fett on 30/5/2008 at 12:28
The Carol Burnett Show was a weekly staple in my house, all the way through it's syndicated days in my early teens. I grew up on the slapstick of Burnett and Conway, and my favorite sketches always featured Korman as Conway's straight man. The best part of the show was when Conway finally got to the stoic Korman who would try his best to keep a straight face, usually failing about midway through the sketch.
Television has moved on, but in my opinion, comedy never has. There has never been anything like the Carol Burnett Show. SNL is too self-aware, MAD too snarky, and sitcoms...do we really want to compare George Lopez or Ellen to Harvey Korman and Vickie Lawrence? No, we don't. The entire cast had a sweet, self-effacing nature that no one has captured since. It was the last great sketch shows of the 60-70's that expected it's talent to act, dance, AND sing (read: Molly Shannon sucks ass). I've seen both SNL and MAD re-enact a large portion of the skits from Carol Burnett, but they just don't have the comic timing of Korman and Conway. Cheesy at times, and a bit too sanitized for modern tastes, but nevertheless, the show was a perfect fit for me growing up -a guaranteed laugh, with Korman a solid, center-man to everyone else's zaniness. In short - I miss the show, and I'll miss Korman. A brilliant actor and comedian, and the entertainment business is the poorer for losing him.
If you've never seen the show, youtube a few skits - I'd recommend The Dentist, No Frills Airline, and any of the Mama's Family skits (I can still hear Eunice screaming "SOOOOORRRRYYYY EDDD!!!" at the top of her lungs while Korman stifled his laughter). Burnett and Conway will outshine Korman every time, but if not for him, they wouldn't have been who they were.
Kolya on 30/5/2008 at 13:22
Quote Posted by Matthew
This strategy, incidentally, is known as 'not being a dick'.
In a thread that's a one third dedication to the late Dick Martin your remark is very oblique sir. If you planned to illustrate my point this way or another, I have to say you're a bit late to the party.
Matthew on 30/5/2008 at 13:33
I'm sorry, I have absolutely no idea what you're on about.
Mr. headbone on 30/5/2008 at 13:40
IMO the funniest clip; although "corny" by todays standards; is when Harvey Korman played Count De Money :laff: opposite Mel Brooks in History of the World PT.1. I'm sure there many other good movies he played in but this one stands out in my mind :laff:
fett on 30/5/2008 at 16:26
Thanks for the links Koyla. As an aside, if you haven't seen Tim Conway's "Siamese Elephant" story from the Mama's Family skit, you've simply never laughed hard enough. The cast reaction to his improv is deserving of legend. The fact that Dick Van Dyke stands in for Korman's "Ed" character makes it all that more hilarious.
Note: the Mama's Family on the Carol Burnett show is only marginally related to the terrible Mama's Family spin-off sitcom which only retained Vickie Lawrence as Mama. If you can catch an episode from the original Burnett show featuring Conway, Korman, and Betty White, you've got comedy gold.
Tocky on 31/5/2008 at 03:42
OH PISS BOY!
Damn.
