Pioneers of Television (2008–…): Season 3, Episode 1 - Funny Ladies - full transcript

I'm the luckiest old broad
on two feet.

I feel like television for women
has always been a better place.

I never really thought I would
ever do comedy like we did.

♪ To carry on ♪

♪ You light up... ♪

Then I thought,
I like to hear the laughs.

♪ ...life ♪

There have always been
funny ladies.

I've never worked in anything

where I didn't give everything
I have.

Every lady on this show
is a killer.



They brought a whole
new perspective

to television comedy.

I never thought I was going to
be paving any way for anybody.

Ay, caramba!

Charo!

You have to tell the truth,
that's what comedy's all about.

Today, kids have drugs and sex
and nervous breakdowns.

It was a lot different
in my day.

We had to go out
and find our own fun.

She didn't care about
anybody but the audience

and making them laugh,
and it was so genius.

Look, miss, I was just
about to have a drink

and I wouldn't mind
some company.

Want one?
No, thank you.



I really wanted to be able
to express myself.

I said I wouldn't mind
some company.

Well, all right, I'll have
a Brandy Alexander.

I think she was very funny.

You know, things like
the candy factory

and Vitameatavegamin.

The answer to all your problems
is in this little old bottle.

Those are precise, excellent,

just fantastic pieces of comedy.

Lucy Ball, Carol Burnett...

Look at what they did
for young women.

We have young women doing
comedy today

that wouldn't have done it
without those two women.

They opened doors
for women everywhere.

You can get laughs
while making a point.

Can I get you a drink?

Yes, thank you.
A Scotch. Neat.

Don't worry,
you'll get a clean glass.

But sometimes you're doing
something

you never dreamed you'd do
in our silly business.

Come sit beside me.

More than anything,
they entertained us.

We never broke up on purpose.
Never.

I was at this freak show
one time and I,

I saw these Siamese elephants.

I'm not a funny person.

I'm silly as hell, but...

I'm sorry, but this is
a very critical time.

Well, I'm sorry, this Is

a very critical time
for me, too!

Together,
they redefined the role

of women in comedy.

Isn't it exciting work we do?
Hot-diggity-dog!

They are
the pioneers of television.

From a very early age,

all of television's funny ladies
imagined a journey to stardom.

But no one came
further than Carol Burnett.

Raised by her grandmother
in a tiny one-room apartment

in this Hollywood
tenement building,

her hopes of fame seemed like
an impossible dream.

We used to climb
the Hollywood sign.

The "O" s were my favorite.

I would climb up on the "O" s
and go,

"Hollywood,
I'll beat you yet!"

Oh, we had more fun.

In her early 20s,

Carol followed her dream
to New York.

But her fantasy of singing
on Broadway wasn't coming true.

I remember once I was
at an audition

and it was narrowed down
to another girl and me.

And she got the part.

And I just said to myself,
it was her time.

It wasn't my time,
it was her time to get that job.

My time will come.

Carol Burnett's time
finally did come,

thanks partly to this man,
John Foster Dulles.

As the U.S. Secretary of State,
Dulles was perceived

as a serious policy expert,

and perhaps the most boring man
in America.

We worked out a declaration
that the treaty

does not in any way give effect
to the Yalta agreement,

which some people feared
might be the case.

So, when Carol sang a song

idolizing John Foster Dulles,

it caught the nation's
attention.

♪ I made a fool of myself ♪

♪ Over John Foster Dulles ♪

He was really dull.

And so, it became a funny song

because it was a takeoff
on all the girls at that time

who were crazy about Elvis.

♪ The third time I saw him
'twas at the UN ♪

♪ Oh, I never had been one
to swoon over men ♪

♪ But I swooned and the drums
started pounding and then ♪

♪ I made a fool of myself ♪

♪ Over John ♪

♪ Foster Dulles ♪

Over the course of a few days,

Carol sang the song on
network television three times.

Within a week, Carol Burnett
was a household name.

"I'm in Love
with John Foster Dulles."

She made Life magazine with it,

and she became a known person.

John Foster Dulles, which got
everybody's attention.

She had a natural,
great contralto voice

and the face and the body
and the everything for comedy.

I mean we all knew

that something was going
to happen with Carol.

Like Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers

also had dreams of stardom,
from the very beginning.

From the time I was 3 years old

and could put thoughts together,
that was it.

I sat in a movie theater
in Brooklyn

and I'm sitting there thinking,

"This is a mistake.

I should be up there...
She should be watching me.

Let her eat the goo-goos."

Young Joan Rivers fought her way

into obscure amateur plays,

but paying acting jobs
eluded her.

