The Carol Burnett Show - Background

Background

In 1967, Carol Burnett had been a popular veteran of television for 11 years, having made her first appearances on the video tube in 1956 on such programs as The Paul Winchell Show and the sitcom Stanley starring the comedian Buddy Hackett. She then began to be seen more often on television as a guest on such series as Pantomime Quiz; The Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar; The Jack Benny Program; and The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1959, she became a regular supporting cast member on the CBS-TV variety series The Garry Moore Show. During her three-year run on the program, Burnett became a television favorite and won her first Emmy Award. During her time on Moore's series, Burnett also starred first off-Broadway and then on Broadway in the musical Once Upon a Mattress. She also guest starred on the CBS-TV interview program Person to Person (with her sister Christine) hosted by Charles Collingwood; an episode of The Twilight Zone ("Cavender Is Coming"); and headlined, with British singer-actress Julie Andrews, a highly praised CBS-TV special called Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, which resulted in Burnett winning her second Emmy Award. Also, during this period, Burnett had the opportunity to display her talents as a singer by recording two albums for Decca Records and, during the 1961-1962 season, while appearing as a regular on The Garry Moore Show, she sang and hosted a CBS radio show.

In the spring of 1962, Burnett left The Garry Moore Show to pursue other projects which included not only television, but also Broadway and films. Her Broadway career came to a halt in 1964 when right after the opening of the musical Fade Out, Fade In, Burnett was injured while riding in a taxi on her way to the theatre, and started missing performances. As a result, ticket sales suffered and the musical closed soon after, amidst a great deal of legal hassling and acrimony that was unsettled for quite some time. That same year, she was signed to star in a CBS variety series, The Entertainers, which failed to catch on with the public. In the meantime, Burnett had made her not-so-auspicious motion-picture debut opposite Dean Martin and Elizabeth Montgomery in the romantic comedy, Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963). During this transitional time, Burnett continued to appear on CBS specials with such stars as Robert Preston and Rock Hudson. Burnett also starred in television adaptations of the musicals Calamity Jane in 1963 and Once Upon A Mattress in 1964. In addition, she occasionally appeared on Garry Moore's series as a guest star and was also featured as a guest on such programs as Get Smart, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Gomer Pyle USMC, and The Lucy Show.

It was on the latter series in 1966 when Lucille Ball, who had become a mentor to the young comedienne, reportedly offered Burnett her own sitcom called Here's Agnes, to be produced by Desilu Productions. Burnett declined the offer, not wanting to pin herself down into a situation comedy, much less a weekly series. However, when Ball appeared on Burnett's variety special, Carol + 2 in March 1966, the show was such a critical and ratings success that CBS decided that Carol Burnett should be on television more often. So, instead of renewing her contract to continue performing in a series of specials for the next several years, CBS gave Burnett an ultimatum. Starting in the fall of 1967, she could either star in a situation comedy or a variety series. Faced with this decision, Burnett and her husband producer-director Joe Hamilton reluctantly decided on the latter format.