It was 1981. Alan Alda was arguably the biggest star on the planet, still wearing the dog tags of Hawkeye Pierce while MASH* dominated the airwaves. Carol Burnett was—and is—comedy royalty. When they teamed up for The Four Seasons, everyone expected a laugh riot. What they got was something much weirder, sharper, and more uncomfortable. It was a movie about the slow, agonizing rot of middle-aged friendships. And honestly? It’s probably the most honest thing either of them ever made.
If you’ve seen the trailers recently or stumbled onto the Netflix remake with Tina Fey and Steve Carell, you might think you know the vibe. But the original Alan Alda Carol Burnett movie is a different beast entirely. It’s not just a "buddy comedy." It’s a autopsy of the American upper-middle class, performed by people who were actually living it.
Why The Four Seasons Still Matters (and Why It’s Not Just a MASH Clone)
Most people assume Alan Alda just played a version of Hawkeye in a suit. He didn't. In The Four Seasons, he plays Jack Burroughs, a guy who is so obsessed with "honesty" that he becomes a total nightmare to be around. He’s the friend who insists on "clearing the air" until there’s no oxygen left in the room. Carol Burnett plays his wife, Kate, an editor at Fortune who is so competent she’s basically invisible to her own husband.
The plot is deceptively simple. Three couples vacation together every season: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. They have their routines. They have their inside jokes. Then, one of the husbands (played by Len Cariou) dumps his wife for a younger woman (Bess Armstrong). He brings the new girl on the next trip. Everything breaks.
The Moo Shu Pork Incident and Real-Life Chemistry
Alda actually directed this thing, and he was obsessive about the cast actually being friends. He insisted on three weeks of rehearsals where they basically just hung out. There’s a famous story Alda told People magazine about a lunch with Burnett during filming. They were at a Chinese restaurant, and Burnett picked up a moo shu pork pancake, let it unroll like a scroll, and declared, "It’s a message from the king!"
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That kind of spontaneous, weird energy is what makes the Alan Alda Carol Burnett movie work. You can’t fake that level of comfort. When you see them on screen together, they don't look like actors hitting marks. They look like people who have survived twenty years of boring dinner parties together.
The Brutal Truth About Middle-Age Friendships
The movie was a massive hit. It made over $50 million on a $6 million budget in 1981 dollars. That’s insane for a movie where the "climax" is basically just six people screaming at each other in a kitchen. Why did it work? Because it captured the specific anxiety of realizing your friends might be terrible people, but you're too old to find new ones.
- The Vivaldi Connection: The movie is structured around Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. It sounds classy, but it’s actually a bit of a meta-joke. The music is elegant; the people are messy.
- The "New Girl" Tension: When Nick brings Ginny (the younger woman) into the group, it’s not just a cliché. It forces the other couples to look at their own stale marriages. Kate (Burnett) and Claudia (Rita Moreno) aren't just jealous of her youth; they're exhausted by her energy.
- Sandy Dennis as the Forgotten Wife: While we talk about the Alan Alda Carol Burnett movie, we have to mention Sandy Dennis. She plays the wife who gets dumped. She spends her time taking photos of vegetables. It’s heartbreaking and bizarre.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Collaboration
There’s a common misconception that this was the only time they worked together. Not true. They actually had incredible chemistry years earlier on The Carol Burnett Show in 1974. Alda appeared in a "Family" sketch (the precursor to Mama’s Family) playing a brother named Larry.
They also did a TV adaptation of the Broadway play 6 Rms Riv Vu in 1974. If you haven't seen that, find it. It’s a two-hander where they get locked in an empty apartment they’re both looking to rent. It’s basically a masterclass in "will-they-won't-they" tension between two people who are already married to other people.
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The 1984 TV Flop
Did you know there was a The Four Seasons TV show? Alda produced it for CBS. He and Burnett didn't star in it (they were replaced by Jack Weston—the only original cast member to return—and others), and it crashed and burned after about a month. It turns out the magic wasn't just the concept; it was the specific friction between Alda’s neurotic energy and Burnett’s grounded, sharp-edged wit.
Why You Should Watch It Before the Netflix Version
Tina Fey’s 2025/2026 remake is great. It’s funny. It’s modern. But it’s a bit more "polished." The 1981 Alan Alda Carol Burnett movie is grainy and sometimes mean-spirited in a way that feels incredibly human.
Alda wasn't afraid to make himself look like a jerk. Jack Burroughs is a guy who thinks he’s the hero because he’s "authentic," but the movie reveals him to be a judgmental snob. Burnett, meanwhile, does something she rarely got to do on her variety show: she plays it straight. Her Kate is a woman who is deeply bored but too loyal to leave.
How to Stream or Find It
Finding the original can be a bit of a hunt depending on where the licensing landed this month. It’s frequently on Netflix or Amazon Prime (especially since the remake sparked new interest). If it’s not streaming, the Blu-ray from Kino Lorber is the way to go because it actually preserves the 1980s color palette, which is essential for that "Autumn in Connecticut" vibe.
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Actionable Insights for Fans of the Duo
If you want to dive deeper into why this partnership worked, don't just stop at the movie.
- Check out the "Family" sketch: Watch the 1974 episode of The Carol Burnett Show where Alda plays Larry. You’ll see the seeds of their husband-wife dynamic in The Four Seasons.
- Listen to "Clear+Vivid": Alan Alda’s podcast has several episodes where he talks about the "science of communication." It’s basically his character Jack Burroughs but in real life and much nicer. He’s talked about Burnett there with genuine reverence.
- Compare the Seasons: Pay attention to the "Winter" segment of the movie. It features a scene at a ski resort that is genuinely terrifying and funny at the same time. It’s the moment the "perfect" friendship finally snaps.
- Look for the Cameos: Alda’s daughters, Elizabeth and Beatrice, are actually in the film. They play the daughters of the couples. It makes the "family" vibe of the production feel even more real.
The Alan Alda Carol Burnett movie isn't just a relic of the eighties. It’s a warning about what happens when you let a friendship run on autopilot for twenty years. It’s funny, sure, but it’s the kind of funny that makes you want to call your best friend and apologize for that thing you said in 1994.
Go find a copy of the 1981 original. Skip the trailers—they make it look like a cheesy sitcom. It’s much more like a Woody Allen movie, but with people you actually want to hang out with. Mostly.