Our cast flies into Sydney, and the opening shots feature beautiful aerial views of the famous (and then brand new) Sydney Opera House, zooming in on dancers performing a delightfully early-70s production number on the house's outdoor plaza.
Carol opens the half-hour cut of this episode with her powerful, clarion, 100% on-pitch belting of "It's Today" from the musical "Mame", with some specially written lyrics about intercontinental flights and jet-lagged confusion. She looks glamorous in one of her trademark Bob Mackie gowns, sparkling in green sequins. The number ends with Carol collapsing hilariously and suddenly into a supine position. The audience loves it.
Tim Conway is up next, starring in a sketch with the professional orchestra behind him onstage. He plays "Arthur Arthurstein, the world's oldest conductor", shuffling three inches at a time across the stage as the in-the-round audience members (and the professional musicians) crack up. He finds three or four ingenious ways to mount the conductor's podium, all of which show off his well-practiced physical comedy chops. There are a number of hilarious bits featuring problems with the conductor's baton, some silliness between Tim and Harvey Korman (playing a patient concertmaster), and some Borge/PDQ Bach-like musical hijinks related to "Arthur's" apparent inablity to conduct at the proper tempo. The Australian audience eats up every single moment of Tim's creative slapstick.
The final sketch features Harvey and Carol as "Funt and Mundane" (a take off on Lunt and Fontanne), the great thespians... except that Carol's character is drunk (again), and ruins the live performance of their play. Vicki Lawrence plays Carol's understudy, trying to stand in for the inebriated actress, but ending up as collateral damage. The audience roars with laughter as Carol, clumsily astride Harvey's thigh, reaches down and grabs it and shouts "I can't feel my leg!".
As an American, it's a real treat to watch the Australian audience enjoying the antics of our famous and familiar comedians. One of the best episodes of the half-hour version of "The Carol Burnett Show".
Carol opens the half-hour cut of this episode with her powerful, clarion, 100% on-pitch belting of "It's Today" from the musical "Mame", with some specially written lyrics about intercontinental flights and jet-lagged confusion. She looks glamorous in one of her trademark Bob Mackie gowns, sparkling in green sequins. The number ends with Carol collapsing hilariously and suddenly into a supine position. The audience loves it.
Tim Conway is up next, starring in a sketch with the professional orchestra behind him onstage. He plays "Arthur Arthurstein, the world's oldest conductor", shuffling three inches at a time across the stage as the in-the-round audience members (and the professional musicians) crack up. He finds three or four ingenious ways to mount the conductor's podium, all of which show off his well-practiced physical comedy chops. There are a number of hilarious bits featuring problems with the conductor's baton, some silliness between Tim and Harvey Korman (playing a patient concertmaster), and some Borge/PDQ Bach-like musical hijinks related to "Arthur's" apparent inablity to conduct at the proper tempo. The Australian audience eats up every single moment of Tim's creative slapstick.
The final sketch features Harvey and Carol as "Funt and Mundane" (a take off on Lunt and Fontanne), the great thespians... except that Carol's character is drunk (again), and ruins the live performance of their play. Vicki Lawrence plays Carol's understudy, trying to stand in for the inebriated actress, but ending up as collateral damage. The audience roars with laughter as Carol, clumsily astride Harvey's thigh, reaches down and grabs it and shouts "I can't feel my leg!".
As an American, it's a real treat to watch the Australian audience enjoying the antics of our famous and familiar comedians. One of the best episodes of the half-hour version of "The Carol Burnett Show".
