Mayhem and Comedy on Television: 1967-1978

Burnett, Carol.  In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the 
         Sandbox.  NY: Crown Archetype, 2016.  ISBN: 978-1-101-90466-4

From 1967 to 1978, Carol Burnett and Company produced a variety show before a live audience.  Due to syndication, reruns, and YouTube, The Carol Burnett Show can still be enjoyed today.  As she mentions in In Such Good Company, even nine-year-old boys know who she is.

In Such Good Company, Carol Burnett takes the reader behind the curtain of The Carol Burnett Show.  The reader gets a brief tour of how the show came to be - a very obscure part of her contract with CBS - and then "Boom", off the show went - For Eleven Years!  In case the reader does not remember, the show was a variety show , so there was music, comedic sketches, guest stars, and plenty of laughs. 

Carol Burnett walks the reader through a typical weekly schedule.  She talks about the layout of the show and then dives into the players in the sandbox.  She provides short sketches of the Gang (Viki Lawrence, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway), then those behind the scenes such as Bob Mackie who designed almost every costume used in the show.  She then takes time out to reminisce about recurring skits, explain what a punch line is, discuss some of the movie parodies done on the show, and then relives the highlights with various guest stars who had graced Studio 33 for a week or more.  The book winds up with a look at the final season and show.

If you enjoy exploring pop culture, like comedy or variety shows, or are just a fan of Carol Burnett, you will enjoy In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the          Sandbox!