Today's Video Link

The Carol Burnett Show had some of the best sketches in the history of variety programs…but it would sometimes be criticized because cast members — Harvey Korman, especially — had a tendency to "break up" on camera. There was a lot of that in the early days of television when shows were performed live but it fell out of fashion when most shows were pre-recorded as the Burnett Show was.

They'd often get into editing with multiple "takes" of a sketch — one wherein cast members broke character, one where they didn't — and elect to use the former. My old friend Gary Belkin, who wrote for many seasons on the series, thought they way overdid the "break up" scenes.

I don't know how I feel about this. I just watched this video and I still don't know. It's fifteen minutes of clips from the show with the performers trying to stay in character and failing — and some of it's awfully funny…