This skit was actually a lot longer. During rehearsal, Tim Conway told one story, but in front of the live audience, he told a completely different story, which is why he was able to throw them off their game.
"Rehearsal" actually refers to a dress rehearsal, which was performed in front of a live audience. It basically gave the editors a second take to use if one of them went too wrong. Of course, in this case, both takes were hopelessly lost in laughter.
@@majkus It wasn't a dress rehearsal. Since the performed the show live, they had to do the whole show twice a night, once for the East Coast and then again 2-3 hrs later for the West Coast. - Which is also why Carol facepalmed as soon as he started, because she was thinking "here we go again..." - Tim kept pausing, and just as Carol would try to get the skit moving again, he'd start up with the story again. She must have been ready to strangle him by the end there. And then Vicky just slays them all with just one line. 😆 . ..*shnork!* 🤣
@@TimBrazeau Live broadcast? You are quite mistaken here. This wasn't the 1950s with kinescope recordings! All these shows were taped, twice, before two different audiences in Television City studios (as a kid I attended a dress rehearsal taping of the Jonathan Winters show). One memorable example was when a small earthquake hit L.A. in the middle of a sketch with the Jackson Five (Carol didn't break character but ad-libbed a reaction, earning laughter and applause). We certainly did not see that the same day it happened, though it was reported, with the tape footage, on the local news.
Carol Burnette was on a talk show recently (Kelly Clarkson) Taking questions from the audience, as she did in her old TV show, one lady asked her…At 90 with over 70 years in show business, is there anything you’d like to do before you retire? Without missing a beat she said…yes, George Clooney!
The shock to the cast was they never expected Vickie Lawrence, playing the old lady, to be the one to shut Tim down completely with an ad lib like that.
And there was poor Dick Van Dyke, helplessly giggling while perched on the arm of the sofa until he just couldn’t take it any more and fell on the floor laughing. Classic. Peace …
Tim was such a funny guy. He didn't even have to say anything sometimes to make them laugh. He'd give them that impish look and they knew something weird was coming.
Vickie Lawrence, "Mama" here, was the youngest of the 4 actors on set. And she did the best job of staying in character. Tim passed away a few years ago but the rest are still kicking. Carol Burnette is 90 and Dick van Dyke is 97. Vickie is 74.
For your own enjoyment watch the whole skit. This is only the second half. He started stirring them up with the first part of the story. Carol Burnett played the daughter and Vicky Lawrence was Mama. They were a recurring set of characters. There are so many other great skits to chose from. All three of us are old enough to remember the time when if you missed the original airing of a tv episode you were screwed unless they happen to rerun in the summertime. Or trying to time going to the bathroom or grabbing a snack so you'd be back before the commercials were over.😅 Please do more of the Carol Burnett Show.😊
As others have said. This was a shortened version of the sketch. It’s actually much longer. In the full version, prior to the conjoined elephant part he goes on with some crazy thing about an elephant and it’s trainer being lovers among other things. They are performing a recurring sketch called The Family. This sketch later went on to be a TV show of its own called Mama’s Family with Vicki Lawrence reprising her role as Mama. In this particular sketch the family is playing a game and Carol Burnett’s character is trying to ask Mama a question or Mama is supposed to read the question. That’s why Carol keeps handing her the little card. Tim Conway’s character started telling his elephant story (all adlibbed) but it kept going on and on. Plus it was totally different from what he said in rehearsal. Tim was always trying to get the others to laugh during the sketches. In an interview years later about the sketch Vicki Lawrence said her husband warned her that Tim was going to have some crazy story to try to get them all to break out in laughter. He told her to get that SOB. She was very young when she started the show and said that Carol Burnett had told her early on that no matter what happens during a sketch to always stay in character. So when Tim finally supposedly finished his story she said her classic comment, still in character. I’m sure this was edited out before the actual broadcast.
What makes moments like this truly bonding in a way across the country. Wasn't that the actors lost control. it was the shared experience of losing control to the laughter together.
Part of the reason they all fell over is that she said “Is that asshole done yet?” is because there’s no way that “asshole” could be broadcast on the air in 1977.
Sorry, but she said “you sure that little asshole is through?” Which especially surprised the cast as Vickie Lawrence had just joined the regular cast, and she was the youngest of them all, and she was known for being “such a good girl.” I hope you all get a chance to see this skit in its entirety someday. Cheers!
Tim Conway rarely stayed on script and would improvise most of his lines! It's true, one of the funniest ensemble you ever had the pleasure of seeing perform!
