As she approaches her 90th birthday, Carol Burnett recoils at the thought of considering her legacy. She doesn't often watch previous seasons of the venerable "The Carol Burnett Show," for instance. She remarks, "I'm not like Norma Desmond," alluding to the waning star of "Sunset Boulevard." "I only do it if I have to for a reason," the speaker said.
NBC handed her a solid one in this instance. The show "Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love" will run on the network on April 26 and includes both brand-new performances and highlights from Burnett's illustrious career. Additionally, Burnett had the chance to catch up with both old and new acquaintances.
Burnett said, "It's just what I wanted. "I didn't want a birthday party that included cake, balloons, confetti, and other decorations. I wanted a show that would be enjoyable. We have that as a result. Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, Billy Porter, Katy Perry, Darren Criss, and Sutton Foster all perform live on the variety show. After that, Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney, and Laura Dern had comedic moments. A live 19-piece orchestra played for us.
Burnett claims that she was astounded when the producers discovered videos of her performing at the age of 24 before she made it on Broadway. "It really kind of covers most of what I've done professionally," she claims. "And of course, paying homage to [original 'Carol Burnett Show' co-stars] Tim Conway, Lyle Waggoner, Vicki Lawrence, and Harvey Korman. displaying some fantastic images of them.
Along with Jane Lynch and Porter, Burnett is assisted in recreating musical numbers from the original "Annie" movie by co-stars Peters and Aileen Quinn. Everyone was moved to tears, especially when they saw Aileen, who was 10 or 11 years old when we performed Annie, now a grown woman, according to Burnett.
A "lovely" homage to Burnett's enduring friendship with Julie Andrews is also featured in the special. "My friend Julie Andrews was there and sat with me the entire evening. "Then Bernadette Peters and Kristen Wiig perform 'Old Friends,' a Stephen Sondheim song about Julie and me," she continues.
In addition to Bob Odenkirk, Amy Poehler, Cher, Lily Tomlin, Taraji P. Henson, Marisa Tomei, Tracee Ellis Ross, and others, Burnett said she was "pretty gobsmacked" by the programme.
Burnett isn't looking back for this reason alone, though: She doesn't have to. The legendary comedian is busier as ever. Her recent schedule featured a significant role in "Better Call Saul"'s last season (in which her character plays a crucial role in putting Odenkirk's Saul Goodman to prison). Next, Burnett stars alongside Wiig and Janney in the upcoming Apple TV+ comedy "Palm Royale" (formerly known as "Mrs. American Pie").
She adds of her work schedule, "As long as I'm healthy, and I have my brain — thank God — and if it's fun to do, I'll do it."
Burnett says she treasures her new friendships with people like Janney in addition to her old relationships with people like Andrews. (We do Wordle every morning, according to Burnett. To check if we each got the word in the allocated number of letters, we texted one another.
Although Burnett is in awe of the feats "The Carol Burnett Show" accomplished in the 1970s, she is also aware that the era was unique. "They can't be like we were because of the cost," she explains. We had a 28-piece orchestra, after all. We performed a musical comedy revue every week and had a rep group with 12 dancers. Bob Mackie created all 65 to 70 of the outfits we had each week. Run the numbers.
