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The Carol Burnett Appreciation Thread


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I hate watching football on TV. I can never tell what’s going on and the announcers are annoying. When you’re actually in the stands, it’s great. Then again, it’s not nearly as annoying as Big Bang Theory. I’m sure I wouldn’t mind the writing as much if the production values didn’t make everything look so soulless.

I could’ve sworn BBT was #1 once or twice before. Anyway, if this isn’t the case, this would be the first time a sitcom had the top spot since Friends in 2001-2002! Let’s also notice that while it is the top rated show on TV, it only has an 11.5 rating- contrast that with the 67.3 rating for the #1 show in 1952-1953 (which need not be named).

It’s probably time we found a new ratings system. I wish streaming services would give numbers. For one thing, I know my mom pretty much exclusively watches any new shows on Hulu- not when they’re initially broadcast. My grandparents DVR everything (and I mean everything), so it’s possible that this year’s most-watched Show was something entirely different from what we think it is!

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As someone who is a “ratings nerd”, it’s annoying that nowadays it can be hard to gauge how many people are watching what. 

Fun Fact: Life With Lucy received a dismal average Nielsen rating of 9.0, landing near the bottom of the rankings. Had it aired during the 2016-17 season and received the same average rating, it would have placed seventh!

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On 6/6/2018 at 6:30 PM, Freddie2 said:

As someone who is a “ratings nerd”, it’s annoying that nowadays it can be hard to gauge how many people are watching what. 

Fun Fact: Life With Lucy received a dismal average Nielsen rating of 9.0, landing near the bottom of the rankings. Had it aired during the 2016-17 season and received the same average rating, it would have placed seventh!

Another ratings nerd!  I didn't know there was another one---besides Harry Carter and me.  We've been compiling what we can find and I'll post now that I know there's interest.  I'm not as interested in more recent ratings----once there were all these fledgling networks and other methods of viewing.  I don't see how ratings today can be anywhere close to accurate. 

That was indeed a fun fact.   Would Here's Lucy's 73-74 #29 ranking, and a rating of 20.0 be #1 today?

Ratings through a lot of the 60s were based on a two-week average (so "the Lucy Show" AND "Lucy in London" made the same top 10), so here's a couple of ratings fun facts from our research:

The first run of The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour as a 13-week series was in the summer of 1962, the first of 5 summers CBS ran it.   It's first outing scored a #6 for the week. Episodes: "Lucy Makes Room for Danny" and "Havana".  This was the 4th or 5th time many of these episodes had been shown.  TLDH has the distinction of having the most prime time runs of any show: 7 to 10 airings by the time CBS retired it in 1967.  Another distinction: the last b/w series any network aired in primetime.  Pretty impressive. 

"The Lucy Show"'s premiere on Oct. 1, 1962 was a runaway hit at #1.  It was to be overtaken as "show of the year" by Beverly Hillbillies but finished the season at #4.   "Lucy's Roommate Carol Burnett" from the 5th season was #1 for the week.  Though TLS ratings were always stellar, I'm not sure it was #1 for the week between these 2 episodes. 

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On 9/28/2018 at 10:08 AM, HarryCarter said:

Carol will be introducing movies starring "Funny Ladies" Thursday nights on TCM in October. 

http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/1436502|0/Funny-Ladies-Thursdays-in-October.html

It was a toss up between Betty and Carol for me but they made a good decision on giving and naming this award.

http://www.playbill.com/article/carol-burnett-to-receive-golden-globes-inaugural-tv-special-achievement-award

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Interesting blurb from an Oct. 1967 TV Guide after the first fall ratings had come out.  (CAPS are mine.)  The Carol Burnett Show was among the new series that fall. 