Carol is closest to Tim basically laughing thru the whole thing. Vicky Lawrence is the 'old lady'. She had a spin off series called 'Mama's family' and she was this character. To see Carol at her best, check out the 'Tara' sketch. Parody from 'Gone with the wind'. So dang funny. This gang spent every show, trying to make their fellow actor crack & break character. The show was filled with funny sketches on every show, kinda like Saturday night live.
This is a sketch which later became a spin off called Mamas Family but I believe in this sketch the family was playing Password which was a game. So Carol Burnett who played the daughter Eunice was trying to give the password to Vicki Lawerence who played Mama. Then Tim Conway started into this ridiculous but hilarious story and they just couldn’t get it together and Tim deliberately tried to crack them up all the time. My other fave of Carol Burnett was their sketch which was a play on Gone With The Wind and Carol Burnett comes down the stairs literally wearing the drapes with the rod still attached lol!❤ Carol Burnett was always so much fun and she’s famous for her Tarzan yell and also for pulling on her ear to sign off her show each night. She would talk to her audience and let them ask her questions before the show and had her celebrity guests sign an autograph book at the end of each show. It was just always a funny funny show. ❤
The Carol Burnett show was on in the 1970's and was a very, very popular variety show. She usually had 2 guest stars every week, and there were musical numbers and of course the brilliant sketches!!
This is one of the funniest skits. I grew up watching the Carol Burnett show. Tim Conway was my favorite. He would change & improvise the skits & get everyone to crack up. They did the show live, so whatever direction Tim would take it, they had to just go along with it & hope for the best.
This is what happened the second time they tried to film this sketch. As you can see, they were already cracking up from what he said the first time. There is another really funny one called "The Dresser."
The comic timing of all the members of Carol’s crew was legendary. You see Harvey Korman playing as the Governor’s aide in Blazing Saddles, a classic Mel Brooks movie.
What actually made everyone fallout is what the “Mama” character said because it was the first time working on the show she ad lib the unexpected line!
Carol's show was a comedy-variety type so there were skits that were often a parody of well-known shows or movies, and there was also singing and dancing numbers. The cast all had very distinct personalities, and they tried so hard to get each other to break up at the live tapings, it made them feel like 'family' more than most comedy shows. As others have said, Tim Conway was especially devious, doing the regular script through all the rehearsals and the early run-through, then slipping in bits like this during the live taping, which would completely blind-side his fellow actors. The audience just LOVED it.
The key to watching Carol Burnett clips is not to watch what is going on, but to watch the other characters try not to bust out laughing. This was all done on live TV.
Watch the full sketch, it's amazing! And Carol got him back years later in another sketch when Tim is playing and old man in a park accosted by a crazy bag lady...
Being little and growing up in Cleveland dad watched this show every time he was home (shifts changed a lot) and then Tim would come in and do a show on channel 8 with Houlihan and big chuck as often as possible. For the longest time i though Hollywood was Cleveland. They had me really confused! Then i started putting some pieces together and figured it out. He loved coming home. Same with Drew Carey. He still owns his parents house and comes in and does his normal things. Post office, grocery stores, etc.
What was so funny about most of the shows was Tim Conway would purposely go off script…no one knew where he was going with his ramblings…or when he would stop…thus Vicki Lawrence asking as “Mama” Is the little asshole thru? They would rehearse one way and Conway would torpedo it in front of the live audience😂
This was the funniest show of all times! As a family we watched it every week. Laughed our butts off!!! Singing was great too. This particular skit is probably one of the top three. This one, dentist office and "Went With the Wind" parody! Thanks for making me laugh once again!
Carol spoofs your late Queen brilliantly. You should view the one where Tim is a palace watchman and the Queen & the Prince Consort have arrived at the Palace gates.
They filmed the show twice. If the jokes didn't work, the writers rewrote for gags. If the first show had no glitches the cast was allowed to improvise. Vicki's husband told her something was going to happen. She didn't know what, but was someone prepared. Carol always admonished the actors to be professional, and remember the audience. She was the first to lose it on set. There is a long version, and it is classic.
Check out "Kidnapping". The sketch is an earlier one before Tim Conway was a regular and actually highlights what a fantastic serious AND comedic actress Carol Burnett was. This one is a classic and the rollercoaster that ramps up and up is fantastic.
