Carol Burnett Comes To KTXA 21.2
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You have been asking for 9 months and now we are delivering! Effective Monday, August 31st, at 10pm, Carol Burnett & Friends will now be shown on KTXA 21.2, MeTV for Dallas/Fort Worth!
The show, as many of you know, is comprised of the following elements: Carol's opening to the audience to let them ask questions, comedy skits, and her closing theme song, "It's Time To Say Goodbye." It was one of the most successful variety shows on network television. It premiered on September 11, 1967 on the CBS Television Network, Mondays at 9pm. For the next 12 years, while other variety shows were dwindling and being cancelled, the Burnett show flourished and was a top hit for CBS.
Carol had the best ensemble cast of characters on her show: Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, Vicki Lawrence (who later starred in a spinoff called Mama's Family), and Tim Conway. Carol also developed some of the most beloved characters: Mrs. Wiggins (an inept blonde office worker) and Eunice (daughter of Mama Harper, played by Vicki Lawrence). Jim Nabors (CBS's Gomer Pyle) was considered good luck for her so he made an appearance at the beginning of each season. And who can forget her Tarzan call!!
By 1978, ratings begin to slip and the show had its final broadcast on March 29, 1978 with a two hour finale. CBS aired reruns of the show during that summer, then ABC aired four new episodes in August and September 1979 before the show's network run concluded.
In 1979, Carol (who owned the show) sold rerun rights into local syndication under the name Carol Burnett And Friends, packaged as half hours with approximately 150 episodes. KDFW, which was a CBS station then, acquired the show to air between 3-5pm weekdays. In the summer of 1986, the show moved to KTVT which at that time was one of the top independent TV stations in the US then under EVP/General Manager Charles Edwards. On June 14, 1986, the show premiered on KTVT weeknights at 10:30pm with another comedy as its lead in called Bizarre. KTVT garnered huge ratings with the Burnett show until its contract expired in the early 1990's and then has been off over the air television in the DFW area until now.
I got to meet Carol at the annual NATPE conventions in the late 1980's. I felt so honored and she was so gracious, especially being around people for the first time she had never met! The first time I saw her on TV was as a guest on The Jack Benny Show (also on CBS) and in a skit, Jack gets a little too "friendly" to which Carol replies, "Watch it!!". Jack then shows that classic perplexed look with his hand on his face (the master of making comedy out of the frailties of mankind).
I hope you are looking forward to seeing her show again starting Monday, August 31st, at 10pm on KTXA 21.2. Please be sure to tell your friends!
And now, it's time to say hello! See you next time.
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