THE BEST OF HARVEY KORMAN -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 7/25/17

 

A lot of people these days only know Harvey Korman from his Mel Brooks movies ("That's Hedley!"), but there was a time before that when his star shone brightly as the Emmy-winning second banana on TV's legendary "The Carol Burnett Show."

Time-Life's DVD release THE BEST OF HARVEY KORMAN assembles four complete (more or less) nostalgia-heavy episodes from 1969-71, three of which haven't been seen in 40 years, and they serve as a real time machine back to the way variety shows looked in those days.

Watching them now, the show's comedy is as incredibly corny as it can be, with paper-thin writing and forced punchlines, but also with a laidback informality (the performers break character often to either ad-lib or crack up at each other) that continues to appeal.

Production-wise, it often looks almost like a local TV production even though it was a top-rated show on a major network.  Strangely enough, this also adds to the show's charm--it didn't need a big budget with such likable performers to keep audiences happy.

Chief among these of course was Carol, that lovable, rubber-faced genius of physical and verbal comedy who always came across as the superstar next door.  She was a bundle of sparkling personality, especially during the celebrated Q & A segments with the studio audience.

Korman was second only to her in versatility, playing everything from henpecked husbands to weaselly lotharios (as in the lengthy and tedious Latin lover sketch) and everything in between. 

Rounding out the cast was cartoonishly handsome Lyle Waggoner, forever goodnaturedly spoofing his own manly image, while a sweetly callow Vicki Lawrence was the perennial "kid sister" before her eventual breakthrough as "Mama."

Comedy skits alternate with often cringe-inducing song and/or dance numbers, with the first episode in the set giving Lyle and Vicki solo songs that are less than memorable. Even veteran performers such as Bernadette Peters, Nancy Wilson, and Diahann Carroll can't do much with the tacky arrangements they're given. (A pre-"Jeffersons" Isabel Sanford appears briefly as a housekeeper in one segment.)

As for Korman, his appearances in the set are sporadic--the episodes seem pretty much picked at random and don't really showcase his best work at all.  The fact that he's in them seems enough to qualify them for inclusion here.

A skit in which he appears in drag seems to be the collection's highlight. Other points of interest are "The Old Folks" (Harvey and Carol as a doddering elderly couple), a solo comedy song emphasizing Harvey's vanity, Harvey as Richard Nixon, and a guest appearance by future castmember Tim Conway who would become Harvey's most frequent comedy foil. 

While not exactly THE BEST OF HARVEY KORMAN as the title suggests, it's fun to watch these episodes again after all this time and relive those decades-old memories.  Still, viewers who aren't seeing these creaky old skits and corny musical numbers through a golden haze of nostalgia might wonder what all the fuss is about.


PROGRAM INFORMATION
Format: DVD/Single
Running Time: 178 minutes
Genre:  TV DVD/Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: Stereo

THE BEST OF HARVEY KORMAN -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE BEST OF CAROL BURNETT: 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 8/5/19

 

If you were watching CBS one night 50 years ago, chances are you saw the premiere of "The Carol Burnett Show." And if you were like me, you loved it and her, even though you probably didn't suspect that it would go on for another eleven years (1967-1978) and that 50 years later you'd be able to watch it all over again on DVD.

Time-Life's 21-disc boxed DVD set THE BEST OF CAROL BURNETT: 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION allows us to do just that, with 60 episodes on 21 discs that also contain a wealth of bonus features, along with two illustrated menu booklets and a collectible memory book offering a colorful text history of the show.

The box contains three separate volumes, the first being THE BEST OF THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW (10 discs). This one gives us a chance to relive that first fateful episode and then takes us on a trip through the rest of the series with selected highlight episodes.

The early Carol is a delight as she has her first question-and-answer session with the live audience to open the show--which would become a revered tradition (as would her patented "Tarzan yell")--and wins them over with her easy charm, humility, and bubbling sense of humor and fun. 

Already an experienced performer (she'd just come off "The Garry Moore Show", where I first became a fan as a kid), we get to see her initial awkwardness work in her favor as she gradually becomes a more and more seasoned performer, as do beloved cast regulars Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner. (Frequent guest Tim Conway would later join as well.)

Her audience rapport and sense of fun in the skits and musical numbers to follow establish Carol's ability to relate to viewers on a personal level with no barrier between them.  She also proves willing to improvise and ad-lib her way through the skits, giving the show an enjoyably casual atmosphere where anything can happen.

