The Carol Burnett Show Season 3 Episode 15 with Flip Wilson, Vikki Carr
- January 19, 1970
The Carol Burnett Show was a wildly popular and acclaimed sketch comedy series that ran for 11 seasons on CBS from 1967 to 1978. Each episode featured a mix of sketches, musical numbers, and parody commercials, all hosted by the eponymous Carol Burnett and her regular cast of talented performers.
Season 3, episode 15 of The Carol Burnett Show aired on January 7, 1970, and was a particularly star-studded affair. The episode featured appearances by beloved comedian Flip Wilson and Grammy-winning singer Vikki Carr, as well as the regular cast of Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner.
The episode kicked off with a musical number featuring Burnett and Carr, who sang a lighthearted version of "The Loneliness of Evening" from the musical South Pacific. The sketch that followed was a parody of the game show "To Tell the Truth," with Wilson playing a character who had to guess which of three contestants was the real Santa Claus.
Next up was a sketch set in a department store, with Burnett and Korman playing hapless salespeople trying to sell absurd products like a "caffeine shower attachment" and a "portable mail order bride." The sketch escalated into chaos when a customer (played by Carr) entered the store looking for a "bullfighter's costume" and ended up trying on all sorts of ridiculous outfits.
One of the highlights of the episode was a series of sketches featuring Burnett and Wilson as a pair of janitors. The long-running sketches, which were a fan favorite, saw the pair exchanging witty banter and performing song-and-dance numbers while they cleaned up after the rest of the cast. In this particular episode, the janitors performed a charming rendition of "Till There Was You" from The Music Man, complete with backup dancers.
Other sketches in the episode included a parody of the movie "Juliet of the Spirits," in which Burnett played a character who had a "psychic breakthrough" while housecleaning, and a hilarious musical number with Burnett, Korman, and Wilson, in which the trio made fun of all the absurd fads and trends that had come and gone in the 1960s.
As always, the episode featured a number of commercial parodies, including a fake spot for a brand of deodorant called "Unwilt," and a spoof of the classic "Ajax cleanser" commercials, in which Burnett played a tough-as-nails cleaning lady who could handle anything.
The episode wrapped up with a final musical number featuring Burnett, Carr, and the rest of the cast, in which they sang a medley of classic show tunes. It was a fitting end to a episode chock-full of comedy, music, and guest stars.
Overall, season 3, episode 15 of The Carol Burnett Show was a classic installment of the beloved series, showcasing the comedic genius of the show's regular cast and the star power of its special guests.