That was originally a lot longer. Mama (Vicki Lawrence) was young enough to play Carol's daughter. When she called him a little asshole in the 70s that was shocking. Hilarious! Harvey actually wet his pants he was trying so hard not to laugh. The first elephant story was hysterical too. Everyone lost it. Then he comes back with that one and the noise they make... Omg.
There's a slightly longer version. This is the end of a relentlessly hilarious bit of adlibing by Tim, thus mama's statement. You could try to find it for your own viewing. I laughed t'il I cried.
I remember seeing this as a kid on TV. It was funny then and it is still hysterical! This was a very short clip of the skit. You should watch a longer version.
I’m so glad y’all decided to do this one! I caught a TH-cam video of Vicki Lawrence explaining what happened to set this off. After their dress rehearsal and as they were getting ready to go on the stage, they would get a note from the director letting them know of switch-ups that they needed to do. The note Vicki received that time simply said, “The elephant story is going to be different.” Even though I enjoyed the show as a child and teenager, I had always hoped that I would never fall in love with a guy whose last name was Carroll or Burnett. It’s obvious what happened!
the full double story is out there on the internet which is cool because in rehearsal he told one story then changed it completely for this one both were funny!
The elephant story is so funny I remember watching it on t.v. back in the 70's. I never laughed so hard. My sides were hurting so bad. Had tears rolling down my face. 😂😅🤣😅🤣😂😅🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The comments are great and spot on. Just to add a little more to it, Vicky Lawrence (Grandma) was actually in her mid-twenties and this skit was the first one she had done on the show.
The family “sorry!” Episode from the carol brunette show (full sketch). Will really show the comedy genius that is Carol Burnette. The family plays a board game of Sorry! And comedy ensues.
As others have said there are actually two skits. The reason for this is that the Carol Burnett Show had two shows on Saturday. The first was for families, the second was much more loose and not for younger children. There's a video with Vicki Lawrence about this skit. She plays Momma, and explains what happened.
The name of this show was Mama’s Family! It was a lot longer when I saw it on TV way back when! When Tim was in a skit the others could not keep from laughing! This was different from The Carol Burnett Show!
there was another part of the video before this started, and when Tim started talking about a circus elephant and its trainer were lovers, you could see Carol's expression saying, "What is he talking about?" and knew they were in trouble!
This first aired when I was a toddler, so… yeah. Still. I know! What’s amazing to me is that all…ALL these seasoned stalwarts of comedy were just flooded over with the oldest techniques of comedy. It’s such a great moment! No one in the world, seasoned or no, could have remained in character and you can witness their pro struggle! Conway sets up this slow nuclear device and Lawrence detonates it in outstanding fashion! This will NEVER cease to be hilarious!
The gal playing her mom was much younger than Carol! Vicki Lawrence ended up getting her own show as “ Momma”. Tim Conway was always improvising and breaking up the cast.
It was a goal of all of them to try and make the others bust up. In front of a live audience, makes it so hard - you just have to deal with it and try to move on - giggles or not. We never missed a show. Hysterical comedy.
She and Robin Williams did a really great one called the Funeral. There are two takes involved and both are excellent. Good job on this one although the first part of it is missing.
Tim Conway had a knack of going off-script which would throw the other actors off. In this sketch the elder lady played by Vicki Lawrence got wind that Tim was going to go off script during the TV brodcast, so this was why Vicki ad-lib the line 'Sure that little a-hole is through". It was the first time Vicki went off script and it caught everybody off guard. Not only that, she did in in character, mama accent and all. There is a YT video with Vicki Lawrence discussing this scene.
Dick van Dyke was part of a long list of notable guest actors on the Carol Burnett Show. Roddy MacDowell, Betty White, Maggie Smith, were just part of the people who made guest appearances on the show. A lot of the dialog was not scripted so the other actors had no idea what the other actors would say so they had to work off of ad-libs which made it funnier.
One of the great things about this is that it was Vicky Lawrence breaking out of her shell. She was just a kid, maybe 19 or so, who had got recruited because she bore such a striking resemblance to Carol Burnett and they figured she was talented enough to give her a try. But she never really been brave enough to do anything on her own until she threw that line out. That’s when we knew she could hold her own.
The stories that Tim Conway would do in their rehearsals was quite often different than what he would do when they were LIVE in front of the audience and being filmed. The seasoned comedians, such as Burnette, who began her career in the early days of TV when it was all LIVE, prided themselves on not breaking character, come what may. Therefore, when Tim started off with something off-script, they had NO idea where he would go and how hard staying in character and on track with the skit might be. Hence why his first syllable had them knowing they were in trouble. Vicki Lawrence, also leaving the script to one-up Tim's character, surprised them ALL, even Tim.