When she learned about a comic
who had made $6 a night,

she was intrigued.

Six dollars a night
doing comedy.

That's more than I was making
as a Kelly Girl.

I went to see him and
I thought, "I can do that.

This is stupid.
That's nothing, I can do that."

And that's how I started...
Little did I know.

Before long,
Joan was in Chicago,

on stage at Second City,

building her comic repertoire,
honing the skills

that would make her
a television star.

A lot of people get into bed
and watch television.

Edgar always takes a book
to bed,

which is terrific
on my wedding night.

Are you ready for that one?

Second City changed my life.

To this day, everything I do
on stage is out of Second City.

It's a great way to spend
your 20s.

It's just really fun, and it
opens people up creatively.

It makes you a better
risk taker in general.

Eventually Joan Rivers
found herself in Los Angeles,

working the comedy clubs,
hoping for that one shot

on Johnny Carson's
"Tonight Show"

that could make her
a star overnight.

For seven years, the
"Tonight Show" bookers passed.

Seven years and they would
come and they would say things

like, they would always say,

"There's a very funny girl down
there, you should see her."

Then they'd say,
"Too rough, too wild,

talking about things a woman
shouldn't talk about."

Finally, Johnny Carson opened

his door to Joan Rivers

and gave her a shot
on the "Tonight Show."

Carson and I clicked.
He got me immediately.

Immediately. And on the air,
he said to me,

"You're going to be a star,"
and it still gets me.

1, 2...

Mary Tyler Moore's
plans for stardom

began in a dance studio.

As a teen,
she practiced every day.

But in Hollywood, her dreams
faced a major obstacle.

I was a chorus dancer.

I wanted to be a star dancer,
but they weren't

making
that many musicals anymore.

But Mary Tyler Moore
had a combination

that was rare in Hollywood.

She was
both beautiful and vulnerable,

the idealized, fresh-faced
"girl next door."

I was very lucky because I had

kind of an All-American face
and demeanor.

And I was easily cast
in small roles,

but then that's where I
got my experience.

Small acting jobs came
quickly for Mary Tyler Moore,

but they didn't bring fame.

Stuck in supporting roles,
Mary Tyler Moore

considered leaving
show business altogether.

At one point, she took a test

to determine what other jobs
she might be good at.

And it was three days
of testing.

And at the end of it,
the result was

that I would be best suited for
work either as a model

or a member of the armed forces.

When she heard Carl Reiner
was casting a new sitcom,

Mary Tyler Moore didn't even
want to try for the part.

After all, Reiner was
interviewing

dozens of more experienced
actresses for the role

of Laura Petrie,
like Pat Crowley.

I did meet with Carl Reiner
at his house.

That was something I would love
to have done.

I would love to have done
"The Dick Van Dyke Show."

Carl Reiner's staff called Mary,

but she still didn't think
it was even worth auditioning.

And I was feeling very sorry
for myself.

And I was having coffee
with a girlfriend.

And she said,
"Well, that's ridiculous,

you just put that cup down
and get in the car

and go over
and interview for this,"

'The Dick Van Dyke Show.'

And I did.

And Carl Reiner just looked
at me

with a kind of a look
of awe on his face.

He communicated to me right away

that I was going to get
that role.

Getting that first big role,

it wasn't easy
for Mary Tyler Moore

or Carol Burnett or Joan Rivers.

But the obstacles were even
larger for a woman of color.

Throughout the 1930s,
'40s and '50s,

one of the highest-paid
standup comics in America

was an African-American
woman, Jackie Mabley,

but no TV show would book her
until the late 1960s,

near the end of her career.

And ugly...

He was so ugly, honest to
goodness, he hurt my feelings.

Even in the 1970s,
women of color

still faced challenges breaking
into television.

Nearly everyone on TV was
white and young.

Anyone who didn't fit
the mold faced skepticism.

When I first started, they said,

"Well, what makes you think
you can do it?

You're not beautiful,
you're not young.

Young girls are having
a hard time."

I said, "Somebody's got
to be the aunt,

somebody's got to be the mother,
why not me?"

After years of rejections,

Marla Gibbs landed a small role
in a single episode

of "The Jeffersons."

She had just one big line,

and how she delivered it
would change her career.

You live in this apartment,
right?
Uh-huh.

And you've got an apartment
in this building, too?

Yes, that's right.

Well, how come we overcame
and nobody told me?

The role reminded me so much of
my grandmother and my aunt,

so I delivered it the way
they would have.

And it just went over very big.

Marla Gibbs parlayed
that one appearance

into a regular starring role
on one of TV's

longest running sitcoms,
"The Jeffersons."

