Our Television Heritage State of the Union 2023

I don't know if we'll have this time together.

This year’s Television Critics Association Awards were just revealed, with Succession, The Bear, and Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn all becoming worthy award winners (side note- still need to start Beef and Poker Face). A great haul for sure, but this blog is focused on one particular award that the best in television journalism bestows, the prestigious Heritage Award, which celebrates the medium’s legendary programming. Thus far, the award has gone to a variety of programs, to then-contemporary series ending iconic runs like The Sopranos and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to classics that still remain influential (and entertaining) like Star Trek and I Love Lucy. These are the shows that I intend to cover on this blog, detailing why they matter in one way or another.

This year, the TCA presented the Heritage Award to The Carol Burnett Show, the unforgettable variety series that ran on CBS for eleven years and remains influential to this day, winning 25 years in the process and spinning off the favorite 80’s sitcom Mama’s Family, among other notable aspects. And that’s great! I’ve always wanted to delve into the series in full beyond the odd sketch or two, and it’s not hard to find the show streaming now- Shout!, who licenses the show, has it available on their service and have also sent it to Amazon and Tubi.

There’s a problem, however- the only versions of the show’s 279 episodes readily available to view are the edited for syndication takes, which cut more than half of a standard episode from its original broadcast, and I’m not comfortable with using that as a resource. For instance, I’ve skimmed various reviews of the content available and noticed that one episode promoting Liza Minelli has all of her footage cut out for syndication! That’s not a fair way to represent the show at large.

Various DVDs have been released of the show, but those are mostly greatest hits compilations, and I don’t think it would be fair to use this as a proper way to review the series. So until the full, uncut versions of the show are released in some format, via DVD or streaming, I’m not adding The Carol Burnett Show to the OTH schedule.

And right now, I can live with that. Let me remind you, we have a LOT to cover in this series if you’re still reading. As a reminder of what we have to tackle on, here is the current schedule, and what’s already been covered:

• The Simpsons (covered seasons 1-10, returning to seasons 11-20 in the foreseeable but not immediate future)

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer

• The West Wing (currently on season 2)

• The Sopranos (currently on season 1)

• The Wire

• ER

• M*A*S*H

• The Dick Van Dyke Show

• Cheers

• All in the Family

• Saturday Night Live (currently only planning seasons 1-5)

• The Mary Tyler Moore Show

• Seinfeld

• Friends

• Deadwood

• Star Trek

• The Golden Girls

• I Love Lucy

Which series here excited you the most to see covered, and what are your thoughts on Carol Burnett?