ALMOST ON TELEVISION

I just read a very short article here on Gather about Harvey Korman having died. As most everyone knows, he was one of the comedians who was a regular cast member on the Carol Burnett Show. In some places, re-runs of the show can be seen. A couple of different times, there were specials with the group of actors who appreared each week on the show.

Carol Burnett was always so funny. "Here, Piggy, Piggy." I can still see her feeding the pigeons, and declaring herself, Queen of the Pigeion Feeders. On the game show, when Carol didn't want to be hurt anymore, because she 'had been hurt a lot.'  And when she and Mr. Korman were pretending to be an aging married couple and discovered they had 'lines!'.  I still laugh inside when I recall the different episodes.

After reading the article about Mr Korman, I recalled getting a letter from Ms Burnett. It was nicely written, probably by her secretary and signed with a stamp. But it didn't sound like a secretary had written it, and the signature didn't look like a stamp. It looked and sounded like it came from Carol Burnett herself.

Why did she write to me?

Because I watched the show every week and I thought of skits that would be funny. I wrote some of them down in television format and sent them to her.

The letter explained to me that even though she thought my proposed skits were funny, she couldn't accept them. She was under a writer's contract to Tim Conway and a couple of other guys and this didn't allow her to take material from other sources. Even if it came to her free.

I was so disappointed. I understood why she couldn't, but I was still disappointed. And I didn't understand why the writers wouldn't allow her to accept the material when I sent it to her without expecting anything. Except to see it on television. With Carol, Lyle, Harvey and the rest of the cast performing them.

It seems so long ago now that I thought I could write for those guys (and ladies). And now Mr. Korman has died and the others are aging beyond what seems right. Death seeks everyone and it isn't the least bit humorous.