Florence, get the door.

You told me to stay
in the kitchen.

Get the door!

Just because you're a boss

don't mean you've got to be
so lazy.

You're closer to the door
than I am.

You could have it opened,
answered, and shut

before I even got near it!

Eventually Marla Gibbs became

the first African-American woman
to have creative control

over her own sitcom, "227."

She wasn't afraid to
take charge.

They have a joke, they said,

"Marla, you picked this joke

and we like
this joke better."

I said, "Do you? You know
what we're going to do?

We're going to take some
scissors

and we're going to cut that
joke out and give it to you

and you can take it home
and keep it forever."

At first they'd say...

And just where do you think
you're going, young lady?

Just over to the park, Mama.

Calvin wants to show me
where he goes

when he wants to think
about things.

Huh. Must be
a very small place.

America's most beloved
funny lady came to television

with more comedy experience than
almost anyone before, or since.

Lucille Ball was nearly 40
when "I Love Lucy" premiered,

with two decades of comic roles
on her resumé, playing opposite

The Marx Brothers,
Abbott and Costello,

Red Skelton, the Three Stooges,
and Bob Hope.

Oh, I'll never forget
Lady Cunningham's hair.

She had me comb it in a huge bun
on the top of her head.

It was very striking.

How uninteresting.
Everywhere she went,
people would say,

"There goes Lady Cunningham,
she's the one with the bun on."

Ha ha!
They were quaint folk.

Lucy's skill for
getting laughs was no accident.

She was formally trained

in the precise art of physical
comedy in her early days at MGM.

As Lucy told it,
Rags Ragland and Buster Keaton

were under contract to MGM.

Their job really was to take
the young contract players

and teach them comedy.

And the first things that
those gentlemen would do

was tell them to take a prop.

Learn that prop so it's
an extension of your body.

And Lucy was

the most excellent example of
someone who could handle a prop

and made it artistry.

She was amazing.

So she learned her lessons
very, very well,

from two masters
of physical comedy.

She would say something like,

"Okay, the punch line
is gonna be,

I'm going to say, 'Eat the pie.'

Count to three
before you answer me,

because that's
how long the applause will take,

or that's how long the laugh
will take."

She was right!

In the '30s and '40s,

Hollywood presumed
that for a woman to be funny,

she'd have to make herself
unattractive.

But Lucille Ball rejected that
stereotype from the beginning.

Lucille Ball was beautiful.
Nobody remembers that.

If you look at the early films
of Lucy Ball,

she was always a knock-down-
drag-out-gorgeous lady.

Sometimes she was dramatic,
sometimes she was comedic,

but she could have done
anything she wanted to.

What Lucy wanted to do in 1950

was keep her husband
close to home.

A bandleader, Desi Arnaz
traveled the country to perform.

But if he starred
with Lucy in a weekly TV show,

the couple could spend
more time together.

On October 15th, 1951,
"I Love Lucy" premiered.

Look, Lucy, Monday's Fred's
anniversary

and he wants to go
to the fights.

Well, Monday's Ethel's
anniversary, too,

and she wants to go
to a night club.

Fred is not going to go
to any stuffy night club.

Well, Ethel's not going
to any stale fight.

Lucy, don't push me too far.

It's the fights or nothing.

Well, is that final?
Final.

You brought this on yourself.

Ethel wants
Good.
a divorce!

No, she doesn't!

Before "I Love Lucy" premiered,

Betty White was already
on the air with her sitcom,

"Life with Elizabeth,"
premiering in 1951.

Let's try it again.
1...

That's pretty.
1, 2...

Must be a cheap lens.

Well, let's take it once more.

All rightie.
Nice and pretty.

1, 2...

Oh, Elizabeth,
for goodness' sake.

Honey, that's not nice.
Jiminy crickets.

"I Love Lucy" started
shortly after we started,

and we had about $1.95
for a budget for each show.

We played against sort of
a flat background.

We had a couch and a couple
of living room chairs.

And Lucy came in
and all of a sudden,

they knew how to do it.

Unlike her contemporaries,

Betty White's career actually
began in television,

in the 1940s.

Her first job was a local show
in Los Angeles.

We were on six days a week,
five and a half hours a day.

No script, no anything.

It was like going to television
college; it was wonderful.

At ease in front of the camera,

Betty quickly developed skills
behind the scenes as well,

emerging as one
of the first women

to produce a national
television show.

That was so, so before
the women's movement

that I don't think we even
thought of it.

I never even thought
of it being a different,

a different gender,
it was just you did

whatever the job was
and whatever job you could get.

