TCM Invites You to Spend ‘Sundays With Carol Burnett’ in December 2024
Turner Classic Movies has a fun premise for each Sunday evening in December 2024: “Sundays With Carol Burnett” will pair a classic film with a parody of it that was done on Burnett’s famous 1967-78 sketch comedy series, The Carol Burnett Show.
The sketches, several of which remain renowned and hilarious, were led by the show’s brilliant regular cast, including Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway, with notable guest stars also popping in to play characters.
Here are the movies and associated sketches featured during TCM’s “Sundays With Carol Burnett.”
Carol Burnett as “Starlett O’Hara” and Harvey Korman as “Ratt Butler” in the famous 1976 “Went With the Wind!” sketch on The Carol Burnett Show
Special Theme: Sundays With Carol Burnett — TCM in December 2024 (All Times Eastern)
Sun. Dec. 1, 2024, at 8pm
“Sundays With Carol Burnett” kicks off with one of the most legendary films in Hollywood history, 1939’s Gone With the Wind (which turns 85 on Dec. 15!), matched up with one of The Carol Burnett Show’s most legendary sketches: “Went With the Wind!”
Originally airing Nov. 13, 1976, during the series’ 10th season, the sketch features Burnett as “Starlett O’Hara” (wearing that famous curtain dress, complete with rod) and Korman (doing a pretty good Clark Gable impersonation) as “Captain Ratt Butler,” as well as Lawrence and others, with the cast barely able to maintain straight faces and keep from bursting out laughing as they skewer GWTW.
Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024
This evening’s “Sundays With Carol Burnett” is a double feature:
8pm: The evening starts with Born to Be Bad (1950), a film noir melodrama led by Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan, Zachary Scott and Joan Leslie. It was parodied on the Dec. 15, 1973, episode of The Carol Burnett Show as “Raised to Be Rotten,” part of a “Salute to Bad Girls” sketch that also featured spoofs of All About Eve (1950) and The Graduate (1967). “Raised to Be Rotten” saw Burnett playing “Christinabel” (taking on Fontaine’s role of Christabel). Korman also featured in the sketch, along with guest stars Ruth Buzzi and Richard Crenna.
10pm: The second title in tonight’s double feature is Torch Song (1953), a musical drama led by Joan Crawford, Michael Wilding, Gig Young and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Marjorie Rambeau. The film was spoofed in The Carol Burnett Show‘s “Torchy Song” sketch during the Jan. 22, 1977, episode.
Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024
8pm: First up in tonight’s “Sundays With Carol Burnett” double feature is The Heiress (1949), Best Director Oscar nominee William Wyler’s Best Picture-nominated romantic drama starring Best Actress winner Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift and Best Supporting Actor nominee Ralph Richardson. The Carol Burnett Show parodied this film in its March 15, 1975, episode as “The Lady Heir,” with Burnett and guest star Roddy McDowall in the de Havilland and Clift roles.
10:30pm: Second on tonight’s double bill is A Stolen Life (1946), a drama led by Bette Davis and Glenn Ford. On the Jan. 24, 1976, episode of The Carol Burnett Show, it was parodied in the sketch called “A Swiped Life”
Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024
“Sundays With Carol Burnett” will be preempted this Sunday evening by TCM’s continuing “Classic Christmas” movie marathon.
Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024
TCM’s final Sunday evening in which it pairs a classic movie with a comedic take on the feature that was performed in a sketch on The Carol Burnett Show offers another double feature:
8pm: The night starts with the Best Picture Oscar-nominated melodrama/film noir Mildred Pierce (1945), led by Best Actress winner Joan Crawford, and Best Supporting Actress nominees Eve Arden and Ann Blyth. The film was parodied in the Nov. 20, 1976, episode of The Carol Burnett Show as “Mildred Fierce,” with Burnett as the title character and Vicki Lawrence as her daughter.
You can see some of the sketch leading off this video, after which is some of the “Torchy Song” sketch.
10:30pm: The second part of this double bill is the Best Picture-nominated 1944 film noir Double Indemnity, starring Best Actress nominee Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. The show spoofed this film as “Double Calamity” in the Nov. 3, 1973, episode, with Burnett stepping into Stanwyck’s femme fatale shoes and guest star Steve Lawrence taking on MacMurray’s role.
You can see the first part of the sketch in the video below: