Welcome back, Carol Burnett

From Campaign US: If you are a certain age, I don’t have to tell you much about “The Carol Burnett Show,” one of the most memorable variety-themed television shows in history. So, when I heard the news that Carol was returning to the small screen next year in a still untitled ABC multi-camera sitcom from Amy Poehler, my emotions ranged from excitement to trepidation. I remember all too well what happened when another famous redhead, Lucille Ball, attempted a comeback.

In 1988, Lucy made an ill-fated attempt to recreate the success of her seminal sitcom “I Love Lucy” and her two other hit shows, “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy,” with ABC’s “Life with Lucy.” Aaron Spelling, who produced “Life with Lucy,” once told me he remembered the deafening silence in the studio audience during the filming of a scene where Lucy was having some comical misadventures on a ladder. “They would have laughed in the past; this was typical Lucy,” he said. “But Lucy at 75 doing physical comedy had the audience worried she would fall.”

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