by 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 sitcom we’d love you to do. It’s called Here’s Agnes.'” Oof.
She showed them wrong.
The Carol Burnett Show ran for 11 seasons and won 25 Emmy Awards, and is considered one of the greatest TV series of all time.
Roll the clip.
She is a clever woman. I also admire her
I also admire her