These rare Carol Burnett Show bloopers will have you belly laughing in for 13 minutes straight
The Carol Burnett Show is a classic – and something still worth watching. In fact, it’s been ranked as one of Time’s 100 Best TV Shows of All Time.
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The show ran on CBS from September 1967 to March 1978 – and it came back for a reunion season of 9 episodes in 1991.
That makes for nearly 300 episodes of hilarity from stars Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner – and later the amazing Tim Conway (who replaced Waggoner in 1975). Heck, it even starred Dick Van Dyke for a short time!
It was a big deal for a woman to host her own variety show at that time – and CBS didn’t want to give Burnett the reigns to anything but a sitcom. But her contract gave her the power to push the issue.
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The show was funny, but the bloopers…
The show was laugh-out-loud funny, especially in the moments when the actors made themselves laugh so hard they momentarily broke character.
It’s no surprise then, that a blooper reel posted to the YouTube comedy channel FrownsUpsideDown in 2017 already has over 7.6 million views.
Just look at this photo of Tim Conway and Harvey Korman posing as a fireman and a guy who needs mouth-to-mouth. Could they go through with it before breaking down in hysterics? Of course not.
The fact that the actors all seemed to be friends and they were hilarious both on stage and in real life made for some moments when no one could have kept a straight face.
And, frankly, we’re glad they didn’t. Their laughter is contagious.
“I haven’t laughed this hard in four years – thank you!” said one commenter.
Turn your frown upside down
Make no mistake, laughter really is contagious. You don’t even have to be in on the joke.
Most of us, when we see two people laughing, can’t help but crack a smile. Researchers have posited that it may actually be an evolutionary mechanism that helps us form social bonds.
Laughter also releases endorphins and can even alleviate pain. That’s why “laughter yoga” is a thing. You truly feel better when you laugh – not just emotionally, but physically.
This blooper reels proves that you don’t even need to be seeing laughter to start smiling – the peels of hystereical laughter in the background before a scene even breaks down are enough for most people.
Burnett and Conway
Carol Burnett and Tim Conway were typically the ones who lost it during a scene.
And if Vicki Lawrence was in a scene, forget it! She was not only hysterical but her facial expression and her ability to hold it together were truly something to behold.
“Vicki Lawrence, though. How the hell she kept it together while everyone else was losing it… Nerves of steel,” confirmed a viewer.
But occassionally even she lost it, and those were some truly squeal-inducing moments.
Our favorite bloopers are the one in which a character realizes there’s no way to save the scene and just gives in.
We’re not sure how anyone could keep a straight face through some of these skits.
And, hey, if you’re on stage with Carol Burnett and you don’t end up on the floor laughing at some point, did it really even happen?
“I mean, come on. There literally more belly laughs from this 13 minute clip than anything Ive seen in the past 20+ years on regular TV,” said a viewer.
Hopefully you’ve been convinced to scroll down below and watch the video for yourself.
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Source: YouTube – FrownsUpsideDown, Instagram – @itscarolburnett, Wikipedia – The Carol Burnett Show, Psychology Today