In addition to
starring in two sitcoms,

Betty White hosted talk shows,

produced an "American Idol"
style amateur hour,

appeared on game shows,
and regularly guested

on Jack Paar's "Tonight Show,"

and this was all before 1960.

I'm the luckiest old broad
on two feet to get chances

to do that, and I treasure them.

The funny ladies of
television weren't satisfied

with their first
15 minutes of fame.

After capturing
the nation's attention,

they all honed their skills

in front of a national audience,
week after week.

The training ground for
Carol Burnett

was "The Garry Moore Show."

Isn't it natural?

It looks so real, you can
almost reach out and touch it.

Watch what?
Watch it!

"The Garry Moore Show,"
naturally,

over most of these CBS stations.

I learned so much
from Garry Moore.

Carol, I would like you
to meet Robert Goulet.

Must I?

Robert, this is Carol Burnett.

Charmed.

Tally-ho.

Uh, I must say, I saw you
in your show, uh...

"Camelot"?

Did you like it?

Oh, you were wonderful!
You were so gorgeous!

He was beautiful!
He played Sir Lancelot.

And he was a knight
in shining armor.

Oh, I wish I'd had a can opener!

Before "The Garry Moore Show,"

Carol Burnett hadn't done
much comedy.

She'd planned to become
a singer, but here,

on this variety show,
she found her calling.

Give me a chance at this job.

I'll do anything to get
this job.

Anything.

I'll even have a beer with ya

after we knock off work,
whaddya say?

Ehhh!

So I fell into
the comedic thing.

I never really thought I would
ever do comedy,

like we did, at all.

Then I thought, I like
to hear the laughs.

Because Garry Moore's
show was live,

anything could happen,

a perfect training ground for
comedy improvisation.

I'm a queen who thinks
for herself.

Kiss me.

Whoa!

Madame!

You fell off your throne.

Watch it!

Mary Tyler Moore
learned her craft

on "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

In the first episode, she hadn't
quite mastered comedy

and was instead trying to
imitate her favorite movie star.

The thing about
Mary Tyler Moore,

she was 23 when she came
on the show

and had never done any comedy.

I think she visualized herself
as a kind of Katharine Hepburn.

And I fancied myself
a young Katharine Hepburn

about the time that we started
"The Dick Van Dyke Show."

And if, in a rerun,
you watch the right episode,

you'll catch me up on saying
things like,

"Oh, darling!"

You're not going to fix me
any breakfast, are you?

But, darling, I offered
to fix you breakfast!

All right, have your fun.
Enjoy yourself.

Within a few weeks,
she grabbed it.

The timing came.

She just got it so quickly that
I'm still fascinated

by how fast she grew
on that show.

Early on, producer Carl Reiner

saw Mary's talent for comedy

and wrote an episode to bring
out her skills.

After dyeing her hair blond,

Mary tried to dye it back before
her husband got home.

Rob, do you really like my hair?
I mean, really like my hair?

Honey, I love your hair.

Well, honey...

what if I were a blonde?

Would I be as attractive to you
if I were a blonde?

Uh...

I can't picture you
as a blonde, honey.

No, wait a minute, yes, I can.

You know who you'd
look like?
Who?

Harpo Marx!

He said I'd look like
Harpo Marx!

And I do!

When he does get home,
he opens the door

and is greeted by a woman with
half blond, half brunette hair.

It was a pretty wonderful image,
very funny.

Why?

What is that?

I got to go to pieces
in front of him

and tell him what madness
drove me to this act.

Honey, why?

Why?

Well, yesterday morning,
and I kissed you,

and you said,
"Don't do that."

And you came down to breakfast

in your yucky shirt!

How sorry I was
and how stupid I was

but he did seem to not be
giving me very much attention,

and so on, and I got to cry.

And I prepared very well
for that crying scene.

And a gray hair!

And Harpo Marx!

And the general yuckiness!

Honey!

For Joan Rivers,

the first big break
on the "Tonight Show"

led to dozens of opportunities
to appear on TV.

Every time, she was breaking
new ground

for women on television,
talking about topics

that were previously taboo.

I was 8 months pregnant,
and on the Sullivan show

they said,
"you can't mention 'pregnant.""

I'm like, I'm a house!
I'm a tent with a bow!

And I had to come out and say,
"Mr. Sullivan,

pretty soon I'll be hearing the
pitter patter of little feet."

You wanna know the truth?
You know how lousy you feel.

At night when I'm undressed,

my husband looks at me
and mentally dresses me.

All the critics talked
about was,

how dare a pregnant woman
come on stage.

I remember saying it
on the Carson show,

and Carson said,
"How did it go?"