The skits themselves are a hit-and-miss affair, some screamingly funny while others either don't quite click or are absolute clunkers.  But there are just so many of them that we're always entertained, especially when we get to see favorite continuing characters such as Mr. Tudball and Mrs. Wiggins, The Old Folks, Carol and Sis (lookalike Vicki Lawrence often played Carol's younger sister), and the blackmailing Girl Scout.

There's also the insufferably nagging wife, the soap opera spoof "As The Stomach Turns", Tim Conway's "The Oldest Man", and of course "The Family", with Carol and Harvey as Eunice and Ed Harper and Vicki Lawrence really coming into her own as Eunice's grouchy and eternally disapproving Mama in some of the show's most brilliant and memorable scenes.

In addition to the continuing segments are a wealth of commercial spoofs, Broadway and movie tributes, and other one-shot skits that range from yawners to side-splitters. Most of them are delightfully lowbrow, willfully unsophisticated, and packed with silly fun.  Not only that, but the cast delight in making each other burst into helpless laughter, especially when Tim and Harvey get together. 

Like most variety shows of the time, there's also a resident dance troup who perform semi-weekly song and dance numbers that viewers who appreciate such things will no doubt enjoy. As for me, these are excuses to exercise my chapter-skip button, something I wish I'd had when I was a kid and wanted to get back to the comedy.

I love the mischievous air that pervades the show, with the cast often playing on-air pranks on each other. One episode occurred during a musicians' strike so everyone has to hum the show's incidental music. 

Carol's all-star guests are a stellar line-up of actors, singers, and comedians who represent some of the best and most popular names in the entertainment industry at the time. These include Rita Hayworth, Bernadette Peters, Soupy Sales, Ella Fitzgerald, Sid Caesar, Andy Griffith, Mel Torme', Imogene Coca, Martha Raye, George Gobel, Ken Berry, Cass Elliot, Diahann Carroll, Nanette Fabray, Ray Charles, Carl Reiner, Roddy McDowall, The Jackson 5, Steve Lawrence, Dinah Shore, Ben Vereen, Neil Sedaka, Rock Hudson, and Carol's favorite guest, Jim "Gomer Pyle" Nabors.

The second 10-disc volume in the set, THE BEST OF THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: 11 YEARS, TOGETHER AGAIN, is another wonderful collection of 27 shows from Carol's 11-season run on CBS. This time guests include Lucille Ball, Bob Newhart, Don Rickles, Eddie Albert, Nancy Wilson, Chita Rivera, Burt Reynolds (who performs an amazing stunt gag), Don Adams, Lesley Ann Warren, Flip Wilson, Vicki Carr, Carol Channing, Ruth Buzzi, Jack Jones, Lily Tomlin, The Pointer Sisters, Dick Van Dyke, Sammy Davis, Jr., Madeline Kahn, Stiller & Meara, Eydie Gorme, and Hal Linden.

The third volume, THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: THE FINAL SHOW, is Carol's sentimental swan song, which, in addition to the live-audience performances, also features taped reprises of some of the show's highlights over the years.

Mr. Tudball and Mrs. Wiggins appear for the last time as they prepare to move to a new office, while the final "Family" segment shows Mama disrupting Eunice's much-needed session with her therapist.

There are outtakes, TV and movie parodies, and appearances by such guests as Liza Minelli, Perry Como, Bob Hope, and several more. The sudden appearance of a surprise guest, Jimmy Stewart, gives Carol one of her biggest thrills of the show's entire run.

After a tearful goodbye rendition of the show's theme song performed by Carol's beloved "Charwoman" character, she's surprised by a procession of past well-known friends of the show including Harvey Korman, who had left the show sometime before.

Bonus features consist of a cast-reunion featurette, "The End of 11 Years: Saying So Long" and an interview with Carol.

Several of the other discs in the collection also include bonus features too numerous to mention.  These include all manner of outtakes, cast and guest interviews, and a variety of informative featurettes of interest to fans of the show.

Not all of the episodes are complete--some have shorter-than-average running times, but the deletions are probably limited to some of the show's less exciting dance numbers. Pictorially, the shows are in very good condition.

THE BEST OF CAROL BURNETT: 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION is a gold mine of entertainment for fans of the show and a great introduction for those who've never seen it before. And as good as the skits and musical numbers are, it's those times when Carol just stands there visiting with the audience in her friendly and totally unassuming way that really make this set a joy to watch. It reminded me of why I've loved her for the last fifty years.


