When it made its premiere in 1967, the network didn’t immediately think that The Carol
Burnett Show was going to be a sure thing.
The network was taking a risk on the female comedian, and it was a risk that was soon
going to pay off immensely!
Carol wasn't sure if her show was going to make it past the first season, so she was
sure to let her cast and crew members know that the main goal for the production was
to have fun.
They certainly did have fun, and them 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 was a time during the show's fifth season when Carol almost wanted to call
it quits on the show several years early.
Join Facts Verse as we explore why Carol Burnett nearly quit her own show.
When Carol Burnett was first given her own show, she wasn’t sure that it was going
to last past the first season!
However, The Carol Burnett Show became a massive hit soon after its 1967 premiere, thanks to
both Carol and her costars, including comedic performer Harvey Korman.
Carol and Harvey were quite the pair, and they always made sure to have fun on the show
above anything else.
When they weren’t sure if the show was going to make it, they felt that the least they
could do during its limited production run was have fun.
Once the show became a hit, they figured they might as well keep doing it so long as it
remained a good time for everyone involved!
The Carol Burnett Show ended up being a good time for everyone involved, indeed, lasting
for 11 seasons before finally coming to an end in 1978.
By the time of its closing, 279 episodes of the show had been produced.
Harvey Korman had left the show during its 10th season with Carol’s blessing in order
to start his own series.
Harvey had been looking for a way to explore his own solo comedy for some time, having
worked 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 tried replacing Harvey with Dick Van Dyke, but her writers had a hard time adapting to
Dick’s style after being so used to writing material for Harvey Korman.
Although The Carol Burnett Show ended up lasting for 11 seasons with its titular star firmly
at the helm, there was a period during the show’s midway point where Carol felt as
if she was prepared to call it quits prematurely.
This time came during the production of the show’s fifth season, when both Carol and
Harvey Korman felt that they were getting bored with the show.
According to Carol, she didn’t feel as if she was being challenged enough by the material
that was being given to her and Harvey by the writers.
Harvey concurred, and the two realized that they were going to have to shake things up
on the show if they wanted it to persevere.
When The Carol Burnett Show stopped being fun for stars Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman,
they decided that they were either going to have to call it quits or make a change.
Thankfully, they chose the latter option, and the following years of the show ended
up being arguably the most memorable years of its run!
Many of the series' most memorable and groundbreaking sketches came from its sixth season onward
when Carol was trying to push the boundaries of the format in order to keep herself entertained.
She gave up traditional characters that were routed in the past, and also gave up some
of her more broad physical comedy attributes, preferring a more subtle approach.
The change-up proved the antidote that Carol and Harvey needed to keep the show going another
several years.
Carol stayed on the show for six more seasons before finally calling it a day, while Harvey
stayed on for five more seasons before taking the opportunity to develop his own aforementioned
solo series.
Carol and Harvey certainly maintained an incredibly amicable relationship over the course of working
together on the series, but that doesn’t mean that the two didn’t have their spats!
In fact, there was one memorable incident where Carol claims to have almost fired Harvey
from the show during its seventh season!
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Although stars Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman typically got along during the production
of The Carol Burnett Show, there were periods where the two got into spats.
One such period came during the show’s seventh season, during the filming of an episode in
which future regular cast member Tim Conway was making a guest appearance.
According to Carol, Harvey was acting incredibly rude during the filming of the episode.
Carol was able to handle when Harvey was rude to her, but she drew the line when Harvey
was being rude to her guests.
After Harvey snapped at Tim, Carol followed Harvey to his dressing room and confronted
her costar about why he was being so cranky.
At this moment, Harvey told Carol to mind her own business.
Given that it was her show, Carol told Harvey Korman that the way he behaved on set was
certainly her business, particularly when it affected how comfortable others on set
were feeling.
Harvey didn’t like Carol talking back to him, so he proceeded to back her out of the
dressing room and slam the door in her face while claiming that she had no right to dictate
the way he behaved and felt.
Blustered and unsure of what to do, Carol called up Harvey’s agent and told him that
if Harvey didn’t get his act together, he was going to have to call that night’s episode
of the show his last!
After the filming of the episode, Carol Burnett followed Harvey Korman back to his dressing
room once again and delivered 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 its seventh season, but he didn’t
end up staying on the series until its very end.
Harvey left the show after its 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 its 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 its 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 its 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 its full run, or did you think that she had always intended
to let the series last for over a decade?
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