Harvey Korman by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Multiple Emmy-winner Harvey Korman, known for his work on The Carol Burnett Show and Blazing Saddles, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 81. In a statement, Korman's family said his death was related to complications from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm that occurred four months ago. Korman got his start on TV in 1964 with The Danny Kaye Show. When it was canceled three years later, he joined Carol Burnett. Korman went on to have his own, eponymous series — which did not last long — and eventually began working in film, too. Perhaps his most famous role was in Mel Brooks' 1974 Western satire, Blazing Saddles, but Korman also appeared in numerous other movies, including Brooks' High Anxiety and History of the World Part I, as well as two Pink Panther movies and Gypsy, among others. On TV, Korman's guest appearances spanned a range of shows, such as Perry Mason, Roseanne , The Muppet Show and The Love Boat. In a 2005 interview, says the AP, Korman commented on his ...
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Carlos Alazraqui, Reno 911!
From Barney Fife to Barney Miller, cops and comedy have made hysterical bedfellows. Comedy Central's cult hit Reno 911! is proof that the bumbling-police shtick remains in fine hands. The mostly improvised series plays its Cops-like parody for plenty of white-trash gags and silly sexual innuendos. Comic Carlos Alazraqui, who plays dim-witted deputy James Garcia, took a few moments away from World Cup action to lay down the law with TVGuide.com about his screwy series arriving on DVD this week, what the new season promises, and what's up with these modern Keystone Kops hitting movie screens. TVGuide.com: So, Reno 911! — The Complete Third Season is here on DVD.Carlos Alazraqui: Yeah, and fans will love the
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Question: It seems a given, in the many questions about network scheduling that you receive, that Saturday night is where TV shows go to die, so no one schedules a potential keeper on Saturday. Yet within living memory (mine, at least), CBS had a killer Saturday lineup that would put any recent "must-see" night to shame (All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett). I know we went out on Saturday night in the '70s (and with no TiVo, or even VCRs). It can't just be due to the fracturing of cable — if the audience is really too small on Saturday, then it's too small whether your share is 15 percent or 35 percent. I've been looking back trying to find the tipping point, but I can't see when the landscape changed. What in the business has caused this change in perception? On a completely unrelated note: I have fallen in love with Slings & Arrows. Has there been, or is there going to be, a third season? I need more of New Burbage!
Answer: First off, I'm thrilled
...
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Carol Burnett
When Desperate Housewives' Andrew seeks to be emancipated from his mother's watch, look for legendary funny lady Carol Burnett to hit Wisteria Lane as Bree's tightly wound stepmother, Eleanor Mason. "I thought this would be a hoot," Burnett, who is tentatively slated to first air April 9, tells USA Today. "I've watched All My Children for a hundred years, and this, too, is a very campy soap." But once Eleanor's stay is over, will Bree be saying, "I'm so glad we had this time together"?
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Drew Lachey, Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars Have the celebrities completely forgotten that they're only competing for a great, big disco ball? They're so damn nervous and serious now. OK, it's great that they're dedicated and determined, and I'm sure being on the show has meant a lot to their careers and status at Hollywood restaurants. But get some perspective and pull yourselves together, people! You're already rich and famous.
Stacy and Tony: That Priscilla-Lola training cracked me up, and it kinda worked, too. I don't know if it was her dress or what, but she looked just the slightest bit uncomfortable in the shoulders during the quickstep. Amazing footwork as always (and the Tom Bergeron quote of the night to Carrie Ann: "
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Everybody must get 'Stoned: Fred Flintstone
Question: What was the first prime-time cartoon?
Answer: Assuming you mean the first prime-time animated network series, Ralph, that would be ABC's legendary Flintstones, which ran for six years beginning in September 1960 (and has been repeated in more places and at more times than I could begin to count). The show pioneered the half-hour animated comedy on network TV, and enjoyed a wave of merchandise sales decades before anyone ever threw on a Bart Simpson "Don't have a cow, man!" T-shirt.
The Flintstones was the fourth animated series created by William Hanna and Joe Barbera (after Ruff and Reddy, Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw, all of which were either Saturday-morning or syndicated offerings). And according to Barbera,
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Question: When Adam 12 aired from 1968 to 1975, which shows was it competing with?Answer: You want the full rundown for the NBC series, huh? Fair enough — I must use my powers for good, after all. OK, here goes: fall 1968 — The Dating Game (ABC) and The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS); fall 1969-70 — The Lawrence Welk Show (ABC) and My Three Sons (CBS); fall 1971 — Bewitched (ABC) and The Carol Burnett Show (CBS); fall 1972 — The Paul Lynde Show (ABC) and The Carol Burnett Show (CBS); fall 1973 — Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (ABC) and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (CBS); fall 1974 —
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WB has benched for the time being both Living with Fran and Blue Collar TV, although both shows will remain in production. Melanie Griffith's Twins (the show, people) will take over Fran's slot, while an encore airing of Supernatural will be offered up to the 17 people who were choosing Blue Collar over the Housewives on Sunday at 9.
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I was very excited to be able to write about attending tonight's West Coast season-premiere live broadcast. I've been anticipating this for weeks, ever since I knew I was going. A good friend works on the show, so I've been to approximately 40 tapings. But I was extremely nervous, so you know I was really looking forward to this night. Due to the multiple takes, normal tapings take about four hours. The writers often rewrite the scenes to make them funnier, so the actors flub their lines and director Jimmy Burrows is a perfectionist. So knowing this was live, I wondered how they could possibly do it ,since they couldn't do scenes over and over and only had a half hour — twice — once for each coast. Truth is, they've been rehearsing this for four weeks to get it down pat, and the script had gone through so many changes, it had to be perfect. Well, you didn't have to be in the live studio audience to be able to enjoy it, but it certainly made it even better. I c
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Funnylady Carol Burnett loves to relive memories of her classic 1967-78 variety show in charming (and highly rated) CBS specials. Tonight at 10 pm/ET, she's doing Let's Bump Up the Lights, a different kind of salute to her sketchcom, which also serves as a reunion special for former castmates Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, Harvey Korman and Lyle Waggoner.
OK, they've done the 25th anniversary show. In 2001, they did an outtakes special called Showstoppers. What's left? Bump winds up what Burnett sees as her Carol Burnett Show reunion trilogy. "A very big section of our show was questions and answers, where I came out at the top of the show," she recalls. "We never had a plant in the audience. I never knew what anybody was going to ask and I didn't know what I was going to answer. So what we did with [Bump] was try to find the funniest clips of the Q&As, but also get the whole gang together and tak
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