• Carol Burnett’s career started with a Broadway role starring as the lead in Once Upon a Mattress and then as a rising star on The Garry Moore Show.
• The Carol Burnett Show was hugely successful, running eleven seasons, garnering 70 Emmy nominations and winning 25.
• Carol Burnett was encouraged to “speak up for herself” by another TV comedy legend -- Lucille Ball.
• A fan letter from then 18 year-old Vicki Lawrence to Carol Burnett led to her actually being cast as a regular on the show!
• “HARVARD SCHOOL OF COMEDY”: Lawrence cites Harvey Korman and Carol Burnett as her show business mentors during the 11 years she spent on the show.
• ONE-HIT WONDER: Five years into her run on The Carol Burnett Show, Lawrence had a hit song, recording “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”!
• In the TV movie Eunice, Mama suddenly only has three children instead of five -- what happened to the others? And why is one of them suddenly Ken Berry?
• Vicki Lawrence was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of ‘Mama’ in Eunice.
• The TV series Mama’s Family was aired first as a prime-time network comedy and later as a nationally syndicated series. It originally ran for two years on CBS, was cancelled in 1984 -- and then revived TWO YEARS LATER in 1986 by Lorimar Syndication to run for additional 100 episodes!
• NAME SWITCH: The character Ken Berry played started out as “Phillip” in the TV-movie but then became “Vinton” in the TV series.
• The TV show introduced “Fran” played by future Golden Girl, Rue McClanahan -- playing Betty White’s aunt!
• The TV show also introduced Vinton’s children Buzz and Sonya played by “80’s TV Ladies” alum, Eric Brown and actress Karin Argoud.
• Mama’s neighbor, Naomi Oates, was played by “Another World” “The Nanny” and now “80s TV Ladies” alum, Dorothy Lyman!

So join Susan and Sharon as they talk Lou Grant, social justice, Julie Andrews and the first Live Televised Cinderella musical, “Raytown, Missouri”, Kamala Harris, Matlock, driving your own story -- and “Miss Fireball of Inglewood”!