Original CBS broadcast of the Finale with all commercials....3/29/78

[TVFactFan]

Few facts to go with the finale

1.Aired from 8pm to 10pm
2. Finale Ranked #12 for the week





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne87_IVONlM

[cloggedmind]

Nice catch! Shame they have to put their ******* logo on everything AND it looks like it's getting bigger. Still, 'tis whattit 'tis!

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by cloggedmind

Nice catch! Shame they have to put their ******* logo on everything AND it looks like it's getting bigger. Still, 'tis whattit 'tis!

Oh the TV symbol used to be smaller? lol

[cloggedmind]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Oh the TV symbol used to be smaller? lol

Yeah. Used to be a little bar with the name at the bottom. And sometimes they wouldn't "brand" the video (or edit.. they have edited before, just so people won't have the whole deal) at all.

[TMC]

How was The Carol Burnett Show able to maintain popularity for 11 seasons on CBS? Why was it cancelled after 1978?

For 11 seasons, The Carol Burnett Show dominated TV precisely because its cast couldn't stop breaking character. Yet CBS never actually cancelled the hit—Burnett pulled the plug.

The show's remarkable run was driven by the extraordinary chemistry of its ensemble. Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and eventually Tim Conway operated less like coworkers and more like a theatrical repertory company. While most network programs demanded flawless execution, audiences loved watching this polished variety format dissolve into genuine amusement. Conway regularly improvised physical comedy specifically to make Korman collapse into laughter on camera. It made the massive Hollywood production feel like a group of friends putting on a show in a living room.

That intimacy was deliberately engineered. Every episode opened with Burnett stepping out as herself, talking directly to the audience, taking questions, and occasionally performing her trademark Tarzan yell. By breaking the fourth wall before the sketches even started, she built a rapport that carried over into everything that followed.

Behind the scenes, the show offered an unparalleled visual spectacle. Costume designer Bob Mackie created up to 65 distinct outfits every week, ranging from glamorous gowns to the iconic curtain-rod dress used in the Gone with the Wind parody. Between Mackie's designs, a 35-piece orchestra, and relentless, high-energy parodies like "The Family" and "As the Stomach Turns," the show delivered a level of theatricality that sitcoms simply could not match.

By 1978, the television landscape had shifted. The variety show format—once a staple of prime time—was rapidly falling out of favor. Internally, the show's foundational chemistry had fractured. Harvey Korman left after the tenth season to star in his own sitcom on ABC. Dick Van Dyke was brought in as his replacement for season 11, but the dynamic never clicked, and Van Dyke exited mid-season.

While ratings had slipped from their peak, CBS was fully prepared to renew the show for a twelfth season. Burnett, however, saw the writing on the wall. Recognizing that the golden age of the variety show was over and lacking the cast that had defined the program for a decade, she chose to close the curtain. As she later explained, her goal was to "leave before we're asked to," ensuring The Carol Burnett Show ended as a television legend rather than a casualty of changing times.