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January 18, 2004
It's so nice we had this time
TV Land is running a Carol Burnett Marathon this weekend.
I remember when this show went off the air. I cried. I sobbed, uncontrollably, actually. I remember being in front of the TV, disillusioned tears streaming down my cheeks, not understanding why this show would no longer be there to entertain me every week. No more Eunice. No more Bob Mackie. No more big Hollywood dance numbers. I still remember the set from that last episode - and that was 26 years ago.
Carol Burnett leaving TV was fundamentally wrong in my eight year old mind. I felt betrayed and abandoned. It was also my first experience with media skepticism. I didn't believe Carol really wanted to leave the air. I remember thinking "it had to be the network." I understand, now, that she chose to leave for a variety of reasons, but the memory of my first TV heartbreak still lingers.
Occasionally, I still have uncontrolable crying jags when shows leave the air. I did with Buffy and I imagine I will when I watch the last Sex and the City. Anyway, I'm going back to the marathon. Steeped in nostalgia - this weekend's theme.
Thank god I read this entry before the weekend. Thank you for letting me know - as an actor and sketch comedy writer, I consider her a personal hero of mine. When my parents wanted to punish me as a kid they would send me to bed without letting me watch Carol Burnett that week. I remember laying awake crying as I heard the show's intro music!
Oh, never mind. That's what I get for not checking your site every single day. I missed it. Just picture me laying in my bed crying this weekend.