"Well, my water broke and my dog
drown, but otherwise it's fine."

And there was a gasp,
but then a laugh.

Joan Rivers wasn't
just making America laugh,

she was pushing the limits
of women and comedy,

and inspiring a new generation

of comic talent.

It was so genius.

What was great about Joan Rivers

is that she was going in this
direction that was totally new,

totally irreverent,
that just didn't care

about anybody but the audience.

Her kind of approach to jokes,
which is,

seems to me oftentimes
to be saying

the thing that people were
thinking and not saying,

was, at the time, was kind
of thrilling and innovative.

She was just talking about
things that nobody would say

but everybody was thinking,
and that's really amazing.

Joan eventually began
filling in for Johnny Carson

on the "Tonight Show,"
and soon landed

one of the most coveted
jobs in television comedy...

Johnny's permanent guest host.

Rivers felt she
was no threat to Johnny.

She believed NBC would never
allow Carson

to be replaced by a woman.

Very smart.

It was again no competition
to him

because he knew from
the beginning

they would never
give it to a woman.

Very smart of him.

When Joan Rivers got
her own late night show,

she and Johnny Carson
had a major falling out.

I called him, he hung up;
I called him again.

And he never spoke to me
again, ever.

I would see him in a restaurant.
He still wouldn't talk to me.

Mean.
What do you want?

Joan Rivers wasn't the only

female standup appearing
on television,

but it was a very small group.

Totie Fields broke through
in the early 1960s,

with a larger-than-life,
self-deprecating style.

Then I had to get
the stretch pants.

Stretch pants?

Actually, any pants I put on,
I stretch out.

Perhaps the best-known
standup of the era

was Phyllis Diller.

I once had a peekaboo blouse.

And people would peek,
then they'd boo.

I was hot as a pistol
at that time,

as you may well believe.

And it was still my old face.

As with previous standups,

the logical
next step for Phyllis Diller

was starring in a sitcom
or variety show.

Phyllis did both,
and both failed.

Primarily because
neither show reflected

Phyllis Diller's unique
comic persona.

Everything was wrong.

They had a big dancing number
always, and I'm not a dancer,

but the director was a dancer.

That meant a great deal to him.
I couldn't do it.

♪ They're making music
to watch girls by ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Music to watch
girls by ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Music to watch
girls by ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Music to watch girls by ♪

Phyllis Diller never did find

a weekly television format
to show off her talents.

Lucille Ball had the opposite
situation.

Three successful sitcoms
in a row made her

the most popular funny lady
in America for decades.

I think she was very funny.

Things like the candy factory
and Vitameatavegamin.

Those are precise, excellent,

just fantastic pieces of comedy.

Speed it up a little!

Lucy's attention to detail

was renowned in the business...

She never forgot
her comedic training,

a style of performing that
required repeated rehearsals,

until it was perfect.

She said to the cameraman,

literally, "Harry, that looks
like it's 2 1/2 inches off."

And he says, "Lucy, Lucy,
it's just where it was."

And she said... she's tough...

"Measure it!
It's 2 1/2 inches off."

It was about 2 1/2... she knew!

She doesn't stop at anything!

A new doctor moved into
the neighborhood, right?

Mama found out he was single
and an orthopedic surgeon.

You know what she did?

Closed the piano lid
right on my fingers.

Sure, easy for you to laugh,
you're lucky, you're a widow!

Perhaps Lucille Ball's
greatest strength

was her comic fearlessness.

She was all-in on every bit

and always willing
to take the pie.

Like Lucy says, you got to take

the pie in the face
at some point.

She always played the wacky,
crazy thing,

and she took the pie...
Literally.

I let 'em have it!

Drop it! Drop it!

On the floor?

No, let me have it.

Okay.

On her first sitcom,
Lucy's husband, Desi Arnaz,

managed the production,
staff, and scripts,

so Lucy could
focus on performing.

But when the couple divorced,

Lucy, reluctantly,
had to take a larger role.

So one morning, when a script
wasn't right,

Lucy had to take action.

Lucy did go back after lunch

and told them
in no uncertain terms

how they had to fix that script

and it better be done
by tomorrow morning

or you're out... She was strong.

And she took a sip of her drink
and she said,

"And, kid, that's when they
put the s

on the end of my name."

The only woman on television

whose physical comedy skills
compared to Lucille Ball

was Carol Burnett.

After 7 years
on Garry Moore's show,

CBS offered Carol a sitcom,
but she declined.

She wanted to do a variety show.

This is what I do best.

This is what I love.
I love music, I love sketches.

I love having guest stars
and I wanted a rep company

like Sid Caesar had.

