MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO PRESENTS, THE: GREAT WOMEN OF TELEVISION COMEDY {BROADCAST VERSION} (TV)
Summary
This special, produced by The Museum of Television &
Radio and hosted by Megan Mullally, celebrates great
women of television comedy. This program consists of
clips from the Museum's television collection and
interviews with some of television's most talented
women comedians. Mullally, on the set of her own hit
television series "Will and Grace," begins by saying,
"If you want to define the art of television comedy, you
can do it in just one word -- Lucy": Marlo Thomas notes
Lucille Ball's influence on all young comedians; Betty
White comments on Ball's comedic boldness; Phylicia
Rashad simply states that "Lucille Ball will undoubtedly
be considered the funniest woman in the history of
television"; Jenna Elfman shares her favorite Lucy
moment; Mullally concludes that Lucy opened the door for
all sorts of funny women. Clips are shown from the
following programs: "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The
Carol Burnett Show," "That Girl," "Murphy Brown,"
"Cheers," "Friends," "Alice," "Saturday Night Live,"
"Seinfeld," "Ellen," "Golden Girls," "Sanford and Son,"
"Dharma and Greg," "Third Rock from the Sun," "Will and
Grace," "The Jeffersons," "The Flintstones," "Malcolm in
the Middle," and "Laverne and Shirley" Next, Mullally
introduces another set of clips and interviews which
focus on the hilarious lengths these funny women will go
to for love. Clips shown include "Ally McBeal," "Sex
and the City," and "Taxi." Sarah Jessica Parker
explains, "There's something inherently funny about
dating, being single." Cindy Willams adds, "dating is
funny, it's a ritual of life that we all go through...
nobody escapes it." Accompanied by clips from
"Seinfeld," Mullally declares that by the time the show
aired, "women were free to be as crude as the boys"; she
also notes that the character of "Elaine" was the first
of its kind. Next, the women of sketch comedy are
featured and clips include Lily Tomlin, Carol Burnett,
Gilda Radner, Molly Shannon as "Mary Catherine
Gallagher," and Goldie Hawn. As Mullally points out,
the art of television comedy found its home over fifty
years ago with Imogene Coca in "Your Show of Shows";
Linda Lavin adds that improvisational skills like Coca's
could only be seen at the theater until that time.
Carol Burnett, Mullally acknowledges, is the "reigning
queen" when it comes to creating unforgettable
characters. But others have followed: a clip of Lily
Tomlin on "Laugh-In" as the irrepressible telephone
operator "Ernestine" from "Laugh-in" is shown, and
Tomlin discusses Ernestine's immediate popularity.
Gilda Radner's characters including "Lisa Loopner" and
"Rosanna Danna" are also shown. Carol Burnett shares
one of her favorite sketches from "Saturday Night Live"
featuring Radner and Steve Martin; Candice Bergen adds,
"Gilda was so lovable, so endearing." The next group of
funny women all played television wives. Mary Tyler
Moore, who played Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke
Show", talks about how her character was conceived to
be the "straight man," but she adds, "feeding the
straight line is a wonderful thing, but getting a laugh
is God's own gift." Clips from "The Honeymooners," "All
in the Family," "Malcolm in the Middle," "Home
Improvement," "Happy Days," "Maude," "Mad About You,"
"Roseanne" all display the roller-coaster ride that is
marriage. The rise of women in the workplace has also
created some of television's funniest moments. Penny
Marshall notes that Marlo Thomas in "That Girl" was the
first of the working women. Marlo Thomas adds that
many people ask her what "That Girl" would be like
today, and she replies, "She would be 'Murphy Brown'."
Clips from other shows which featured funny working
women are shown, including "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
and "Roseanne." Megan Mullally then introduces the
theme of motherhood and notes that many hilarious
moments on television have come from television moms.
Segments shown include "Mama's Family," "Roseanne,"
and "Malcolm in the Middle." Both Vicki Lawrence and
Candice Bergen agree that motherhood is ripe with
comedy. Marlo Thomas and Marion Ross talk about the
show "Roseanne," noting that never before had a
"realistic" mother been portrayed on television. Next,
physical comedians such as Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett,
Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Ellen Degeneres, and
Julia Louis-Dreyfus are featured. Marshall and Williams
discuss their comedic antics on "Laverne and Shirley."
Ellen Degeneres admires the fearless physical comedy of
Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball. Julia Louis-Dreyfus
adds that as a comedian you must not worry about
looking ugly or foolish, "because a laugh will wait for
you on the other side." She goes on to say that the
audience identifies and roots for these funny women.
Marlo Thomas adds that all of these women tried to
express and share a part of themselves with the
audience, for she says, "it's very touching to me, that
all of these women were quite brave." Megan Mullally
thanks everyone for watching and wishes all a good
night. Commercials deleted.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The
Marc Haas Foundation, 2002/2003.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: April 15, 2003 Tuesday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:05:47
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:76232
- GENRE: Specials
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Women comedians
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 2003
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Robert M. Batscha … Executive Producer
- Eamon Harrington … Executive Producer, Director
- Diane Lewis … Executive Producer
- John Watkin … Executive Producer, Producer
- John C. Fitzgerald … Producer
- Kate Harrington … Associate Producer
- Caroline Stack … Associate Producer
- Sharon Rennert … Production (Misc.), Editor
- Harry Watson … Production (Misc.), Editor
- Megan Mullally … Host
- Gracie Allen
- Kirstie Alley
- Bea Arthur
- Ed Asner
- Lucille Ball
- Roseanne Barr
- Candice Bergen
- Carol Burnett
- George Burns
- Imogene Coca
- Jane Curtin
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Jenna Elfman
- Calista Flockhart
- Jackie Gleason
- Goldie Hawn
- Helen Hunt
- Jane Kaczmarek
- Linda Lavin
- Vicki Lawrence
- Shelley Long
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Penny Marshall
- Steve Martin
- Audrey Meadows
- Mary Tyler Moore
- Carroll O'Connor
- Sarah Jessica Parker
- Rhea Perlman
- Gilda Radner
- Phylicia Rashad
- Joan Rivers
- Marion Ross
- Molly Shannon
- Jean Stapleton
- Marlo Thomas
- Lily Tomlin
- Betty White
- Cindy Williams
- Tracey Ullman
- Dick Van Dyke