Alex Carson
It premiers in 1967, the network didn’t immediately think that The Carol Burnett Show is going to hit. The network is taking a risk on the female comedian, and it is going to pay off immensely! Carol isn’t sure if her show past the first season. She is sure to let her cast and crew members know that the main goal is to have fun. They certainly did have fun, and their having fun was fun for the audience to watch! The show became an unlikely hit, lasting for 11 seasons with new episodes airing until 1978. However, there’s a time during the fifth season when Carol wants to quit the show several years early. Join Facts Verse as we explore why Carol Burnett nearly quit her own show.
When Carol first gives her own show, she isn’t sure that it is going to pass the first season! The Carol Burnett Show becomes a massive hit soon after its 1967 premiere. Thanks to both Carol and her costars, including comedic performer Harvey Korman. Carol and Harvey are quite the pair, they always make sure to have fun on the show above anything else. When they aren’t sure if the show is going to make it. They feel that the least they can do during its limited production run is have fun. Once the show becomes a hit, they will keep doing it as it remains a good time for everyone!
The Carol Burnett Show is a good time for everyone, lasting for 11 seasons before it ends in 1978. By the time of its closing, 279 episodes of the show had been produced. Harvey Korman leaves the show during its 10th season with Carol’s blessing in order to start his own series. Harvey’s looking for a way to explore his own solo comedy for some time. He works in the industry as a reliable performer for many, many years by that point. After Harvey called it quits on the show, it was only a year before Carol decided to follow suit. She tries replacing Harvey with Dick Van Dyke. But her writers have a hard time adapting to Dick’s style when uses to writing material for Harvey Korman.
AlthoAlthough The Carol Burnett Show lasts for 11 seasons with its titular star focuses. There’s a period during the show’s midway point where Carol feels as if she prepares to quit prematurely. When the show’s fifth season, both Carol and Harvey Korman feel the boredom with the show. According to Carol, she didn’t challenge enough by the material that gives her and Harvey by the writers. Harvey concurs, and the two realize that they’re going to shake things on the show if they want to persevere.
When The Carol Burnett Show becomes boring for stars Carol and Harvey, they decide to quit or make a change. Thankfully, they choose to continue and the following years it ends arguably the most memorable years of its run! The series’ most memorable and groundbreaking sketches come from its sixth season onward. Carol is trying to push the boundaries of the format in order to entertain herself. She gives up traditional characters that route in the past, and also her physical comedy attributes, but not so obvious.
The change-up proved the antidote that Carol and Harvey needed to keep the show going another several year. Carol stays on the show for six more seasons before it ends. Harvey stays on for five more seasons before taking the opportunity to develop his own solo series.
Carol and Harvey maintain an amicable relationship while working together, but that doesn’t mean that the two didn’t spit! In fact, there’s one memorable incident where Carol claims to almost fire Harvey from the show during its seventh season! If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Although Carol and Harvey get along during the production of The Carol Burnett Show, there are periods when they quarrel. During the seventh season, when filming an episode in which future regular cast member Tim Conway is a guest appearance. According to Carol, Harvey was acting incredibly rude during the filming of the episode. Carol can handle Harvey when is rude to her, but she draws the line when it comes to her guests. After Harvey snaps at Tim, Carol follows Harvey to his dressing room and confronts her costar about him being cranky. At this moment, Harvey told Carol to mind her own business.
Though it’s her show, Carol tells Harvey that his behavior is her business, particularly when it affects others. Harvey didn’t like Carol talking back to him, so he proceeds to back her out of the dressing room. He slams the door in her face, saying that she’s no right to dictate the way he behaves and feels.
Shouting and unsure of what to do, Carol calls up Harvey’s agent. She tells him that if he didn’t focus, he is calling that night’s episode of the show his last!
After the filming of the episode, Carol follows Harvey to his dressing room again and delivers him the news personally. Upon receiving this ultimatum from his costar and boss, Harvey changed his tune. He begged Carol to allow him to make amends, and Carol told him that he was welcome to continue performing on the series; so long as he developed a more chipper attitude! Harvey reportedly came to set for the next episode’s filming with a literal skip in his step, much to Carol’s delight.
It’s a good thing that Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman managed to patch things up after their seventh-season spat, as some of the show’s most memorable bits came after this episode. Once Tim Conway joined the show as a regular cast member, him and Harvey developed a unique chemistry that brought some of the show’s most memorable sketches.
Not only did Carol Burnett’s confrontation of Harvey cause him to behave better on set from then on forward, but it also caused Harvey to venerate his female costar and boss a great deal more than he had before. Harvey had always respected Carol, but he saw a different side of her when she confronted him with that fateful ultimatum during the filming of that seventh-season episode. Apparently, Harvey went out for a drink with some of the show’s cast members after the confrontation and gave a memorable toast to Carol Burnett after cheerfully telling the story to the other drinkers.
Harvey Korman stayed on The Carol Burnett Show through it’s seventh season, but he didn’t end up staying on the series until it’s very end. Harvey left the show after it’s tenth season in order to go on and film his own solo series, an opportunity that he had been anticipating for many, many years. Carol knew that Harvey was anxious for the opportunity, so she gladly gave him her blessing to leave her seminal series after it’s tenth season. After Harvey left, Carol attempted to replace him with Dick Van Dyke. Sadly, Dick only lasted 10 episodes on the series before giving up.
Carol Burnett didn’t blame Dick Van Dyke when he asked for her blessing to leave the show after only 10 episodes. According to Carol, she saw the beloved comedic performer’s reasoning. Although Dick was certainly as talented of a performer as Harvey Korman had been, he didn’t have the exact same skillset. After 10 seasons, the writers of The Carol Burnett Show had grown accustomed to writing for Harvey Korman, and they had a very hard time transitioning into writing for a completely different type of male comedic performer. From Carol’s perspective, the writers were still writing material that seemed as if it was meant for Harvey, and Dick Van Dyke found himself far out of his element when trying to bring the material to life himself. Carol told Dick that he could quit the program early with no hard feelings, and the two remained friends.
After Dick Van Dyke quit The Carol Burnett Show, Carol decided that trying to find someone to replace Harvey Korman was an impossible task. Harvey had been a one-of-a-kind asset, and Carol didn’t see any reason to continue the long-running series without him. The 11th season of the show ended up being it’s last, and the final episode premiered before the end of 1978. The show went on to maintain popularity in syndication, with most of the syndicated episodes being from the sixth season onwards.
Although Carol Burnett had initially been unsure if The Carol Burnett Show was going to make it past a single season, the show ended up becoming a massive hit and yielded nearly 300 episodes throughout it’s 11-season run. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Carol Burnett almost ended The Carol Burnett Show halfway through it’s full run, or did you think that she had always intended to let the series last for over a decade? As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