This was the Friday show there's the Thursday show also . Mama is a beast ! Gotta check out tim Conway and Harvey Korman the changing room bit and the rest of the worlds oldest man by buts .
I don't know if you heard before, but during rehearsal Tim told another elephant story, which he did for the skit. Then he sprang this new story on them, which made Vicky Lawrence mad, so that is why she called him that, and everyone cracked up!
You have got to watch the number one skit they did. Tim Conway, (the one telling the story here) plays the part of the Dentist and Harvey Norman plays the patient. Now Tim, is constantly ad-libbing and the whole cast are never prepared as to what he'll do to crack them out, while they try so hard to stay in character. His best fun is to get Harvey and he does every time. Now in the Dentist, Tim is so good, that he is proud to say at every interview that not only did he managed to get Harvey to lose it, but also made him per in his pants. Since this is live, Harvey can't leave the stage to regain his composure. Please, you have to watch it. The Dentist is all you have to search, and it will be the first one listed.
Tim Conway made it a point to adlib in the skits with the purpose of making Harvey or anyone laugh. There is a long version on TH-cam which shows both elephant stories-each is a different one. And each time the other actors first time hearing the stories live in front of an audience. The skit was an on going disfunctional family (the family) series through carol burnetts comedy variety hour. Eunice and mama and her husband Ed are the main characters.
Tim did this twice in front of the audience and changed the story each time just to screw up the other actors. This is the second part of the story so they were already laughing.
With Tim Conway, neither you or anyone on the screen with him knew what he was gonna do or say next! He was famous for never sticking to the script! lol
And viki lawrence was younger and wanted to not be the center of attention. But, she thought she had worked up enough capital to make the famous comment which Noone was expecting.
This is just one skit from this ficticiuos family. Momma was the serious minded one. Try Carroll Burnette, "Sorry!" Skit. There is a lot of drama in this one!!!😅
This skit was actually a lot longer. During rehearsal, Tim Conway told one story, but in front of the live audience, he told a completely different story, which is why he was able to throw them off their game.
"Rehearsal" actually refers to a dress rehearsal, which was performed in front of a live audience. It basically gave the editors a second take to use if one of them went too wrong. Of course, in this case, both takes were hopelessly lost in laughter.
@@majkus It wasn't a dress rehearsal. Since the performed the show live, they had to do the whole show twice a night, once for the East Coast and then again 2-3 hrs later for the West Coast.
- Which is also why Carol facepalmed as soon as he started, because she was thinking "here we go again..."
- Tim kept pausing, and just as Carol would try to get the skit moving again, he'd start up with the story again. She must have been ready to strangle him by the end there. And then Vicky just slays them all with just one line. 😆
.
..*shnork!* 🤣
@@TimBrazeau Live broadcast? You are quite mistaken here. This wasn't the 1950s with kinescope recordings! All these shows were taped, twice, before two different audiences in Television City studios (as a kid I attended a dress rehearsal taping of the Jonathan Winters show). One memorable example was when a small earthquake hit L.A. in the middle of a sketch with the Jackson Five (Carol didn't break character but ad-libbed a reaction, earning laughter and applause). We certainly did not see that the same day it happened, though it was reported, with the tape footage, on the local news.
@@TimBrazeau No, it was recorded live to tape before a live studio audience, but edited and broadcast days later.
True. It was not shown on TV live. I went to a couple of tapings of the show. They would usually let you know when the show would actually be aired.
I’m 63, I used to watch this with my Mom. Harvey Corman could never keep a straight face with Tim Conway.
This was good comedy.
Carol Burnette was on a talk show recently (Kelly Clarkson) Taking questions from the audience, as she did in her old TV show, one lady asked her…At 90 with over 70 years in show business, is there anything you’d like to do before you retire? Without missing a beat she said…yes, George Clooney!
He was adlibbin all this. The rest of the cast didn't have any idea what he was going to say. That's why they were cracking up so bad.
Tim Conway was naturally funny . RIP
The shock to the cast was they never expected Vickie Lawrence, playing the old lady, to be the one to shut Tim down completely with an ad lib like that.
You must find the Carol Burnett show episode with their sketch on "Gone With The Wind"...hilarious!
Also the sketch where the family plays the board game Sorry. Mama fires some ad-libs at Eunice that break Carol up.
