We all love Carol Burnett, and many of us grew up watching her variety show on CBS where she laughed along with Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, and Vicki Lawrence. She has written about her life in several autobiographies over the years ~ In Such Good Company is a memoir about the show.
Starting in the 1970's alongside shows like Sonny & Cher and Donny & Marie, it ran for eleven years. She chronicles how she began the show with (now unheard of) free rein, it's enduring popularity and the many guest stars such as Lucille Ball, Lyle Wagonner, Bernadette Peters, Jim Nabors, Edie Gorme, Bing Crosby and Roddy McDowell.
From sections about 'bumping up the lights' to funny stories about creating the sketches, it's a light read that avoids criticisms and sticks with the laughs. The skits were very funny - in some cases like Went With The Wind, truly classic - and Carol includes several of her favourites printed out like a script. To me this seemed like a lot of unnecessary padding, still there are some hilarious lines. I think half the fun was the delivery and watching the actors body language, so this idea missed for me.
In Such Good Company covers all the bases, offering interesting stories about the show, crew and guests. Eleven years of weekly shows is a lot of work, but they looked like they were having such a good time, and that spirit comes across in this book. For fans of the show a great read.
"I saw it in the window, and just couldn't resist it".
2016 / Hardcover / 302 pages
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