TECH SPECS:

Type: DVD (21 Discs)
Running Time: 58 hours, 51 min.
Rating: N/A
Genre: TV DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (4:3)
Audio: Stereo

THE BEST OF CAROL BURNETT: 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/22/18

 

If you grew up watching "The Carol Burnett Show", you know why so many people regard it with such warm nostalgia.  It was funny in a smart, yet comfortingly lowbrow sort of way, with a cast of likable and often brilliant performers we enjoyed spending time with. 

It has now been half a century since the show premiered, an occasion marked last year by a CBS-TV retrospective now available on DVD as THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL (Time-Life). 

The most likable castmember of all, of course, is Carol herself, one of the brightest, funniest comediennes of all time and a genuine television icon.  Her famous rapport with her studio audiences is hinted at with some amusing exchanges that demonstrate how unassuming and down-to-earth the comic superstar has always been.

The show whisks us through a series of montages that give a hint of her versatility with brief snippets of skits in which Carol plays such characters as Scarlett O'Hara, Norma Desmond, and the ever-popular Eunice.

Likewise, the rest of the cast each gets the spotlight briefly with their own highlight clips.  Vicki Lawrence, who got her start on the show, appears in person to reminisce with Carol as we see some of her best moments as "Mama."  A white-haired Lyle Waggoner also drops by to bask in the shared nostalgia for these wonderful old times.

Some serious laughs come when the show focuses on the contributions of Harvey Korman and Tim Conway.  In addition to cracking each other up, these two had studio audiences in convulsions on a regular basis with such classic bits as "The Dentist", the "Family" (the infamous elephant outtake is shown), and the recurring sketch in which Conway played the befuddled Mr. Tudball to Carol's screamingly funny inept secretary Mrs. Wiggins.

Coming as a welcome sight are visits from some of Carol's old friends, including Steve Martin, Steve Lawrence, Martin Short, and Bernadette Peters, along with longtime costumer Bob Mackie.  (Tom Selleck and Pat Boone are in the audience.) Clips from past shows offer more familiar faces such as Jim Nabors, Eydie Gorme, Dick Van Dyke, and Jimmy Stewart.

Unfortunately, the roster of more current personalities assembled to help Carol celebrate her anniversary is hardly as stellar.  Getting things off to an icky start is Stephen Colbert, who introduces the show and later returns to, of all things, duet with Steve Lawrence. 

Jim Carrey shows up to creep everyone out.  Jay Leno and Harry Connick, Jr. are merely bland.  Various ex-SNL regulars and other mostly uninteresting personalities also parade past to amp up the show's "yawn" factor. 

Bonus features for the disc includes some red carpet footage, backstage interviews, and anniversary wishes from some of Carol's celebrity friends.  There's also an illustrated booklet as well. 

Carol Burnett's many fans can't help but derive some degree of pleasure from THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL.  But I would like to have seen more of the classic performances in their entirety and less yakkity-yak from a bunch of  talking heads.


Type: DVD Single
Running Time: 95 mins.
Genre: TV DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 (16 x 9)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1/Stereo 2.0
Captions

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL -- DVD Review by Porfle

MAMA'S FAMILY: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION -- DVD Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 10/24/17

 

Those who were there back when "The Carol Burnett Show" began will recall how a likable but callow young actress named Vicki Lawrence was the junior member of the cast, both in terms of age and talent, who usually played either Carol's younger sister or some flakey proto-Valley Girl character. 

That, of course, would change when the show introduced a new reoccurring sketch, "The Family", in which Vicki, amazingly enough, portrayed the sassy and crotchety old matriarch ("Mama") of a lower middle-class clan of smalltown Southern hicks which also consisted of Carol as neurotic daughter "Eunice" and Harvey Korman as her dullard of a husband, "Ed", in hotly dramatic, highly-dysfunctional family situations that were as painful to watch as they were hilarious. 

Vicki came into her own big-time as Mama, so much so that when Carol ended her show after eleven seasons, her producer husband Joe Hamilton immediately came up with a series spin-off called "Mama's Family" and starring Vicki in her classic characterization, beginning in 1982 on NBC.

Two years after its second-season cancellation on NBC, the show was belatedly picked up for the burgeoning first-run syndication market, where it thrived for four more seasons and reached its finale in January 1990. The show would last for six seasons, with all 130 episodes plus lots of extras now available on 22 discs in the Time-Life DVD collection MAMA'S FAMILY: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION.

