you
know, But we were. And I think that's what made our show as
successful as it was. And I still watch it. I still watch I'm
still watching Sandford ince On. I'm so watching All in the Family. And
although you know, the different networks that have different things on and of course
I love things today, but there just is something I guess that is the
best way to put it. And I'm stealing from your your pr line here,
but it was magic. It was a golden era, and this book
is. This book is a great gift for anybody who just wants to laugh
and revisit these times in such good company. Carol Burnett, I have to
tell you from the bottom of hor what an inspiration you have been seeing.
Thank you, sweetheart, that's so nice of you. Thank you well.
Continued success, and if you're ever in Connecticut or Newingham, please considered an
open invitation here will do. Thanks dear ye