Carol Burnett Not Laughing

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Carol Burnett has filed a law suit against the Fox network and the producers of the animated series, Family Guy. The law suit claims that Fox and Family Guy infringed on copyrights (among other things).

Carol Burnett is known as the queen of comedy.  Her hit TV show, The Carol Burnett Show, was a staple of the CBS network during the 1970’s. The series featured an array of comedy sketches and regulars (including the great Harvey Korman).  Fashion icon, Bob Mackie, was the exclusive designer of her wardrobe. The show had one spin off series, Mama’s Family, which was based on character’s created by Burnett.

Family Guy was denied permission by Burnette’s company, Whacko Productions, to use theme music.  In the suit filed, Burnette claims that Family Guy rewrote an episode (to make fun of Burnette) as a means of payback for the denial.

In the episode, titled ‘Peterotica’ , two of the characters enter a porn shop. One complains that the shop is probably dirty. The other character says that it is not dirty because Carol Burnette is mopping the shop. A clip is then shown of a woman mopping the floor while theme music is played. (The Carol Burnett show featured a character of a female janitor.) Two jokes are then made about Carol Burnett and her family. 

Burnette and Whacko Productions are asking for $2 million in damages from the show which first aired on April 23 of 2006.

Fox released a statement saying; “ ‘Family Guy,’ like the ‘Carol Burnett Show,’ is famous for its pop culture parodies and satirical jabs at celebrities. We are surprised that Ms. Burnett, who has made a career of spoofing others on television, would go so far as to sue ‘Family Guy’ for a simple bit of comedy.”

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