CAROL BURNETT SHOW, THE {MAGGIE SMITH} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of comedy/variety programs starring Carol Burnett. This program features special guest Maggie Smith. The episode begins as Burnett takes the stage and chats with the audience, briefly discussing her role in the play "Once Upon a Mattress" and introducing guest audience member Alice Ghostley. In the first sketch, Burnett portrays a housewife trying to calm her harried husband as he frets over his job as the head of the Consumer Protection Bureau, lamenting that he is sick of hearing people's complaints while his own recently-renovated home falls to pieces around him. Smith then joins Burnett onstage and, in a song, attempts to teach her a Cockney English accent, with Burnett admitting that she is hoping for the lead role in a sequel to "My Fair Lady." Next, Tim Conway portrays his addled "old man" character, this time acting as a doctor making a house call to a sick man. He struggles even in taking the man's pulse and eventually admits to being a pediatrician rather than an adult doctor, and the man angrily tries to throw the "quack" from his home.
Following this is an installment of "The Family," in which the Higgins' attend a school meeting with Miss Collins, their son Bubba's teacher. Mama joins Eunice and Ed, though claims that she does not want to be a "buttinsky," and they are all shocked when Miss Collins explains that Bubba's behavior and grades are remarkably poor and that he is close to expulsion. Ed is relieved that Bubba is at least showing proper manly aggression, but Miss Collins shows them the boy's distressing drawing of his family, saying that he needs a more "open, loving home climate," and the family descends into their usual bickering about their lives and Eunice's questionable childhood. Miss Collins finally ousts them from the classroom, saying that she now sympathizes with Bubba, having seen what his crazy home life is like. The final scene involves a number of stagehands dismantling a set after a Broadway show, and they reflect on the fleeting nature of "Showbiz," eventually mounting an elaborate song-and-dance number of their own, also featuring "Be A Clown" and "Let Me Entertain You." Burnett then closes the show by singing her signature good-night song and adding her guest's autograph to her guest book. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 15, 1975 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:51:15
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:59461
- GENRE: Comedy/Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy/Variety; Music
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1967-1978
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Joe Hamilton … Executive Producer
- Ed Simmons … Producer
- Robert Wright … Associate Producer
- Dave Powers … Director
- Gary Belkin … Writer
- Roger Beatty … Writer
- Bill Richmond … Writer
- Gene Perret … Writer
- Arnie Kogen … Writer
- Ray Jessel … Writer
- Rudy De Luca … Writer
- Barry Levinson … Writer
- Dick Clair … Writer
- Jenna McMahon … Writer
- Ernest Flatt … Choreographer
- Carol Burnett … Host, Cast
- Maggie Smith … Guest
- Harvey Korman … Cast
- Vicki Lawrence … Cast
- Tim Conway … Cast
- Alice Ghostley