The Johnny Bacardi Show

RIP Harvey Korman.

I suppose the first time I was exposed to his talents was as a child watching The Flintstones, as his was the voice of the Great Gazoo- a little outer-space guy character which was brought in in the last year of that show by 60s space-craze crazy Hanna-Barbera, and divides Flintstones fans to this day. Me, I've always kinda liked him and Korman's voice was perfect in its smug, bemused tone.

First time I actually laid eyes on him and was aware of who he was was on the Carol Burnett Show, where he was part of a pretty good ensemble cast that included Tim Conway. My Mom and Dad liked that show- it wasn't always my kind of humor when I was a kid and teen, but sometimes it could be infectiously funny when they'd (intentionally or not) flub lines and try to crack each other up.

Really, though, when all is said and done, it was in Mel Brooks films, specifically Blazing Saddles, where Korman really shined...and that's where the above clip comes from. He also had roles in the so-so Hitchcock spoof High Anxiety and Dracula: Dead and Loving It, which I saw just the other night. For some reason, I was thinking he had already died since his appearances had been few and far between over the last 10 years or so, mostly voice work it seems, and IMDb lists only a few appearances in Carol Burnett reunion shows and such since 2001. It's funny- it's always seemed to me that he appeared in more films and TV shows than he actually did. What this means, I can't say.