The TV Column

Fingers crossed, ear tugged, Burnett in line for pilot

Carol Burnett, shown at the 2016 Texas Film Awards in Austin, demonstrates her iconic show-closing ear tug. The signal was a message to her beloved grandmother.
Carol Burnett, shown at the 2016 Texas Film Awards in Austin, demonstrates her iconic show-closing ear tug. The signal was a message to her beloved grandmother.

Here's great news for all of us who appreciate quality TV and hold fond memories of one of television's living legends.

Comedy icon Carol Burnett, 83, appears set to return to the small screen if everything works as planned. ABC has ordered a pilot for her new sitcom Household Name.

Granted, ordering a pilot is no guarantee that a series will be picked up for air. Plenty of pilots end up on the scrap heap, but a pilot is where all new series begin.

Here's my one Television Critics Association press tour tale about Burnett. It was July 24, 2006, after she had been given the TCA Career Achievement Award and had mentioned from the stage that she was a big fan of the then-new comedy The Office and would love to guest star on the series.

Afterward, Burnett was mingling with the critics and chatting folks up. I was waiting my turn to congratulate her when I turned and noticed Steve Carell (who had been honored for individual achievement in comedy for The Office), quietly waiting to have a word with her.

I stepped back and listened as an obviously star-struck Carell thanked Burnett for her kind words and asked if she was serious about guest starring. Burnett assured him she was and congratulated him on what she was certain would be a hit show. She was right.

I've searched all the databases and can't find a record of Burnett guesting on The Office. She would have been a hoot.

The multicamera Household Name will be written and executive produced by Michael Saltzman, who has been involved with writing and/or producing a number of shows, from Murphy Brown and Wings to Mad Men and Halt and Catch Fire.

Burnett, a six-time Emmy winner, will also executive produce. Another executive producer will be Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation, Saturday Night Live).

The series will feature a family that has the chance to buy the home of their dreams, but only if they allow the current owner -- an eccentric aging actress played by Burnett -- to live there until her death.

If ordered to series, Household Name would be the first non-variety/sketch show to feature Burnett as a regular since Stanley, a live, short-lived NBC sitcom starring Buddy Hackett in 1956.

However, in her 60-year TV career, Burnett has guest starred on plenty of series, including All My Children, Mad About You, Glee, Hot in Cleveland and, most recently, three memorable episodes of Hawaii Five-0, where she played Steve McGarrett's (Alex O'Loughlin) wacky Aunt Deb.

Burnett's The Carol Burnett Show ran on CBS from 1967 to 1978 (nine episodes aired in 1991) and co-starred Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner and Tim Conway. The series won 25 Emmys.

Trivia: The signature Burnett left ear tug that closed each episode of The Carol Burnett Show was "an I love you message" to her beloved grandmother, Mae White ("Nanny"), who raised her. Burnett said she first used it on Dec. 17, 1955, and found a way to do it every time she was on camera.

White died in 1967, just before the debut of Burnett's show.

Project Runway: Junior. The second season finale, Part 1, airs at 8 p.m. today on Lifetime and finds the young designers heading home to create collections for the finale in Los Angeles. One more elimination looms. Reminder: It's a 90-minute episode.

Swamp People. Season 8 for the reality series begins at 8 p.m. today on History. The double episode, "The Hunt Begins; Fresh Blood," continues the saga of the alligator-hunting Cajuns in Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin.

Nashville. Are you watching Season 5 of Nashville since it moved from ABC to CMT? We never miss an episode at our house and I believe the move helped focus the show on its most interesting story arcs. Check it out at 8 p.m. today to see if you don't agree.

Need to catch up? Hulu has exclusive streaming rights.

In tonight's episode, "Stand Beside Me," Rayna (Connie Britton) and Deacon (Charles Esten) take more precautions as Rayna's stalker, Carl Hockney (Linds Edwards), tests the limits of the restraining order.

Meanwhile Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) asks the church choir to work with her on an album, and Scarlett (Clare Bowen) finds herself drawn to her video director, Damien George (Christian Coulson).

Scarlett! Nooooo! Why can't you just be happy with Gunnar for longer than three episodes? This is getting tiresome.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

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Weekend on 02/16/2017

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