And there was poor Dick Van Dyke, helplessly giggling while perched on the arm of the sofa until he just couldn’t take it any more and fell on the floor laughing. Classic. Peace …
Tim was such a funny guy. He didn't even have to say anything sometimes to make them laugh. He'd give them that impish look and they knew something weird was coming.
Yup, they were great together. Poor Harvey, he had such a low threshold of resisting Tim's humor.@TheGunslinger66
Almost every sketch between Tim and Harvey you could see Harvey trying his best to keep from busting out laughing.
Vickie Lawrence, "Mama" here, was the youngest of the 4 actors on set. And she did the best job of staying in character. Tim passed away a few years ago but the rest are still kicking. Carol Burnette is 90 and Dick van Dyke is 97. Vickie is 74.
Wow!
For your own enjoyment watch the whole skit. This is only the second half.
He started stirring them up with the first part of the story.
Carol Burnett played the daughter and Vicky Lawrence was Mama. They were a recurring set of characters.
There are so many other great skits to chose from.
All three of us are old enough to remember the time when if you missed the original airing of a tv episode you were screwed unless they happen to rerun in the summertime.
Or trying to time going to the bathroom or grabbing a snack so you'd be back before the commercials were over.😅
Please do more of the Carol Burnett Show.😊
As others have said. This was a shortened version of the sketch. It’s actually much longer. In the full version, prior to the conjoined elephant part he goes on with some crazy thing about an elephant and it’s trainer being lovers among other things.
They are performing a recurring sketch called The Family. This sketch later went on to be a TV show of its own called Mama’s Family with Vicki Lawrence reprising her role as Mama.
In this particular sketch the family is playing a game and Carol Burnett’s character is trying to ask Mama a question or Mama is supposed to read the question. That’s why Carol keeps handing her the little card.
Tim Conway’s character started telling his elephant story (all adlibbed) but it kept going on and on. Plus it was totally different from what he said in rehearsal.
Tim was always trying to get the others to laugh during the sketches. In an interview years later about the sketch Vicki Lawrence said her husband warned her that Tim was going to have some crazy story to try to get them all to break out in laughter. He told her to get that SOB. She was very young when she started the show and said that Carol Burnett had told her early on that no matter what happens during a sketch to always stay in character. So when Tim finally supposedly finished his story she said her classic comment, still in character. I’m sure this was edited out before the actual broadcast.
What makes moments like this truly bonding in a way across the country. Wasn't that the actors lost control. it was the shared experience of losing control to the laughter together.
Part of the reason they all fell over is that she said “Is that asshole done yet?” is because there’s no way that “asshole” could be broadcast on the air in 1977.
Sorry, but she said “you sure that little asshole is through?” Which especially surprised the cast as Vickie Lawrence had just joined the regular cast, and she was the youngest of them all, and she was known for being “such a good girl.”
I hope you all get a chance to see this skit in its entirety someday.
Cheers!
@ Thanks for the exact quote
Tim Conway rarely stayed on script and would improvise most of his lines! It's true, one of the funniest ensemble you ever had the pleasure of seeing perform!
I didn't even have to watch. Seeing the title made me smile. One of the funniest impromptu sketches ever. Watched this show every week as a teen.
I grew up watching this program. My favorite! Check out their version of Gone with the Wind....
Carol is closest to Tim basically laughing thru the whole thing. Vicky Lawrence is the 'old lady'. She had a spin off series called 'Mama's family' and she was this character. To see Carol at her best, check out the 'Tara' sketch. Parody from 'Gone with the wind'. So dang funny. This gang spent every show, trying to make their fellow actor crack & break character. The show was filled with funny sketches on every show, kinda like Saturday night live.
This is a sketch which later became a spin off called Mamas Family but I believe in this sketch the family was playing Password which was a game. So Carol Burnett who played the daughter Eunice was trying to give the password to Vicki Lawerence who played Mama. Then Tim Conway started into this ridiculous but hilarious story and they just couldn’t get it together and Tim deliberately tried to crack them up all the time. My other fave of Carol Burnett was their sketch which was a play on Gone With The Wind and Carol Burnett comes down the stairs literally wearing the drapes with the rod still attached lol!❤ Carol Burnett was always so much fun and she’s famous for her Tarzan yell and also for pulling on her ear to sign off her show each night. She would talk to her audience and let them ask her questions before the show and had her celebrity guests sign an autograph book at the end of each show. It was just always a funny funny show. ❤
The tug of the ear was a sign to her grandma from what i remember. They were very close
When she tugged on her ear she was saying goodnight and I love you to her mother. Carol was a classy woman.
