THE PLOT THUS FAR
Television show featuring skits by Carol Burnett and her comedy troupe.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Carol’s Crack Ups” is the latest Time Life compilation of the best “Carol Burnett Show” moments. Time Life has been getting their money’s worth from the Carol Burnett releases, so there is risk of overlap for serious fans. If you’ve seen the Roddy McDowall, Alan King and Carl Reiner episodes…then you’ve seen the best of what this set has to offer. However, even a bad Burnett is still better than most comedy from that era. The lady is a Comedic Titan and her legacy is untarnished.
Carol Burnett and her crew doesn’t offer up anything new here. Hang out with the guest, do a comedy bit, do a musical number and then sneak in another joke before it’s all over. Everyone laughs and slaps each other on the back. It was a formula that worked, but it did get tired by the end. Naturally, they killed the show and went out on top with a dignity that eludes most network programming. While a full reunion is impossible now, it’s nice to see contemporary stars and surviving cast members reflect on what made the show so magical. So many forget to look back at the Golden Age of Comedy and see where we’ve come from in such a short amount of time. Hell, “Family Guy” takes the time to make quick callbacks to Burnett. Are you better than “Family Guy”? If you said that you’re Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Matt Stone, Trey Parker or Mike Judge…then you are better than them.
The DVD comes with two hours of brand new featurettes as the special features. The original mono mixes have been cleaned up and offered here for the audio. However, the transfers still sport that video sheen. Were these shows shot on film or video? Because, it has that warmed over color of video. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to fans.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!