"The money would then go

to my equally disgusting nephew,
Theo Grubber, in the event

of Bosco's death."

I'm sure there wasn't
much there in the first place.

Carol's secret
to 11 years of success

was letting others shine.

One of the most important
things that I learned from Carol

is that you are as good as
the people that surround you.

And she just was very much,

"Fly, baby, fly,"
and very proud of you.

She accepted every contribution
of a line or a thought

or a thing, from everybody.

Bob Mackie, I got an idea
for a dress.

We'll put this curtain
rod in here, and you'll say,

"I saw it in the window
and I just couldn't refuse it."

Scarlett, I love you.
That... that gown is gorgeous.

Thank you.

I saw it in the window
and I just couldn't resist it.

Because it was taped
as if it was live,

the Carol Burnett show had
a unique sense of spontaneity.

Tim Conway especially took
advantage of that opportunity.

I knew what I was going to say.

But they didn't know what
I was going to say.

I would write a script,

and I would put in my lines
as one thing.

When we did the show, I did
something totally different,

which kind of, I imagine,
threw them from time to time.

Not so much Carol, very tough
to break her up, but Harvey,

being a poor performer,
was very easy to destroy.

I'll just give you
a little shot here.

We'll be right with you.

And the audience
was looking forward to that

each week, too.

They can't wait till Tim was
going to make Harvey laugh.

Imagine being Harvey...

"He's not gonna make me
laugh tonight."

A lot of people thought
those were staged breakups.

They weren't.

Harvey just had such a weak spot
for Tim's humor.

Tim would never do it
to the ink.

You know, he was always doing
something else.

You know, throwing a line out.
Trying to get me to laugh.

Uh, Dear Mr. Delmar.

In the regards

to your letter of the 25th...

You'd see me as Mrs. Wiggins
sometimes doing this a lot.

Looking at the nail.

I was biting my finger to keep
from laughing.

I feel that the original
reply is in keeping

with the policy.

The director was winging it,
and the audience knew,

and it was gold, what he did.

He was just brilliant.

When I first did the old man,

they had never seen
that old man before.

They just said, "You'll come
through the door as an old man."

Okay, so I just
walked naturally kind of,

but when we taped it,
I walked that slowly.

I'll take it with me.

4 minutes!

I'll be right there.
Will you hurry up?!

Get all excited all the time!

You yell at me...

And as I was walking,
people were laughing.

But I said, if they don't
cut this,

this is going to go about
a half-hour.

I'll get a bead on you now.

Oh, really?

Mm-hmm.

Is that so?

I see.

Okay.

Adding to the sense
of spontaneity

was the show's
unique opening segment...

Carol answering questions
from the audience.

At first, Carol wasn't sure
about the idea.

I said, "I can't do that."

First of all, I'd be scared
that nobody would ask anything.

Second, I'd be scared
they would.

How old am I?

That's all the time we have now.

How old do you think I am?
And be careful.

26, you're right.

Right up here.

And I'll never forget
that first taping.

I was just all over the place.

Gawky, scared, everything.

Then once the show
started to air...

I started having fun with it.

How do you
get to the ladies' room?

Do you have to go?
Come on up here.

Sure, come on.

Yeah.

In the series'
most enduring sketch,

Vicki Lawrence played
the stern Mama character,

with Carol as the more
emotional Eunice,

characters that echoed Burnett's
difficult childhood.

I'm an old woman with
a few short years left.

The Mama character was written
for her,

but it was Eunice that
spoke to her.

Go on, go on, just tell her
what happened that night.

That I went with you,
and then later on,

we had to get married!

I get your drift, Eunice.

Welcome to the club.

Oooh!

Carol Burnett pointed out
that there are no jokes

in those sketches.

It is all just
this brittle behavior,

and all the laughs come from
the kind of tension

and the painfulness of the way
they treat each other,

which is just really
good writing.

One of these days they're
going to lock you up.

Oh, lay off of me, will ya?

You ain't playin'
with a full deck, Eunice.

I think somebody blew
your pilot light out.

Good writing, great casting,

and a beloved funny lady
at the center.

Those were the ingredients that
made "The Carol Burnett Show"

succeed for more than a decade.

And the same formula worked

for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

CBS came to me and said,

"We would like you to do
a situation comedy of your own."

♪ You might just make it
after all ♪

Mary Tyler Moore
occupied a special place

in the American mind.

She was the all-American girl,
the sister, daughter,

or friend everyone wished for.

She was their Mary.

They wanted to shield her
from life's mighty arrows.

And that's a wonderful quality
for any performer

to get from an audience,

their wanting to take care
of you because they love you.