This is one of the most epic episodes ever on the Carol Burnett show!! I died laughing several years and have watched it many times!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Very very good 👍🏻
They had a lot of great skits. One was Went With the Wind 😂
My favorite sketch!!
One of my favorite episodes was when Carol Burnett did a spoof of Gone With The Wind.
Tim Conway was a genius at cracking up the other actors.
They didn't stand a chance. 😂
The Carol Burnett show was on in the 1970's and was a very, very popular variety show. She usually had 2 guest stars every week, and there were musical numbers and of course the brilliant sketches!!
This is one of the funniest skits. I grew up watching the Carol Burnett show. Tim Conway was my favorite. He would change & improvise the skits & get everyone to crack up. They did the show live, so whatever direction Tim would take it, they had to just go along with it & hope for the best.
need to see the complete skit
This is what happened the second time they tried to film this sketch. As you can see, they were already cracking up from what he said the first time. There is another really funny one called "The Dresser."
I don't remember "The Dresser". I wish I could see it. 🙂
th-cam.com/video/KqZmORpXXqU/w-d-xo.html @@goosewhisperer6275
The first part of this is missing, which makes this even funnier.
The comic timing of all the members of Carol’s crew was legendary. You see Harvey Korman playing as the Governor’s aide in Blazing Saddles, a classic Mel Brooks movie.
What actually made everyone fallout is what the “Mama” character said because it was the first time working on the show she ad lib the unexpected line!
Carol's show was a comedy-variety type so there were skits that were often a parody of well-known shows or movies, and there was also singing and dancing numbers. The cast all had very distinct personalities, and they tried so hard to get each other to break up at the live tapings, it made them feel like 'family' more than most comedy shows. As others have said, Tim Conway was especially devious, doing the regular script through all the rehearsals and the early run-through, then slipping in bits like this during the live taping, which would completely blind-side his fellow actors. The audience just LOVED it.
The key to watching Carol Burnett clips is not to watch what is going on, but to watch the other characters try not to bust out laughing. This was all done on live TV.
Watch the full sketch, it's amazing! And Carol got him back years later in another sketch when Tim is playing and old man in a park accosted by a crazy bag lady...
Truly a classic from The Carol Burnett Show.
Being little and growing up in Cleveland dad watched this show every time he was home (shifts changed a lot) and then Tim would come in and do a show on channel 8 with Houlihan and big chuck as often as possible. For the longest time i though Hollywood was Cleveland. They had me really confused! Then i started putting some pieces together and figured it out. He loved coming home. Same with Drew Carey. He still owns his parents house and comes in and does his normal things. Post office, grocery stores, etc.
It was live, part improv, and Tim always made the other comics break character! It was from the late '70s.
What was so funny about most of the shows was Tim Conway would purposely go off script…no one knew where he was going with his ramblings…or when he would stop…thus Vicki Lawrence asking as “Mama” Is the little asshole thru?
They would rehearse one way and Conway would torpedo it in front of the live audience😂
This was the funniest show of all times! As a family we watched it every week. Laughed our butts off!!! Singing was great too. This particular skit is probably one of the top three. This one, dentist office and "Went With the Wind" parody! Thanks for making me laugh once again!
Loved that show growing up. Good clean comedy. Live made it so much better.
I am SO GLAD you guys have discovered this show. You should check out some of the skits that Carol Burnett did of QEII.
Carol spoofs your late Queen brilliantly. You should view the one where Tim is a palace watchman and the Queen & the Prince Consort have arrived at the Palace gates.
Yes, that is van Dyke sitting on the edge. The show had various guest stars every week, plus music groups.
Was a GREAT comedy show!! LOVED the show and LOVE CAROL BURNETT!!! This whole CAST was HILARIOUS!! :)
They filmed the show twice. If the jokes didn't work, the writers rewrote for gags. If the first show had no glitches the cast was allowed to improvise. Vicki's husband told her something was going to happen. She didn't know what, but was someone prepared. Carol always admonished the actors to be professional, and remember the audience. She was the first to lose it on set. There is a long version, and it is classic.
Check out "Kidnapping". The sketch is an earlier one before Tim Conway was a regular and actually highlights what a fantastic serious AND comedic actress Carol Burnett was. This one is a classic and the rollercoaster that ramps up and up is fantastic.
