Carol Burnett is known as one of the funniest TV leading ladies of all times, with a long career of hilarious gigs to her name. Burnett was recently honored with a grand special timed to the 50th anniversary of The Carol Burnett Show. The one-night event ran for two hours of primetime on December 3, and the numbers are in to tell just how many tuned in to watch Burnett and a whole bunch of other funny folks. As it turns out, The Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special was watched by a lot of people, and it's proof that we need her back on network TV as soon as possible.
The Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special kicked off at 8 p.m. on December 3 on CBS, and it scored impressive numbers for the network. In Live+Same day measurements, the special received a 1.5 rating and was watched by a whopping 15.2 million people, both in the coveted 18-49 age demographic. Those numbers make The Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special the most-watched non-sports program of the night. Only the Sunday Night Football airing on NBC was watched by more people, with an audience of 16.17 million. The 15.2 is well above the average for CBS in the 8-10 p.m. Sunday night time slot, according to TV By The Numbers. All things considered, Carol Burnett provided a big night for CBS and plenty of viewers.
The numbers are especially remarkable given that Carol Burnett isn't quite as well known in comedy today as she was in years past. The special proves that she can still draw a big audience and definitely deserves a place on network TV. As it happens, Burnett was attached to a prospective ABC sitcom called Household Name, which received a pilot order from the network. In the potential series, Burnett would play a famous actress living all by her lonesome in a high-end home.
When a family discovers that her home is their dream house but they couldn't possibly afford anything like it, they strike a deal with the actress: they will live with her until she dies. At that point, the house would be theirs. Amy Poehler was attached as executive producer, and the project sounded pretty exciting. Unfortunately, there has been no word of progress on the pilot for a while now, and we can't say if it will ever actually happen.
The good news is that Carol Burnett is returning to TV, although not on a network platform. She's hosting a Netflix series called A Little Help with Carol Burnett, which will be an unscripted venture that gives kids the chance to dole out advice to adults, including some celebrities. A trailer for the show was released with a premiere date of 2018, so we can at least count on her on Netflix at some point in the new year.
If you missed The Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special, you can catch it streaming on the CBS site. Be sure to check out our midseason TV premiere guide for the dates of returning shows in 2018 that have been announced so far.
