Carol Burnett tells Conan about defying sexism to launch The Carol Burnett Show
In 1967, Carol Burnett launched The Carol Burnett Show because she had an option in her CBS contract that allowed her to do 30 episodes of a comedy-variety series. Problem was, CBS executives never expected Burnett to use her option. And they couldn’t imagine her fronting a variety series. As the comedy legend recalled on Monday’s Conan, “They said, ‘Oh, Carol, you know comedy-variety is a man’s game. It’s Jackie Gleason, it’s Sid Caesar, now it’s Dean Martin.’ The vice-president that I was talking to said, ‘You know, Carol, it’s not for you gals. But we have this great...
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