That was originally a lot longer. Mama (Vicki Lawrence) was young enough to play Carol's daughter. When she called him a little asshole in the 70s that was shocking. Hilarious! Harvey actually wet his pants he was trying so hard not to laugh. The first elephant story was hysterical too. Everyone lost it. Then he comes back with that one and the noise they make... Omg.
You've got to watch the whole thing. It explains the laughter and not looking at each other.
For probably the most classic full sketch on The Carol Burnett Show, I’d suggest their “Gone With the Wind” sketch
Oh, my gosh, YES! "Went with the Wind"! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
One of my favorite shows growing up watching Carol Burnett was hilarious. A great funny cast of characters ❤️🤗
There's a slightly longer version. This is the end of a relentlessly hilarious bit of adlibing by Tim, thus mama's statement. You could try to find it for your own viewing. I laughed t'il I cried.
I remember seeing this as a kid on TV. It was funny then and it is still hysterical! This was a very short clip of the skit. You should watch a longer version.
I’m so glad y’all decided to do this one! I caught a TH-cam video of Vicki Lawrence explaining what happened to set this off. After their dress rehearsal and as they were getting ready to go on the stage, they would get a note from the director letting them know of switch-ups that they needed to do. The note Vicki received that time simply said, “The elephant story is going to be different.”
Even though I enjoyed the show as a child and teenager, I had always hoped that I would never fall in love with a guy whose last name was Carroll or Burnett. It’s obvious what happened!
the full double story is out there on the internet which is cool because in rehearsal he told one story then changed it completely for this one both were funny!
The elephant story is so funny I remember watching it on t.v. back in the 70's. I never laughed so hard. My sides were hurting so bad. Had tears rolling down my face. 😂😅🤣😅🤣😂😅🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
There was an interview with Vicky Lawrence about this skit on TH-cam. She explains what happened and why her last line through everyone down laughing!
The dentist sketch and “went with the wind” are the tops
Gents great job as usual! If you need a good laugh this skit is what the doctor ordered! Thanks for reacting to this skit! Cheers Guys!
The comments are great and spot on. Just to add a little more to it, Vicky Lawrence (Grandma) was actually in her mid-twenties and this skit was the first one she had done on the show.
The family “sorry!” Episode from the carol brunette show (full sketch). Will really show the comedy genius that is Carol Burnette. The family plays a board game of Sorry! And comedy ensues.
This skit never gets old. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Thanks guys. Peace
As others have said there are actually two skits. The reason for this is that the Carol Burnett Show had two shows on Saturday. The first was for families, the second was much more loose and not for younger children. There's a video with Vicki Lawrence about this skit. She plays Momma, and explains what happened.
The name of this show was Mama’s Family! It was a lot longer when I saw it on TV way back when! When Tim was in a skit the others could not keep from laughing! This was different from The Carol Burnett Show!
They did two separate run throughs and Tim would usually do something different on the second one and they never knew what he had planned !
Now you should watch the sketch where Conway plays a German interrogator. Very funny!
live improv! bring it back! the talent back then! i don't think it exists today? prove me wrong.
there was another part of the video before this started, and when Tim started talking about a circus elephant and its trainer were lovers, you could see Carol's expression saying, "What is he talking about?" and knew they were in trouble!
"Phnorff!" one of my favorite words/sounds ever.
Any American my age or older can still hear Carol Burnett singing "I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together" at the end of her show.
This first aired when I was a toddler, so… yeah. Still. I know! What’s amazing to me is that all…ALL these seasoned stalwarts of comedy were just flooded over with the oldest techniques of comedy. It’s such a great moment! No one in the world, seasoned or no, could have remained in character and you can witness their pro struggle!
Conway sets up this slow nuclear device and Lawrence detonates it in outstanding fashion!
This will NEVER cease to be hilarious!
You must see the outtake of the skit called "Mr. Tudball needs a new secretary." It's funny and has very rare cussing.
You've got to see her take on Gone with the Wind titled Went with the wind. The bob mackee dress she wears is in the Smithsonian.
The gal playing her mom was much younger than Carol! Vicki Lawrence ended up getting her own show as “ Momma”. Tim Conway was always improvising and breaking up the cast.
Another classic skit from Carol Burnett is their version of "Went with the Wind". I would love to see you react to that.
It was a goal of all of them to try and make the others bust up. In front of a live audience, makes it so hard - you just have to deal with it and try to move on - giggles or not.
We never missed a show. Hysterical comedy.
Guys, you are only getting the end. It's much better from the start.