After noting that FOUR theatrical movies shown by the networks placed #1, #2, #4 and #7, they listed the regular series that rounded out the top 10: Bonanza, Family Affair, Lucy, Andy Griffith, Gomer Pyle and Bewitched .  But here's the interesting observation:  "Professionals were confounded by the quick success of the Carol Burnett variety hour.  Carol made the top 20 DESPITE FORTY-ODD CBS outlets which considered her prospects SO POOR THEY DID NOT EVEN AIR THE SHOW."   WHAT????!!!!!  FORTY??? It had been 5 years since she appeared on Garry Moore's show but her intervening specials did well.  AND her first appearance on "The Lucy Show" (the 5th season's "Roommate") was the #1 show of the week, which must have been due to the appeal of Carol.   Variety shows had not yet hit the skids they did in the 70s.   There were  (by my count) TWELVE hour long variety shows on the network's schedule that fall (13 with the January 1968 addition of Laugh-In).  Also mentioned: "Other new series high on the Nielsen list were THE MOTHERS IN LAW, The Jerry Lewis Show, Gentle Ben and Kraft Music Hall."   MIL, Jerry Lewis and Gentle Ben each ran a mere 2 seasons each. 

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ME-TV is going to be showing some of early season Carol Burnett Show episodes. So there is hope that we can see Lucy. Very happy about this as I have not gotten the DVDs with these episodes yet. Crossing my fingers my NBC affiliate that carries ME-TV doesn't stick local programming in this time slot. 

UPDATE: April 15th 11pm is a Lucy guest episode. 

https://metv.com/stories/metv-presents-early-episodes-of-the-carol-burnett-show-not-seen-in-tv-in-41-years?fbclid=IwAR0MwZkQBnD0qnjQeiRR1OkxM1lukfHPMdljXW3_5SY4tyovyRhwiwSjCxY

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1 hour ago, Luvsbway said:

ME-TV is going to be showing some of early season Carol Burnett Show episodes. So there is hope that we can see Lucy. Very happy about this as I have not gotten the DVDs with these episodes yet. Crossing my fingers my NBC affiliate that carries ME-TV doesn't stick local programming in this time slot. 

UPDATE: April 15th 11pm is a Lucy guest episode. 

https://metv.com/stories/metv-presents-early-episodes-of-the-carol-burnett-show-not-seen-in-tv-in-41-years?fbclid=IwAR0MwZkQBnD0qnjQeiRR1OkxM1lukfHPMdljXW3_5SY4tyovyRhwiwSjCxY

Yes, I saw that listed and i am glad that they are going back to the Burnett shows from the beginning. Since Lucy was on several times, i am sure there will be more Lucy episodes shown. 

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I’m assuming (hoping) that these will be complete episodes and not half hour syndicated versions like with the later seasons. MeTV can be pretty bad about speeding up shows to fit in enough commercials, so I hope this isn’t the case. No matter what, I’ll be tuning in!

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1 hour ago, Freddie2 said:

I’m assuming (hoping) that these will be complete episodes and not half hour syndicated versions like with the later seasons. MeTV can be pretty bad about speeding up shows to fit in enough commercials, so I hope this isn’t the case. No matter what, I’ll be tuning in!

No, unfortunately, these will be half hour versions of the one hour show. I guess it might be too expensive to show the complete Carol Burnett Shows as they did have a lot of musical numbers included. It would be nice to see these broadcast. I have at least 3 DVD sets of the first few season of Burnett Shows with about 25-30 shows on the discs. They are fun to watch and i also believe they are available for streaming or downloading but not sure if all seasons are available. 

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I saw Carol at the Detroit Opera House tonight- it was a great show and of course Lucy was featured pretty prominently. During the "Bump Up The Lights" portion somebody asked about her and Carol told the same couple of stories- Lucy coming to see her in Once Upon a Mattress and that old chestnut about putting the "S" at the end of her name. Lucy was also in a few of the clips they showed and I think she got applause every time. She was mentioned by Carol and the audience members just about as much as Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to speak with Carol, but I didn't have the courage to ask why she's never done the Jamestown festival.

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On 9/30/2019 at 2:08 PM, Freddie2 said:

I saw Carol at the Detroit Opera House tonight- it was a great show and of course Lucy was featured pretty prominently. During the "Bump Up The Lights" portion somebody asked about her and Carol told the same couple of stories- Lucy coming to see her in Once Upon a Mattress and that old chestnut about putting the "S" at the end of her name. Lucy was also in a few of the clips they showed and I think she got applause every time. She was mentioned by Carol and the audience members just about as much as Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to speak with Carol, but I didn't have the courage to ask why she's never done the Jamestown festival.

How neat you got to see her in person, and speak with her! What did you ask/talk about?

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