Lyle Waggoner used a set from ''The Carol Burnett Show'' to furnish his house

Waggoner brought his work home with him in the best possible way.

When you have an amazing experience, it's only natural that you might want something material to remember it by. Usually, these are little tokens, a birthday card, or a ring. They're small objects that stir up big memories of days past in people. While often these objects typically just serve as mementos, you'd be lucky to get some use out of them as well. James Arness once gifted Burt Reynolds the saloon doors from the set of Gunsmoke, and Reynolds actually used them in one of his homes.

According to Carol Burnett, Lyle Waggoner was an actor who took something a bit bigger than a token home with him from The Carol Burnett Show. In Burnett's book, This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection, she explained that in addition to being a wonderful cast member, Waggoner also had a personal interest in carpentry. 

Burnett wrote, "One week Tim and I were doing a sketch about a nerdy couple that meets on a cruise ship. The ship, built by our set designer Paul Barnes, took up the entire stage. It was designed to rock back and forth, enabling Tim and me to slide up and down the deck, hanging on for dear life."

Lyle probed Barnes about the set, who told him that because it was so massive, there was no hope for it to be stored away for future use, and the plan was to dismantle and burn the set. Waggoner sensed an opportunity and was allowed, instead, to take the set home himself.

"A few weeks later, a bunch of us went to a party at the Waggoners' house. Lyle and his beautiful wife, Sharon, were showing us around and took us into a small, cozy, nicely furnished room. Lyle smiled. 'Recognize anything?'"

When Burnett didn't, Waggoner revealed, 'It's the cruise ship set. I used the wood and built another room.'"

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4 Comments

Runeshaper 7 months ago
Wow! That is super cool and very impressive!
McGillahooala 7 months ago
Glad he was able to reuse it and save a little tv history.
Sway 7 months ago
Nice! Way to repurpose, good for Lyle.
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