Such a spin-off seemed inevitable as long as they could come up with another "family" with which Mama could work her magic.  The first two seasons boast Rue McClanahan as Mama's flakey spinster sister Fran and Betty White as her self-centered daughter Ellen.  Frequent "Carol Burnett Show" guest Ken Berry was Mama's cheerfully childlike son Vint, now living in her basement with his sexpot wife Naomi (Dorothy Lyman of "All My Children").

The fact that Vicki Lawrence was a young actress playing an old woman (most, if not all, of her adult cast mates were older) seemed to give her and the writers license to make her curmudgeonly attitude and acerbic remarks even more outrageous.  A certain delight comes from watching Vicki Lawrence pull off this characterization with such stunning success, especially after being in Carol's shadow for so long.  The character seemed to have been hiding inside her all that time, just waiting for a chance to burst forth.

Berry, after starring in the dull "Mayberry R.F.D.", finally gets a chance to play an addlebrained rube who's actually funny. Lyman is the quintessential trailer-park floozy Naomi, who starts out as Mama's adversarial next-door neighbor.  She turns out to be a high school heartthrob of Vint and, to Mama's horror, the two quickly make wedding plans that include a gaudy ceremony right there in Mama's own livingroom. 

The original "Family" segments on Carol's show displayed a frantic, chintzy kind of bargain-basement Southern Gothic that often came off like Tennessee Williams on laughing gas.  This is carried over into the new show's first season with guest appearances by Burnett and Korman, beginning with Vint and Naomi's disastrous two-part wedding episode. 

Carol Burnett's "Eunice", of course, is one of television's most inspired creations and the only one that can outshine Mama in her own setting.  Far beyond just being funny, Eunice is a tragic, monstrously self-absorbed creature whose simmering familial resentments and crushing disappointments in life always come bursting to the surface just in time to destroy any family gathering she's involved in.  And Mama, of course, is always right there with a cutting remark that slices her right in two.

This results in some of the most astoundingly raucous situations and character interplay in sitcom history, aided by McClanahan and White who add to the Southern Gothic family stew with their own long-standing grudges and gripes.  It's a to-die-for cast that any sitcom, or feature film for that matter, would give its left sprocket holes to have.

Their performances are absolutely inspired--after all, how often would they ever get a chance to play such characters in such extreme mock-dramatic situations and at such full tilt?  There's so much talent being utilitzed at its fullest here that, straining within the bounds of a simple TV sitcom as it is, the effect is often dizzying.  (It's a shame Burnett and Korman are around for so few episodes.)

With all of this going on, it hardly matters that the show isn't always "on" or that moments actually do betray the fact that we're watching a simple--and, yes, often kinda dumb--sitcom that relies largely on insult humor.  Because even in that context it does its job so well that we're entertained by the lesser moments while waiting for the great ones.

The characters frequently relish their chance to let fly with some choice zingers--which, like an athlete, they throw their whole body into--and the live audience goes nuts the way they would for shows like "Married With Children." In fact,  this show, surprisingly, often comes off as even more cynical and outrageous than that infamously sleazy series, albeit in more (relatively) subtle ways.

After the network cancellation and syndication reboot, the show lost McClanahan and White (along with Vint's two nondescript teenage kids) and got progressively tamer, with more standard sitcom plots and less of the early seasons' glorious excess.  Even the character of Mama herself seems to mellow somewhat as time goes by (she'd have to or we wouldn't be able to stand her after awhile) although she never completely loses that acidic edge.

The addition of the delightfully off-kilter Beverly Archer as nerdy next-door neighbor Iola gives Mama a like-minded foil to whom she can reveal her more vulnerable side. Allan Kayser also joins the cast as Eunice and Ed's juvenile delinquent son Bubba, with whom Mama gets stuck after his parents move to Florida without telling him. He's sort of a "Jethro" type and serves his purpose as an example of the crazy "younger generation" for old-fashioned Mama to play off of.

Guest stars throughout the show's run include Brent Spiner, William Windom, Geoffrey Lewis, Imogene Coca, Jack Gilford, Jerry Reed, Robert Mandan, Barney Martin, Cliff Osmond, Marge Redmond, Alan Oppenheimer, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Jack Dodson, Richard Dawson, and Alex Trebek.

The DVD set from Time-Life consists of 22 discs (130 episodes from original broadcast masters) in six cases with slipcover.  Approximate running time is 55 hours.  Episodes are in 1.33:1 full screen and stereo sound.  Each of the six season sets contains a wealth of bonus features such as a roundtable cast reunion and lengthy interviews with cast and crew including Vicki Lawrence, Carol Burnett, Ken Berry, Betty White, Dorothy Lyman, Beverly Archer, Allan Kayser, costume designer Bob Mackie, and executive producer Rick Hawkins.

