Both my boys just got tucked in for the night, but I expect them to come untucked again momentarily. They’re a bit like Weebles when you try to coax them into bed: Weebles wobble but they won’t go down. And if you’re old enough to know how the original Weebles slogan went, you might just recall the Carol Burnett Show, too.
I’ll admit that the young Sungold was just as impossible at bedtime. In grade school, I’d sneak downstairs, hoping to catch my parents watching her show. I’d cajole them to let me watch “just for a few minutes,” which somehow usually stretched to the end of the show.
This classic sketch, with Tim Conway as an inept dentist and Harvey Korman trying hard not to laugh, was one of my favorites back then. It still tickles me.
By the way, if anyone wondered why I’ve been slow to respond to comments lately, I’m coming off a week of my husband traveling and two weeks of being sick with not-quite-swine-flu. I’m teaching three classes, aka one too many. Yesterday I suddenly had to grade 80 essays that normally would go to a grader, and it kept me up half the night. I’m not complaining; my grader just spent the past few days in the hospital, and I’m still not sure that all’s well with him.
Posting and commenting might both be a little erratic while I try to get back on my feet. It’s not because I don’t love y’all. I’m just utterly exhausted. I’m going to watch the season opener of “House” (on DVR; I’ve had no time for TV) and hope the Bear and Tiger might finally be down for the count.
Patron cat of Kittywampus (1985-2001)
I think it’s heart-warming that bloggers feel a sense of obligation to their readers for something they do on their own time, and free of charge. ‘especially those who manage demanding careers, daily stress, and all the commitment required from those with families and young children.
Enjoy your TV and, if you find time to contribute posts that I find both informative, stimulating, and predominantly good humoured, then it’s your readers who should be grateful, as I certainly am. Again, thank you.
Reg, I don’t think it’s so much a sense of obligation as *embeddedness* and connection. If that makes any sense. I know that when bloggers I follow change their pattern of posting, I do wonder if all’s well. I come from a family of congenital worrywarts, and I didn’t escape the gene, so no reason to assume others aren’t equally wondering if I disappear.
I finally did get to watch the second have of House – tonight. Seems I can’t stay awake for more than an hour’s worth of TV these days.
She was SO fabulous! I can only think of a handful of women who dared do “physical comedy” on the level of what men have done. Women have been too physically self-conscious and have usually tried to look pretty (or “cute”) for TV (… even very funny women like Jennifer Aniston and Teri Garr have been gorgeous)… I can only think of Burnett, Ruth Buzzi, Joan Davis, Lucille Ball and Gilda Radner, all of whom dared to act ugly and goofy and walk funny/pick noses/roll around on the floor like the boy-comedians. That’s why they reached great heights in their work, and why I genuflect at the sound of their names, whether the type of humor was ‘sexist’ or not (i.e. Lucy always trying to fool Ricky).
On some level, your child-self realized you were seeing a woman do something we RARELY do on TV. As an older girl, I was very conscious of it and idolized Carol Burnett as a result. I am still amazed at how few women are capable of this kind of slapstick, not caring about appearances. Unlike other areas in which women have excelled, this particular situation seems to be getting worse, not better.
Oh, it’s lovely to find another member of her fan club. It’s funny, the Burnett show captivated me just around the time when it began to dawn on me that girls could, in fact, do a whole lot more than we’d been credited with. I was 10 or 11 at the time.
I adored Gilda Radner, too. If there’s a heaven, I hope to meet her. And Lucy! I watched her everyday as a preschooler. Our babysitter liked Lucy.
Oddly, my dad was good friends with the guy who composed the “I Love Lucy Theme.” He lived off those royalties into ripe old age, and died around the time he turned 90, several years ago. He was still composing up until close to the end.
I agree that slapstick is seen less than ever as women’s territory. Some of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s stuff edges in that direction, but not with the whole-body, go-for-broke edge of Carol Burnett.
She did a great job voicing the uptight mama kangaroo in “Horton Hears a Who,” by the way.
Thanks for sharing this, Sungold! Ah, the memories!
I had never thought of DaisyDeadhead’s point before, but one of my favourite modern female comedians is Sandra Bullock. Though she is more actress than comedian, I love her comfort with physical comedy, and the fact that she doesn’t make her glamorous side prevent her from playing the fool. To me, it makes her more, rather than less, sexy.
I hope you’re feeling better soon!
I’m fond of Sandra Bullock, too. She’s my husband’s absolute fave, and I love him a little extra for liking her better than Angelina Jolie. I agree that the ability to laugh at oneself is sexy – in men as well as women.
Thanks for the well wishes. I’m feeling a bit better day by day, but it’s slow.