Assembling the cast of The Carol Burnett Show sort of feels like assembling the Avengers, except instead of Earth's mightiest heroes, The Carol Burnett Show celebrates Earth's funniest people. At any rate, hearing the story of a cast member's recruitment to the show feels like the stuff of legends.

Carol Burnett was kind enough to share Harvey Korman's recruitment story, and obviously, it's hilarious. In her book, This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection, Burnett spoke of her former costar, and his common label of "Second Banana," a title he received during his time on The Danny Kaye Show. 

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harvey kormanCarol Burnett

Harvey Korman was hand-picked for The Carol Burnett Show

Burnett wrote, "'Second banana' is a term that has been used in comedy as far back as I can remember. It probably dates back to vaudeville. I never took to it much, though, because the good ones never fit into that 'second' slot as far as I was concerned. In fact, lots of times they were the ones who walked away with the laughs...if the star would allow it."

The casting of Harvey Korman has often been told and repeated, with each story claiming that Burnett and the casting team were searching for a "Harvey Korman-type" before Burnett came up with the idea to simply get the real deal. She wrote, "I came to the brilliant conclusion to actually ask THE Harvey Korman himself if he would work with us. Now that Danny's show would no longer be on, could we...would he...?"

She continued, "I believe we had a call in to his agent when one afternoon I happened to see Harvey himself headed for his car in the CBS parking lot at Television City. He didn't notice me. I thought about it for a nanosecond and then I shouted, 'Harvey!' He turned and smiled. We hardly knew each other. I waved, smiled back, and proceeded to jump him. I may be exaggerating, but I seem to remember leaning him back over a car hood."

Specifically, Burnett said her words were, "Please, please be on our show! You're the very best! PLEASE?" She acknowledged, "It wasn't exactly the most professional way to offer someone a job, but it worked. Harvey signed on, and I was in heaven." 

She reflected on Korman, and said, "I don't think there's anybody who can top what he could do. I've always felt that it's a wise thing to play tennis with a better player because it makes your own game that much better. And that's what Harvey was to me as a fellow actor. He made my game better. He made everyone's game better."