"Mama's Family Tree" featurettes take a look at the show's various characters and their relationships.  There are two vintage "Family" segments from "The Carol Burnett Show", one featuring guest star Maggie Smith. 

Best of all, we get the 1982 TV-movie "Eunice", a real-time, in-studio theatrical play that follows the Harper family--Mama, Eunice, sister Ellen (White), and successful brother Phillip (Berry again), along with Harvey Korman's "Ed"--from Eunice's turbulent teen years in the 50's to the day of Mama's funeral in the late 70s. 

"Eunice" is absolutely prime stuff, a full-bodied, powerful, incredibly written and performed comedy-drama that has the live audience on its feet during the emotional curtain call.  It's the pinnacle of Burnett's "Eunice" character, played to the hilt, and is alone worth owning the set.

From its turbulent early episodes, each like a gleefully-staged trainwreck, to its more mellow final years, "Mama's Family" was one of the most enjoyably oddball examples of the sitcom genre ever to bombast its way across our television screens. MAMA'S FAMILY: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION takes all that controlled chaos, puts a lace doily on it, and lets us relive it all over again.


Available exclusively at Walmart
Read our original coverage HERE

MAMA'S FAMILY: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION -- DVD Review by Porfle

Shout! Factory TV Releases all 11 Seasons of "The Carol Burnett Show"!

ALL 11 SEASONS OF ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SHOWS OF ALL TIME, “THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW,” TO BE MADE  AVAILABLE ON STREAMING PLATFORMS FOR THE FIRST TIME ON JUNE 1, 2020

STREAMING LAUNCH TO BE SUPPORTED BY 48-HOUR MARATHON ON SHOUT! FACTORY TV
 

Los Angeles, CA – Shout! Factory TV has announced that on June 1, 2020, all 11 seasons of one of the most acclaimed and influential TV series of all-time, and the winner of 25 Emmy® Awards, “The Carol Burnett Show,” will be available for viewing on streaming platforms. On May 30 and 31, Shout! Factory TV will kick things off by celebrating the release with a weekend-long marathon.

“The Carol Burnett Show” will be available for streaming on demand across Shout! Factory TV platforms, on ShoutFactoryTV.com; Shout! Factory TV’s Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Android apps; and on various Shout! Factory TV branded channels including Tubi, Amazon Prime Channels, and the Roku Channel.

Many of the episodes included in the streaming release will be available to watch for the first time since the original broadcast, more than 40 years ago. The comedy legend, who celebrated her 87th birthday on April 26, worked with Shout! Factory to find the long-lost masters of these episodes. Now, for the ultimate binge experience, fans will be able to watch all of the show’s episodes and see the evolution of key characters and sketches. 

Shout! Factory TV will celebrate the streaming launch by hosting “The Carol Burnett Show” marathon, which will be streaming curated episodes of the classic show all weekend long on May 30 and 31. The marathon can be viewed on ShoutFactoryTV.com; Shout! Factory TV’s Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Android apps; and the following digital streaming platforms: Twitch, Samsung TV Plus, Comcast Xfinity, Xumo, YouTube, Redbox, Vizio, Pluto TV, IMDb, and STIRR. Viewers will also be able to chat live on Shout! Factory TV’s Twitch channel and the Shout! Factory YouTube channel, and answer trivia questions on Twitter @ShoutFactoryTV.

Carol Burnett and her star cast of Vicki Lawrence, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, and Lyle Waggoner were among the originators of the sketch comedy format. Cited as one of the best TV shows of all time by TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, TIME, Rolling Stone, and others, “The Carol Burnett Show” was coming to the end of its 11-year run just as “Saturday Night Live” was starting in 1975.

Over 11 inventive seasons, “The Carol Burnett Show” featured a who’s-who of stars from film, TV and music, including Betty White, Steve Martin, Carl Reiner, Lucille Ball, George Carlin, Cher, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Roddy McDowall, The Smothers Brothers, Bernadette Peters, Sammy Davis, Jr., Lily Tomlin, Bing Crosby, Ken Berry, Madeline Kahn, Steve Lawrence and Jim Nabors, among others.

From Season 1’s first ‘Carol & Sis’ sketches, with a teenage Vicki Lawrence playing a character based on Carol Burnett’s real-life sister, and ‘As The Stomach Turns,’ a soap opera parody which ran for all 11 seasons, to the evolution of Tim Conway’s “Oldest Man” character, which he introduced in Season 2 and performed nearly 20 times over the course of the series, “The Carol Burnett Show” made a lasting impression on its audience.

