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welcome to "Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love."
Tonight, the biggest stars of stage, screen, and television
have gathered to celebrate
the one, the only, the incomparable Carol Burnett
for an unforgettable evening of comedy, music, and memories.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Steve Carell.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-Good evening,
and welcome to "Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love."
Tonight, you will see an amazing gathering
of talented performers, friends, and fans
from every generation,
except babies,
who are here to celebrate the hilarious,
incredible, one-of-a-kind,
no-one-like-her Carol Burnett.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Over the next 17 hours,
we are going to enjoy some of the funniest
and very best moments of her career
in television, film, and the Broadway stage.
People often ask me who were my greatest comedy influences.
And as a kid growing up in the '70s,
there were too many to choose from.
Raymond Burr, Pat Nixon, Johnny Mathis,
the woman from those commercials who kept saying,
"Where's the beef?"
But let me tell you something.
Carol Burnett lands a solid fifth on that list.
I know that you are a very humble person
and that this all might be kind of difficult for you.
And really all I can say is,
you got to brace yourself
because we are about to lay it on really thick.
So, let's get started, shall we?
[ Cheers and applause ]
And I think the best way to begin
is at the beginning.
-I began my life in show business as a fan.
As a little girl,
there was nothing I loved more than going to the movies
with my grandmother, Nanny,
and I just wanted to climb into the screen and live there.
At UCLA, I was going to major in journalism,
and they didn't have a major in journalism.
So I looked in the catalog,
and I found Theater Arts/English.
I didn't realize that, as a freshman,
when you're in the Theater Arts department,
you had to take an acting course.
And I was terrified.
And I was in this class with about 10 other students.
And I had to do a scene,
and they cracked up.
The students cracked up.
They laughed and all like that,
and I thought, "This is a good feeling.
I think I want to pursue this."
The bug bit when I heard the laughter.
I joined a musical-comedy workshop at UCLA.
I remember I did a scene from "Annie Get Your Gun."
And there was a tap on my shoulder,
and it was this gentleman and his wife.
He said, "We really enjoyed you.
What do you want to do with your life?"
And I said, "Well, someday I want to go to New York."
And he said, "Why aren't you there now?"
Well, we were --
We were not wealthy.
Let me put it this way. We were poor.
So I had no money to go to New York.
And I just said, "Well, someday I hope I can save up
to be able to go."
And he said, "I'll lend you the money.
"There are stipulations.
"You pay it back within five years if you can,
"if you're successful.
"You must never reveal my name.
You must pay it forward and help others out."
Well, that was my ticket to New York.
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-And hello, everyone.
I am Sheryl Lee Ralph.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And I just want to tell you,
Miss -- mmm! -- Carol Burnett,
look at you at 90, looking like a snack.
[ Applause ]
Girl, I'm honored and I am happy
to be here this evening
to tell you that you changed
my 9-year-old life forever.
It was the '60s.
It was the '60s, people,
and you welcomed me into that 12-inch box.
Yes, you did.
And I watched you welcome, embrace
Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey,
Nancy Wilson -- the Black one --
[ Laughter ]
Flip Wilson,
The Jackson 5.
You hugged them. You kissed them.
You performed with them on the stage.
And by seeing that,
you let me know that I could become
the Sheryl Lee Ralph that I am still becoming.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Ah. You got your break on Broadway.
I got my break on Broadway.
It was "Dreamgirls" for me.
[ Applause ]
And for you, it was "Once Upon a Mattress."
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Well, here I am.
Who's the lucky man?
-"Once Upon a Mattress"
was a big, huge break for me.
-♪ I've always been shy-y-y-y
♪ I confess that I'm shy-y-y-y
♪ Can't you guess that this confident air ♪
♪ Is a mask that I wear 'cause I'm shy? ♪
-And then there was television.
-♪ When your car is asked to stop ♪
♪ By a handsome traffic cop
♪ Lest you want a ticket or two ♪
♪ Give them the ooh-la-la
-♪ I made a fool of myself
♪ Over John Foster Dulles
-The John Foster Dulles song was written by Ken Welch,
who was my coach and special material writer.
Now, for those of you who don't remember,
John Foster Dulles was the Secretary of State,
and he was aptly named.