Any skit from this show is well worth watching
She and Robin Williams did a really great one called the Funeral. There are two takes involved and both are excellent. Good job on this one although the first part of it is missing.
Might be the funniest thing ever put on tv
Tim Conway had a knack of going off-script which would throw the other actors off. In this sketch the elder lady played by Vicki Lawrence got wind that Tim was going to go off script during the TV brodcast, so this was why Vicki ad-lib the line 'Sure that little a-hole is through". It was the first time Vicki went off script and it caught everybody off guard. Not only that, she did in in character, mama accent and all. There is a YT video with Vicki Lawrence discussing this scene.
I'm not sure if you had McHale's Navy in the UK, but Tim Conway played the part of Ensign Parker.
Dick van Dyke was part of a long list of notable guest actors on the Carol Burnett Show. Roddy MacDowell, Betty White, Maggie Smith, were just part of the people who made guest appearances on the show. A lot of the dialog was not scripted so the other actors had no idea what the other actors would say so they had to work off of ad-libs which made it funnier.
One of the great things about this is that it was Vicky Lawrence breaking out of her shell. She was just a kid, maybe 19 or so, who had got recruited because she bore such a striking resemblance to Carol Burnett and they figured she was talented enough to give her a try. But she never really been brave enough to do anything on her own until she threw that line out. That’s when we knew she could hold her own.
The stories that Tim Conway would do in their rehearsals was quite often different than what he would do when they were LIVE in front of the audience and being filmed. The seasoned comedians, such as Burnette, who began her career in the early days of TV when it was all LIVE, prided themselves on not breaking character, come what may. Therefore, when Tim started off with something off-script, they had NO idea where he would go and how hard staying in character and on track with the skit might be.
Hence why his first syllable had them knowing they were in trouble.
Vicki Lawrence, also leaving the script to one-up Tim's character, surprised them ALL, even Tim.
This was the Friday show there's the Thursday show also .
Mama is a beast !
Gotta check out tim Conway and Harvey Korman the changing room bit and the rest of the worlds oldest man by buts .
I don't know if you heard before, but during rehearsal Tim told another elephant story, which he did for the skit. Then he sprang this new story on them, which made Vicky Lawrence mad, so that is why she called him that, and everyone cracked up!
You have got to watch the number one skit they did. Tim Conway, (the one telling the story here) plays the part of the Dentist and Harvey Norman plays the patient. Now Tim, is constantly ad-libbing and the whole cast are never prepared as to what he'll do to crack them out, while they try so hard to stay in character. His best fun is to get Harvey and he does every time. Now in the Dentist, Tim is so good, that he is proud to say at every interview that not only did he managed to get Harvey to lose it, but also made him per in his pants. Since this is live, Harvey can't leave the stage to regain his composure. Please, you have to watch it. The Dentist is all you have to search, and it will be the first one listed.
Others have mentioned "Went with the wind". I will add any of the little old man skits and the Mr. Tudball(?) Skits.
As others have said, this was the short version. You really should check out the longer version.
so weird, i watch this clip maybe once every 2 years and I watched it yesterday by pure chance.
Here is an entire episode. It is called "WENT with the Wind" a long parody of "GONE with the Wind".
Tim Conway made it a point to adlib in the skits with the purpose of making Harvey or anyone laugh. There is a long version on TH-cam which shows both elephant stories-each is a different one. And each time the other actors first time hearing the stories live in front of an audience.
The skit was an on going disfunctional family (the family) series through carol burnetts comedy variety hour. Eunice and mama and her husband Ed are the main characters.
Tim did this twice in front of the audience and changed the story each time just to screw up the other actors. This is the second part of the story so they were already laughing.
With Tim Conway, neither you or anyone on the screen with him knew what he was gonna do or say next!
He was famous for never sticking to the script! lol
This episode always makes me laugh!!
For what it's worth, this edit doesn't show the first half of the skit. There's more to it.
And viki lawrence was younger and wanted to not be the center of attention. But, she thought she had worked up enough capital to make the famous comment which Noone was expecting.
Usually it was Tim who had the final “gotcha” so everyone was laughing even harder when it was Vicky who delivered the final blow.
Another skit to react to is The Dentist starring Tim Conway and Harvey Korman, also on the Carol Burnett Show. It is hilarious.
This is just one skit from this ficticiuos family. Momma was the serious minded one. Try Carroll Burnette, "Sorry!" Skit. There is a lot of drama in this one!!!😅
There is a long version, that has both stories. One for the closed audience, and one for the live. Both are totally different.