Some of the most beloved sketches from the series include the iconic “Gone With The Wind” parody ‘Went with the Wind,’ the ongoing Conway/Burnett sketch ‘Tudball & Wiggins,’ Harvey Korman’s ‘Mother Marcus,’ where he played a Yiddish grandmother based on his own real-life grandmother, ‘The Charwoman,’ Carol Burnett’s signature character, and the classic   Conway/Korman sketch ‘The Dentist,’ where Conway’s ad-libs made Korman crack up uncontrollably. 

Last but not least, the 1973-74 season introduced ‘The Family,’ in which Vickie Lawrence played “Mama,” Burnett played her daughter “Eunice,” and Korman played Eunice’s husband “Ed.” The sketch portraying this dysfunctional but lovable family provided myriad opportunities for guest stars to play various family members, including Roddy McDowall, Tom Smothers, Alan Alda, Betty White, Joanne Woodward, Maggie Smith and William Conrad, and would later be parlayed into the long-running classic  sitcom “Mama’s Family.”

Carol Burnett continues to inspire her fans, and her brilliant comedic work resonates as much as ever. She is a past recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The Golden Globes created The Carol Burnett Award in 2018, which was presented to Carol in 2019, and to Ellen DeGeneres in 2020. She continues to tour regularly, taking audience questions in a nod to “The Carol Burnett Show.”

ABOUT SHOUT! FACTORY TV
Shout! Factory TV is a digital entertainment streaming service that brings timeless and contemporary cult favorites to pop culture fans. Shout! Factory TV offers an unrivaled blend of original programming and TV shows and movies curated from major studios, independent producers and its own distinctive entertainment library. The Shout! Factory TV family of channels also includes Mystery Science Theater 3000 and TokuSHOUTsu™, with more to come soon. Shout! Factory TV provides an immersive, high-quality viewing experience across a wide variety of platforms: online at ShoutFactoryTV.com, on smartphone devices, tablets and connected TV, and via apps on the Roku player, Android, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. Shout! Factory TV is also available as a branded channel on Amazon Prime Channels, Comcast Xfinity, Pluto TV, Redbox, Roku Premium Subscriptions, Samsung TV Plus, STIRR, Tubi, Twitch, Vizio and XUMO among others. For more information, please visit ShoutFactoryTV.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SHOUT! FACTORY TV:

WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
TWITTER

Shout! Factory TV Releases all 11 Seasons of "The Carol Burnett Show"!

"THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL" -- Hilarious, Star-Studded, Emmy-Nominated Celebration On DVD From Time-Life 9/25

THIS SEPTEMBER, TIME LIFE INVITES HOME AUDIENCES TO A HILARIOUS, STAR-STUDDED CELEBRATION 50 YEARS IN THE MAKING!
 
The Carol Burnett Show
50th Anniversary Special
 
Street Date: September 25, 2018
DVD SRP: $12.95

Nominated for an Emmy® Award, the Special One Night Event, Filmed at the Series Original CBS Soundstage featured Original Cast Members Burnett, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner, Special Guests Including Jim Carrey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Martin, Amy Poehler and Martin Short, Exclusive Bonus Features Including Red Carpet and Backstage Footage, a Tribute Booklet and More!

The Carol Burnett Show turns 50!  To celebrate the momentous occasion, CBS honored the groundbreaking comedy series with The Carol Burnett Show 50th Anniversary Special, which aired to a whopping 15.4 million viewers on Sunday, December 3, 2017.

Nominated for an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Variety Special, the one-night event, which was filmed at the series' original soundstage at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, features Burnett, original cast members Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner, costume designer Bob Mackie, and a slew of special guests, including Jon Batiste, Beth Behrs, Jim Carrey, Kristin Chenoweth, Stephen Colbert, Harry Connick Jr., Kaley Cuoco, Bill Hader, Steve Lawrence, Jay Leno, Jane Lynch, Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Amy Poehler, Tracee Ellis Ross, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short and more!

Now, with The Carol Burnett Show 50th Anniversary Special DVD, home audiences can join the party and laugh along with Carol and her famous friends, as they revisit the show's most hilarious clips, catch up with cast members, and enjoy brand-new musical performances!

Highlights include:

The most uproarious clips from the landmark series, including "Went With The Wind," "The Dentist," "Tudball & Wiggins" and "The Family"
Carol does a bit of her beloved Q&A with the star-studded 50th Anniversary audience including questions from Pat Boone and Tom Selleck!
Carol's guests try out her famous Tarzan yell - Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Tracee Ellis Ross all give it a go, but a late, video entry wins the day - Steve Carell!
Jim Carrey's 10-year-old self re-enacts receiving a reply to his Carol Burnett Show fan letter
Stephen Colbert, Steve Lawrence, Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth and Carol all come together for a brand-new musical number
And Harry Connick, Jr. and Carol close out the night with an emotional performance of the show's theme song - "I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together"

BONUS FEATURES 

Exclusive new bonus features including red-carpet footage, backstage interviews, and anniversary wishes from Carol's friends and fans
A tribute booklet with production photos, notes from Carol's guests, and a special message from Carol herself!

About Time Life

Time Life is one of the world's pre-eminent creators and direct marketers of unique music and video/DVD products, specializing in distinctive multi-media collections that evoke memories of yesterday, capture the spirit of today, and can be enjoyed for a lifetime. TIME LIFE and the TIME LIFE logo are registered trademarks of Time Warner Inc. and affiliated companies used under license by Direct Holdings Americas Inc., which is not affiliated with Time Warner Inc. or Time Inc.

The Carol Burnett Show 50th Anniversary Special

Type: DVD Single
Running Time: 95 mins.
Genre: TV DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 (16 x 9)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1/Stereo 2.0

"THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL" -- Hilarious, Star-Studded, Emmy-Nominated Celebration On DVD From Time-Life 9/25

"THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: THE LOST EPISODES", Never Before Available on Digital Platforms, Premieres on iTunes and Amazon on 3/9

"The crown jewels of the musical-variety show"
-- The Los Angeles Times

"The Carol Burnett Show helped define the golden age of television"
-- The New York Times

THIS MARCH, TIME LIFE WILL RELEASE THREE HILARIOUS NEW DIGITAL COLLECTIONS OF ONE OF TELEVISION'S MOST ICONIC AND GROUNDBREAKING VARIETY SHOWS

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: THE LOST EPISODES, VOLUMES 1-3

Available Exclusively on iTunes and Amazon on March 9, This Trio of New-to-Digital Compilations Feature the Very Best from the First Five Years of Burnett's Beloved Series; During the First Week of Release, Each Volume Will Be Specially Priced at $9.99

Showbiz Luminaries Appearing on These Collections Include:
Lucille Ball, Eddie Albert, Chita Rivera, Bob Newhart, Jim Nabors, Bing Crosby, Phyllis Diller, Andy Griffith, Bernadette Peters, Cass Elliot, Jonathan Winters, Dionne Warwick, Joan Rivers, Sonny & Cher, Nanette Fabray, Shirley Jones, Ronald Reagan, Ray Charles, George Carlin, Lana Turner and Many More!

Fairfax, VA (March 8, 2018) - This March, lovers of landmark TV and classic comedy will be able to reacquaint themselves with one of the best hours ever on TV with the release of THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: THE LOST EPISODES, VOLUMES 1-3 to both iTunes and Amazon by Time Life.

Never before available on any digital platform, the three "Best of" compilations, featuring rarely-seen fan-favorite episodes from the first five years of Burnett's eponymous series, will be specially priced the first week of release at $9.99, with individual episodes available for $1.99. Following that, the compilations will be available for $14.99.

From 1967 to 1978, THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW tickled America's funny bone on CBS with a blend of comedy, song and dance that made the irreverent, hilarious program "Must See TV" decades before another network coined the phrase. Carol and her madcap, uber-talented cast of comic actors --Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and later Tim Conway and Dick Van Dyke -- took to the airwaves and entertained millions each week, joined by some of the biggest stars in the business.

Ad-libs and the occasional flubbed line brought a spontaneity to the screen that was absent from most other variety shows. Little did they know that THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW would become an Emmy® Award-winning program and survive the changing tastes of TV audiences to run eleven seasons and become one of the most iconic TV Variety Shows in history.

Each digital volume of THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: THE LOST EPISODES includes vintage, hand-picked shows from the first five seasons of the series, and, up until 2015, these "lost" episodes had never resurfaced - no reruns, streaming video or DVDs.

VOLUME 1 includes such classic sketches as "Carol and Sis," "The Charwoman," and "As the Stomach Turns"; among the guest stars featured are Lucille Ball, Eddie Albert, Chita Rivera, Bob Newhart, Jim Nabors, Paul Lynde, Bing Crosby, Don Adams, Phyllis Diller, Andy Griffith, Bernadette Peters, Cass Elliot and more.

