In Such Good Company

 In Such Good Company (2016) by Carol Burnett

Carol Burnett's book focuses on eleven year run of her fabulous Carol Burnett Show. She gives a brief introduction to her ventures on the Broadway stage and appearances on other shows before being given the chance to start her own, but the bulk of the book is focused on how she and her husband built the show, bringing in fantastic regulars Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, Vicki Lawrence, and eventually Tim Conway. It's difficult to believe that Tim wasn't a regular all along--his comedic presence seems to fill all of my memories of the show. But despite many guest appearances over the years, he wasn't a regular until season number nine. She shares memorable moments with some of her favorite guest stars from Lucille Ball to Bing Crosby, from Roddy McDowall to Rita Hayworth, and from Betty White to Dick Van Dyke. She gives detailed dialogue and descriptions of her favorite moments on the show--most of which were send-ups of the movies she and her grandmother would go see when she was growing up. 

I grew up on The Carol Burnett Show. It was shown in syndication and I adored it. A lot of the adult humor went over my head, but I recognized most the movies they were recreating and I thought Tim Conway and Harvey Korman were two of the funniest men on the planet. Tim's efforts to break Harvy up were incredible. The dentist sketch has got to be one of the all-time funniest moments on television. And I'll never forget seeing her come down the staircase as Starlett O'Hara in that outrageous green curtain dress.  It was such fun having Carol take me on a trip down the television memories of my younger years as well as reading some of the behind the scenes stories. It's a shame that the writers didn't make a good transition from Harvey Korman (who left at the end of season ten) to Dick Van Dyke (who came on board to take his place as a regular). Perhaps the show would have run a bit longer if the sketches had fit better with the regulars on board at the time. 

A really fun book. Not quite as laugh-out-loud funny as I expected. But definitely interesting to someone who watched the show back in the day. ★★★★

First line (intro): I recently had the extreme pleasure of accepting the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and in accepting the honor I talked about how much I loved going to the movies with my grandmother, Nanny, as a kid.

First line (Ch. 1): When I was growing up, theater and music were my first loves, so my original show business goals revolved around being in musical comedies on Broadway, like Ethel Merman and Mary Martin.

Last line: How lucky am I?