I was kind of that woman.

You know, I was that person.

I grew up in a very
conservative household,

and I went
to a private girls school,

and you behaved
in a certain way,

and it was second nature to me,

so I didn't feel that separate

from the character
I was playing.

The producers
encircled Mary with a group

of supporting players who rank

among the best television has
ever seen...

Ed Asner,

Valerie Harper,

Ted Knight,

Betty White,

Gavin McCloud,

John Amos,

and Cloris Leachman.

The show...

where Valerie has lost
her job as a window dresser.

And she's in Mary's apartment
day and night, night and day,

24/7, I'm just sick of it.

I'm just sick of it!

Mary, you're not doing her
any favors

encouraging her
in this life of sloth!

Oh, come on, Phyllis,
she's not slothy!

Mary, as her friends, we owe it
to her to straighten her out.

We have to force her to take
a good, hard look at herself.

We have to shake her up, we have
to slap some sense into her!

And there she has a big
hair dryer on her head,

a big, inflatable hair dryer
and a big long hose.

Rhoda...

And I pick up the hose
and I say, "RHODA!"

I scream.

RHODA!

And she goes, "Ohhh!"

What? What?

What?

Everybody loved that show
and so did I, it was fun.

"The Mary Tyler Moore Show's"

most acclaimed episode
involved the death

of Chuckles the Clown.

What happened, Lou?
Who died, will you tell us?

Chuckles.

Chuckles the Clown is dead.

It was a freak accident.

He went to the parade dressed
as Peter Peanut.

And a rogue elephant tried
to shell him.

On paper, the Chuckles
episode ran 5 minutes short,

but once the story was
performed for a live audience,

the show came out the right
length, thanks to laughter.

So I went out there, where
the first scene was with Murray,

and he starts telling one-liners

about "born in a trunk,
died in a trunk."

Lucky more people weren't hurt.

Lucky that elephant didn't go
after somebody else.

That's right.

After all, you know
how hard it is to stop

after just one peanut.

And with each one,
I laughed, belly laughed,

like I had never laughed
on camera before.

That's not funny, Murray...

And it infected the audience.

And we added a minute
in that scene.

And that same process
just kept going,

adding minutes throughout
the show.

What did Chuckles ask in return?

Not much.

In his own words,

"A little song,
a little dance..."

a little seltzer down his pants.

By the end of the performance,

we had amassed
our missing 5 minutes.

Because her character was

the most popular career woman
in America,

Mary Tyler Moore was pressured
to join

the 1970s feminist movement.

But when activist
Gloria Steinem tried

to recruit Mary Tyler Moore,
the actress resisted.

I believed that women,
and still do,

have a very major role
to play as mothers.

It's very necessary for mothers

to be involved with
their children.

And that's not what
Gloria Steinem was saying.

Gloria was saying, "Oh,
you can do everything.

And you owe it to yourself
to have a career."

And, uh...

I didn't really believe in that.

Rather than give
public speeches,

Mary Tyler Moore moved the
culture in more subtle ways,

through her show.

Her character was
an independent woman

working in
a traditionally male field.

Mary Richards hoped to find
a husband,

but that quest
didn't define her.

She was a new kind of woman
for American television,

an important
role model for a new generation.

What religion are you?

Uh, Mr. Grant, I don't
quite know how to say this,

but you're not allowed
to ask that

when someone's
applying for a job.

It's against the law.

Wanna call a cop?

No.

Good. Would you think I was
violating your civil rights

if I asked if you're married?

Presbyterian.

There was a night of TV
that was Mary Tyler Moore,

and it was sacred night, and
that would be the thing that,

if I ever did get in trouble,

that would be what was
withheld from me.

Like, "You're not going to be
able to watch Mary Tyler Moore."

"What?!" I think that only
happened maybe once.

I don't know what I did.

But no, that show was big,
big deal, yeah.

When she came on,
it changed America.

So many women have told me
it changed their lives,

made it possible for them
to work themselves.

Over the show's 7-year run,

Mary Tyler Moore solidified her
place as America's sweetheart.

Her polite, mannered persona
made her the perfect foil

for a wide range
of eccentric characters.

Phyllis, when I first
read the script, was neurotic.

Eventually it turned out,
I think, that I was

"the sure, firm touch
on the wrong note."

Confident.

Proud of all the things
you shouldn't be proud of.

Did you know the male bee

is nothing but the slave
of the queen,

and once the male bee,
how should I say,

has serviced the queen...

the male dies?

All in all, not a bad system.

I was playing
a very mean character.

It was a hospital scene where
she was having her tonsils out,

and I was a very crusty lady,

and I took Mary on and I
dished it out to her.