VOLUME 2 features a "Salute to Warner Brothers" with Mel Tormé and Soupy Sales, Carol's tour-de-force impersonation of Joan Crawford and the classic sketch, "The Ham Actors." Showbiz icons and performers appearing include Jonathan Winters, Dionne Warwick, Joan Rivers, Sonny & Cher, Nanette Fabray, Shirley Jones, Ken Berry and a special cameo by Ronald Reagan.

VOLUME 3 includes more "Charwoman," Harvey, Carol, Lyle and Lucille Ball lampooning modern morality in their version of the hit movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice andTim Conway's "Oldest Man" masterminding a jewelry heist that literally has him going in circles. Guest stars featured in this volume include Ray Charles, George Carlin, Mike Douglas, Martha Raye, Lana Turner and Ricardo Montalban.

In addition to THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: THE LOST EPISODES, VOLUME 1-3, Time Life has also released THE BEST OF THE DEAN MARTIN CELEBRITY ROASTS: VOLUMES 1-3 on iTunes. And even more TV classics will follow on leading digital platforms in 2018!

About Time Life
Time Life is one of the world's pre-eminent creators and direct marketers of unique music and video/DVD products, specializing in distinctive multi-media collections that evoke memories of yesterday, capture the spirit of today, and can be enjoyed for a lifetime. TIME LIFE and the TIME LIFE logo are registered trademarks of Time Warner Inc. and affiliated companies used under license by Direct Holdings Americas Inc., which is not affiliated with Time Warner Inc. or Time Inc.

"THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: THE LOST EPISODES", Never Before Available on Digital Platforms, Premieres on iTunes and Amazon on 3/9

Celebrate the Holidays in Uproarious Fashion With "THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: CAROL'S LOST CHRISTMAS" Available Oct. 24

THIS YEAR, RING IN THE HOLIDAYS IN UPROARIOUS FASHION
WITH CLASSIC EPISODES FROM THE VAULTS OF
TELEVISION'S LANDMARK VARIETY SHOW

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: CAROL'S LOST CHRISTMAS

Street Date: October 24, 2017
SRP: $12.95

This Special Holiday-Themed DVD Collection -- Perfect for Gift Giving - features Three Episodes Not Seen in More Than 40 Years!

From 1967 to 1978, The Carol Burnett Show was the benchmark for prime-time variety programs, bringing together the best in sketch comedy, song and dance.  Carol and her cast members Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner, and later, Tim Conway and Dick Van Dyke, entertained millions of viewers with a spontaneity and go-for-broke attitude sorely lacking elsewhere. 

The annual Christmas shows soon became a popular event in Burnett's regular season schedule. And now, for the first time ever, Burnett has opened the CBS archives to release three Christmas shows from the first four seasons of her Emmy Award®-winning program in THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: CAROL'S LOST CHRISTMAS.

Across three hilarious episodes not seen in more than 40 years, home audiences will receive the gift of non-stop laughter and entertainment: Think Santa knows who's been naughty or nice?  Jonathan Winters as St. Nick has other ideas, along with a strange collection of dolls.  The old lovebirds Bert and Molly (Harvey and Carol) exchange a few choice words while they slowly rock themselves into the New Year.  Carol and Vicki join the Bob Mitchell Singing Boys for a touching performance of "Do You Know How Christmas Trees are Grown?"  And pitchmen Garry Moore and Durward Kirby reach out and touch the pocketbooks of parents with an array or ridiculous toys for kids.  Also not to be missed are:

Dancing Santas, Christmas carols, yuletide poetry and more - including a visit to a boozing Kris Kringle at the North Pole in Carol's very first Christmas show

Classic sketches "The Old Folks," "Carol and Sis," "V.I.P.," and "The Charwoman"

Hilarious vintage "Mrs. Peter Piper" courtroom sketch with Garry Moore and Durward Kirby, written by Neil Simon and first performed on "The Garry Moore Show"

The Early, Early Show movie parody "Goldman's Boy"

Steve Lawrence singing "Let There Be Peace on Earth" and "One Day," 16-year-old Julie Budd singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and more.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Format: DVD/Single
Running Time: 137 mins.
Genre:  TV DVD/Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: Stereo

Celebrate the Holidays in Uproarious Fashion With "THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: CAROL'S LOST CHRISTMAS" Available Oct. 24