TALLguyinKY
06-01-2002, 01:50 AM
This has been given a little attention before, so I thought I'd type up exactly what Vicki wrote in her autobiography for y'all to see just what she and Carol went through during "Mama", and which explains why Carol never appeared in the syndicated version.
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"A funny thing happened the day I signed with Lorimar. Carol called and said, 'I think I'd like to put together maybe a little syndicated show with the family characters. I'll do Eunice, you do Mama. Doesn't that sound like fun?'
I said, 'It does, but I just signed with Lorimar to do Mama's Family for Joe.'
It became a very abrubt conversation, and Carol hung up. I then went to Al and asked him what he made of the whole thing. He agreed it was really weird. I wondered if I was about to get caught in the middle of yet another struggle between the two of them."
~~~
"During her divorce, Carol and I went through a 'cool' period. She 'divorced' everyone and remained distant for a lot of years. She called the house a few years ago. I was standing at the sink peeling carrots, fifteen feet from the phone, but Garrett got to it first and I only heard his half of the following conversation: 'Hello? Oh hi. Yeah, sure, he's in the other room, on the other line. You want me to tell him you're calling? My mom's here, you want to talk to her? No? Okay. Goodbye.'
When he hung up I asked him who it was.
'Carol Burnett.'
I was shocked. 'What did she say?'
'She didn't want to talk to you. She only wanted to talk to Dad.'
Al called her back later that night, made a point of telling her how much we missed and loved her, and she told him, 'I'll be back. It's just going to take a while longer. Give me another year or so.' She went through an incredible amount of pain and adjustment trying to redefine herself after the divorce, and when she finally put it all together, she emerged better and happier for all that had gone down. She was on the Vicki! show a lot and remains to this day totally supportive of my career.'
~~~
(about Joe passing in 1991) 'The way I found out he died was by reading it in the newspapers, which said the services were private. I didn't attend the funeral because I interpreted private services to mean we weren't invited.
There's always been an ongoing connection between Burnett people, and yet nobody ever called or said anything to Al and me about going. Later on, we heard through the grapevine that Carol was upset with us for missing the funeral. As much as he had hurt her, she was upset when he passed away.
So were we. We should have been there to pay our last respects to a man who figured so prominently in our lives. When we did find out, we called Carol but couldn't get through to her, so we left an apology with her assistant.
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But, as we know, Carol and Vicki have been close ever since. :)
I just love readin' about behind-the-scenes things of your favorite shows...
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"A funny thing happened the day I signed with Lorimar. Carol called and said, 'I think I'd like to put together maybe a little syndicated show with the family characters. I'll do Eunice, you do Mama. Doesn't that sound like fun?'
I said, 'It does, but I just signed with Lorimar to do Mama's Family for Joe.'
It became a very abrubt conversation, and Carol hung up. I then went to Al and asked him what he made of the whole thing. He agreed it was really weird. I wondered if I was about to get caught in the middle of yet another struggle between the two of them."
~~~
"During her divorce, Carol and I went through a 'cool' period. She 'divorced' everyone and remained distant for a lot of years. She called the house a few years ago. I was standing at the sink peeling carrots, fifteen feet from the phone, but Garrett got to it first and I only heard his half of the following conversation: 'Hello? Oh hi. Yeah, sure, he's in the other room, on the other line. You want me to tell him you're calling? My mom's here, you want to talk to her? No? Okay. Goodbye.'
When he hung up I asked him who it was.
'Carol Burnett.'
I was shocked. 'What did she say?'
'She didn't want to talk to you. She only wanted to talk to Dad.'
Al called her back later that night, made a point of telling her how much we missed and loved her, and she told him, 'I'll be back. It's just going to take a while longer. Give me another year or so.' She went through an incredible amount of pain and adjustment trying to redefine herself after the divorce, and when she finally put it all together, she emerged better and happier for all that had gone down. She was on the Vicki! show a lot and remains to this day totally supportive of my career.'
~~~
(about Joe passing in 1991) 'The way I found out he died was by reading it in the newspapers, which said the services were private. I didn't attend the funeral because I interpreted private services to mean we weren't invited.
There's always been an ongoing connection between Burnett people, and yet nobody ever called or said anything to Al and me about going. Later on, we heard through the grapevine that Carol was upset with us for missing the funeral. As much as he had hurt her, she was upset when he passed away.
So were we. We should have been there to pay our last respects to a man who figured so prominently in our lives. When we did find out, we called Carol but couldn't get through to her, so we left an apology with her assistant.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But, as we know, Carol and Vicki have been close ever since. :)
I just love readin' about behind-the-scenes things of your favorite shows...