I was horrible to her.

Listen, I was just wondering
which bed you'd like.

Either one is fine with me.

You know, if there is
anything I love,

it is long debates
concerning bed assignments

when I am standing here
on crutches!

Right, yes, well, I'll take
this bed.

Unless you'd rather...

What difference does it make?

You're right, yes.

I'm, uh, Mary Richards.

Wonderful.

Can I help you?

I can do it myself.

I got hate mail from that show.
I received...

"Hey, how dare you treat
our Mary in that manner?"

I wanted to say, "Folks,
I'm paid to say those words.

I think Mary is wonderful.
I'm with you!"

"The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
wasn't the first sitcom

to feature an independent
career woman.

Four years earlier, Marlo Thomas
starred in "That Girl,"

playing an aspiring single
actress in New York.

You have just won the privilege
of being turned down

after you audition for me.

Oh, I have?
Oh, Mr. Benedict!

You mean I'm going
to audition for you?

I mean, after I'm turned
down after the audition!

I'm so excited...

You remind me of a windup toy.

Now take this script with you

and study the scene
on page 18...

The phone conversation
between Florence and Albert.

You want me to play Florence?

Of course you want me to play
Florence, I'll be Florence.

I was expressing how I felt
and what I thought

young women would want to see,

because that's what
I would want to see.

We were the first.

Then the shows that came after
it built beautifully on it.

Ann Marie never really got
a good job, and Mary Richards

was a successful reporter
at a news station.

Arguably,
TV's very first funny lady

was Gertrude Berg,

who produced, wrote and starred
in "The Goldbergs."

In 1951, Gertrude won
the very first Emmy award

for best actress,
beating out fellow nominee

Betty White.

Betty was nominated for
a project

called "Life with Elizabeth."

Nobody remembers
"Life With Elizabeth."

They weren't born when
"Life with Elizabeth" was on.

I'm helping?

Yes, you're helping.
Hold this, please.

Cup your hands.

There you are.
Put your hands together.

Like this.
Um...

Pose them in there like that.

Tighten up.
You got it?

How's that?
All right?

Uh-huh.

Good.

What are you
going to call this one?

I think I shall
call that, ahem...

I shall leave you
at this point, Elizabeth.

That's a funny name for...

Oh, no.

Alvin, you wouldn't!

Good night, Elizabeth.

Alvin, you couldn't
do a thing like this! Alvin!

Of all the funny
ladies on television,

no one has had a longer career
playing a wider variety of roles

than Betty White.

She's hosted talk shows and
game shows, even reality shows.

Acted in soaps, dramas,
and sketch comedy shows.

And starred in
a half-dozen sitcoms.

Somebody forgot
to plug in the oven.

Well, I guess that just
goes to show

that anybody can make a mistake,
even your happy homemaker.

Now, don't you go away.

We'll be right back
after this commercial message.

All clear.

All right, who the hell
is responsible for this?

There were several
"Betty White Shows,"

and finally, the last one,
I wanted to call

"Yet Another Betty White Show,"

but they wouldn't hold still
for that.

Every time her career
seemed to wane,

Betty would recapture
that national spotlight,

on Mary Tyler Moore's show
in the '70s,

the "Golden Girls" in the '80s,

and "Saturday Night Live"
in 2010.

I love Betty.

We got to do a week at SNL
with Betty.

And it was inspiring just
to see, one,

that her timing was
just rock solid still.

Her ability to work.

She would go home every night
to the hotel,

and I'd say, "How was
your night last night, Betty?"

She was like, "Good,
I went back to the hotel.

I had vodka
and a cold hotdog."

Like that, that's the secret,
I guess.

Every funny lady of television

has her own
unique secret formula,

a dash of comedy,
a measure of likability,

and an extra portion of
personality.

Television for women has always
been a better place.

We knew it was something
very good

and something innovative.

I am so happy
when I'm performing.

I am truly happy when I'm...
That's it.

I thought acting was just fun,
I still think it's just fun.

I'm the luckiest old broad
on two feet.

This is where I belong.
Done.

I'd like to be remembered as
being funny

and making people laugh
and feel better.

I truly believe that laughter
is the best medicine.

Together, they rank

among the most beloved women
in history.

They are
the pioneers of television.

I always forget that
I'm supposed to be funny

in things like this.

And I think the people
who are standups remember

that they're always
supposed to be funny.

Um, and I'll just,
blah-blah-blah...

I think the people who have
faced the audience alone

so often, toured as standups,

just know like,
"I gotta kill every time.

I gotta kill every time."

Um...
and that's burdensome.

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