Happy Birthday to the TV legend Carol Burnett who is officially 79 years old! And Frank and Jeri from the Morning Show decided to take a look at the amazing variety show Carol Burnett Show starring Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, Tim Conway, who brought us so much laughs! The show won 25 Emmy Awards and was dubbed as the SNL of the 60’s and 70’s!

Carol was actually offered a comedy show by her good friend Lucille Ball to be produced by Desilu productions, but she turned it down in order to do her own variety show. The Carol Burnett Show debuted in 1967 and had a hugely successful run until its last show in 1978.  Here are some of our favorites segments from The Carol Burnett Show.

1.   Tim Conway

Tim Conway was listed as a guest on the show until the 9th season when he became a regular cast member.  He was so fun!  And I have no idea how he could keep a straight face when he was cracking jokes!

 

2.  Harvey Korman

Harvey Korman always tried to play the straight man, but when Tim starts up, Harvey cracks up.  I love watching them laugh!

3.  Vicki Lawrence

Before Mama's Family was a show of it's own, it was a skit on the Carol Burnett show.  Did you know that Vicki Lawrence was originally hired because they thought that she looked like a young Carol Burnett?

4.  The Skits

Who could forget the spoof of "Gone With The Wind", and the dress made out of drapes?

5.  The Closing Song

Selfishly, I have a really strong feeling about this song.  When I left KLAW several years ago, I quoted the opening line from this song.  It spoke perfectly to how I was feeling about leaving a place that I truly enjoyed and loved.  I think Carol Burnett felt that way at the end of every show.

Carol Burnett is celebrating her 79th birthday today, and continues to teach us that to laugh is truly the best medicine.  Happy Birthday Carol!  You are my favorite teacher of all time!

And to put it in Burnett's words: 'Comedy is tragedy plus time.'

More From KLAW-FM