The More Serious Side of Carol Burnett: From 'The Twilight Zone' to 'Friendly Fire' and Beyond

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Actress Carol Burnett is known mostly for her comedic chops and her trailblazing variety hour, The Carol Burnett Show (CBS, 1967-1978). Before that she was a semi-regular on The Garry Moore Show (CBS, 1958-1967), made a splash on Broadway with her smash-hit Once Upon a Mattress.

More recently, Burnett, now 91, has been back on television with her acclaimed comedic performance in the new TV series, Palm Royale.

Burnett, however, has delivered several dramatic performances in her decades-long career beginning with a semi-comedic appearance in a 1962 classic episode of The Twilight Zone. Years after that, she starred in the groundbreaking TV-movie, Friendly Fire (ABC, 1979), which was followed by her big-screen pairing with life-long friend Alan Alda in the 1981 feature film, The Four Seasons.

In Her Zone

In The Twilight Zone episode, "Cavender is Coming" (5-25-62), Carol Burnett plays an unconventional big city, socially inept Agnes Grep, who is helped along by an equally-awkward apprentice wings-seeking guardian angel named Harmon Cavender (played by Jesse White).

This episode is the only episode of The Twilight Zone to feature a laugh track. Series creator Rod Serling had penned the segment specifically with Burnett in mind. He incorporated her real-life experience working as a 15-year-old cinema usherette at Hollywood's Warner Brothers Theater.

The theater was owned and operated by an eccentric man who forbade the usherettes from speaking to him and communicated exclusively with hand signals.

At Burnett's request, her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was placed directly in front of the theatre's former address at Hollywood and Wilcox.

"Cavender is Coming" was a failed-pilot for a spin-off series about a well-intentioned but lacky angel.

In 1974, Burnett toured across the country with Rock Hudson in a live stage production of I Do! I Do! Her character's name was "Agnes."

In between her small-screen time on The Garry Moore Show and The Carol Burnett Show, the actress was offered to star in a sitcom with "Agnes" in the title.

Friendly TV Movie with Serious Overtones

Friendly Fire premiered on ABC April 22, 1979, and became one of the highest-rated TV-movies in history, wining four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Special.

The film centers around Peg Mullen, played by Carol Burnett, a woman from rural Iowa who with her husband (played by Ned Beatty) works against government obstacles to uncover the details and truth about the demise of their son Michael, an Army infantry soldier killed by "friendly fire" in February 1970 during the Vietnam War.

While Peg Mullen died on October 3, 2009 at 92, there are a few similarities between Friendly Fire and Ordinary People, a feature film that premiered one year later.

People stars Mary Tyler Moore, who died in 2018. Like Burnett remains today, Moore was an actress mostly known for her comedic talents, who makes a dramatic turn. In Ordinary People, Moore is the screen-wife to Donald Sutherland (who starred in the original feature film edition of M*A*S*H). In the process, Moore is also the mother of Timothy Hutton's character; her surviving son whose brother committed suicide.

The families in both Friendly Fire and Ordinary People deal with the horrific loss of a child family member.

The Four Film

In The Four Seasons, Carol Burnett plays opposite her life-long friend and colleague Alan Alda. The two have known each other since childhood, while Alda, during his main M*A*S*H years had made a guest appearance on The Carol Burnett Show.

In The Four Seasons, which is also written and directed by Alda, he and Burnett portray husband and wife dealing with the seriocomedic experiences of married life.

Their relationship is specifically tested a young woman in the group played by Bess Armstrong (in her feature film debut).

Alda once said the film was inspired by an actual incident where he judged a friend too severely. He realized he was wrong, and that every friendship expereinces different "seasons," And with that, he penned the screenplay for The Four Seasons.

The movie was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical; Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical, for Burnett; with Alda receiving two nominations, Best Screenplay, Motion Picture; Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical.