With variety show’s 50th anniversary, Burnett has a lot to laugh about
LOS ANGELES - Carol Burnett was back in the sandbox, as she calls it.
The veteran entertainer had returned to Stage 33 on the CBS Television City lot in Los Angeles — the original home base of “The Carol Burnett Show” — to tape a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking comedy-variety show, which premiered in 1967 and ran for 11 years.
The series had almost been a sitcom, but Burnett, a cast member on the variety series “The Garry Moore Show,” wanted a 28-piece orchestra. She wanted a repertory company and guest stars. She wanted costume changes.
“I had this terrific and unheard-of contract that read if I wanted to push that button, the network would have to give me 30 one-hour comedy-variety shows,” Burnett, 84, said during the taping in October. “I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ And they said, ‘Oh, no, no, no. Carol … all comedy-variety shows are hosted by men — Sid Caesar, Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, Dean Martin … It’s not really for you gals.’ ”
She added: “Well, here we are, 50 years later.”
The two-hour special, which airs at 7 p.m. Sunday on CBS, features Amy Poehler, Jim Carrey and other celebrities paying homage to the pioneering sketch show.
Burnett is also scheduled to appear at Milwaukee’s Riverside Theater for “An Evening of Laughter and Reflection,” including clips from her show and an audience Q&A, on June 9. (Tickets went on sale Friday at the Riverside box office, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., the Pabst Theater box office, 144 E. Wells St., (414) 286-3663 and at pabsttheater.org.)
Question: Does it even feel like 50 years have passed?
Burnett: Are you kidding? No! In fact, 25 years ago, we did a 25th reunion, and that just seemed like 10 minutes ago that we did that! Time has a funny way of changing. When you’re young, it never goes fast enough, and when you get older, it’s a blink of an eye. Where did it go?
Q: Taking questions from the audience is a hallmark of the show that you’ve kept going. Why do you revel in doing it?
Burnett: It keeps the old gray matter ticking, you know? You have to be on your toes — you can’t be thinking about what you’re going to do tomorrow, what you did yesterday. And so it keeps the brain going, really.
Q: What do you think “The Carol Burnett Show” would look like today? Do you think it would have found a way for the sketches to have some sort of commentary on the politics of today?
Burnett: No, because that’s not what we were about. We were about doing a musical comedy review a week. It was like a little Broadway show. I think that’s why it has held up all these years: Funny is funny.
Q: Over the past couple of weeks we’ve seen women in front of and behind the camera come forward about their experiences with sexual harassment and sexism in Hollywood. What feelings has that brought up for you in terms of how Hollywood has or hasn’t changed?
Burnett: Well, I was never exposed to any of that, thank God. … I was never exposed to this casting couch thing or any of it, but I have to say, I’m glad all of this is now in the news, you know? But what disturbs me is that it took this long when it was such an open secret. ... And it’s rampant, not only in show business but in other fields. It’s where these men with power think they can rule the roost, but I’m glad this is happening.