He was dull.
Kenny wrote the song,
and then I was asked to go on the Jack Paar show.
There was such a big reaction, Jack had me come back.
And then Ed Sullivan had me do it on Sunday.
So, three times that week, I did the Dulles number.
Garry Moore had a variety show,
which was a very big hit,
and Martha Raye,
who was a brilliant comedienne, was the guest,
but she came down with a terrible case of bronchitis.
And Gary said, "Can you come over
and be the guest and replace Martha?"
Well, I ran over there like Road Runner.
And Gary explained to the audience there in the studio
that I had just come in to do this,
and the audience was very supportive.
Then, as a result, Bob Banner, the executive producer,
asked me if I would want to be a regular on Gary's show.
♪♪
-[ Ululating ]
Fear not, Queenie! Here I come!
[ Ululating ]
♪♪
-Here she is -- the one and only Lily Tomlin.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Carol, I can't tell you how many years
Jane Wagner, my partner, and I have marveled
over your one-woman extravaganza of humor and love.
And that has really blessed the world throughout your career.
I, um -- I've got a story about your impact on me
that I wanted to share. -What's that?
-[ Laughs ]
When I was starting out and had just been on "Laugh-In"
for two or three weeks,
I was over at the CBS lot,
where your iconic show was filmed.
And I was totally rigid with fear
that I would run into you
and you wouldn't know who I was, either.
And I heard your voice in the hall.
And I -- It was --
I didn't have time enough to fake my own death, so --
so I just, uh --
I -- We literally bumped into each other.
And I heard you saying,
"Lily Tomlin, one ringy dingy, two ringy dingys."
You absolutely knew who I was, and you --
-Well, yes. -And you knew --
I'd only been on the air a couple of weeks
or three weeks or something.
And you were so kind and so generous to me.
And you talked to me for a long time.
And you gave me all the confidence in the world.
Carol -- That is -- You are, Carol, right?
The love that we're all showing you here tonight
is small payback for all the love
you've shown us through the years.
♪♪
-Coming up, Kristin Chenoweth and Bernadette Peters
celebrate Carol and her best chum, Julie Andrews.
Then later, Amy Poehler, Cher,
and a special performance from Katy Perry.
Find the presents she'll love
no matter what her plans are.
And save 20% off some of her favorites
during the Friends & Family Sale.
Kohl's.
That performance was legendary.
They just piled it on.
Roast beef, ham, oven roasted turkey.
All on the Subway Club.
Three peat - that's great. Three meat - that's epic.
The Subway Series. The greatest menu of all time.
♪
If you Walmart, you know
♪♪
that with everyday low prices
you can spend a little less, to get a little more,
-We wore these jerseys
for you people up there and up there and up there
so that you could tell us apart.
-Beverly Sills -- her nickname was "Bubbles."
She had the greatest personality.
It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had.
-The only difference between us is one little octave.
-One octave? -Eight little notes.
-You're kidding. That's it? Really?
That's the only difference between our voices,
eight little no-- one octave? -One octave.
-So, what's the big deal?
♪♪
♪ We're only an octave apart
♪ Eight little steps on the musical line ♪
♪ Eight little steps between your pipes and mine ♪
♪ Only an octave apart
-♪ We-e-e're
♪ Only an octave apart
♪ Eight little steps on the musical line ♪
♪ Eight little steps between your pipes ♪
♪ And mi-i-i-ne
♪ Only an octave apart
[ Applause ]
♪♪
-♪ My F is here
-♪ My A is here
-♪ My D is here
-♪ My D is he-e-e-e-re
-[ Smooches ]
♪ Ha ha
-♪ Ha-ha
-♪ Ha-ah, ha ha
-♪ Ah, ah, ahhhhhhh ween.
You're firecrackers on the 4th of July.
You're a little child at his first ballgame
waving his pennant in the breeze.
Um...you're our boys overseas!
To do something on purpose,
you would have to do something like, um...
that.
-I've never seen anyone work as hard as Julie does.
Simply maintaining that accent is an enormous accomplishment.
.
-C
what a powerful testimony for living strong,
living well, living with laughter.
Thank you for all the joy