Picky Picky (Vol. 15)
06/19/08 12:25 PM
By ED BARK
Who's TV's all-time Queen Bee? The First Lady. The Empress. Your Royal Highness.
In alphabetical order above are nominees Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey. Each swings a big bat.
***Ball, in tandem with husband Desi Arnaz, dominated television's formative years with the medium's first sitcom. Their Desilu Studios were home not only to I Love Lucy, but also to Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, The Andy Griffith Show, Hogan's Heroes and other famed TV series. Lucy reruns continue to play on, and Ball's inimitable likeness still adorns countless collectibles.
***Burnett was the signature force behind TV's last successful variety series, The Carol Burnett Show. Her Tarzan yell, ear tug, sign-off and "Charwoman" and Eunice characters are indelible signatures from a show that also made stars of second bananas Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. She's also excelled as a dramatic actress, most notably in the TV movie Friendly Fire. And perhaps no TV star has ever seemed as accessible to her public.
***Moore first came to prominence as Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show before putting her stamp on the even greater Mary Tyler Moore Show. She's also taken many turns as a dramatic actress and, like Burnett, has won six Emmy Awards for her performances. MTM Enterprises, in partnership with then husband Grant Tinker, also made critically acclaimed series such as Hill Street Blues, The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati and Lou Grant.
***Walters trailblazed as both the Today show's first female host and on ABC in partnership with a sour Harry Reasoner as the first woman to co-anchor a network evening newscast. Her "Big Get" interviews are too many to recount, as are the many parodies of her rolling R cadence. She also co-helmed 20/20 during its glory years and lately has a bestselling autobiography in play. Her Oscar night specials are another TV staple. All of this and The View, too, which Walters launched amid many naysayers.
***Winfrey is a mega-force in daytime television whose talk show went national in 1986 after first vanquishing Phil Donahue in the Chicago ratings. What Winfrey says still goes a long way, whether she's blessing an author with membership in "Oprah's Book Club" or touting a presidential candidate. Virtually anyone of any renown has guested on her show, including Tom Cruise and his famous couch-jumping. She's also behind a series of generally praised Oprah Winfrey Presents movies for ABC.
Here again are the tough choices, with your comments holding the power:
A. Lucille Ball
B. Carol Burnett
C. Mary Tyler Moore
D. Barbara Walters
E. Oprah Winfrey
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