Deadline reports that comedy legend Carol Burnett is coming back to TV. ABC has given a put-pilot commitment to a new sitcom starring Burnett, written by Mad Men’s Michael Saltzman, and executive produced by Amy Poehler. The new series will center on a family that purchases their dream home at a cut-rate price, on the condition that they allow its current tenant—an aging actress played by Burnett—to continue living there until she dies.
Amazingly enough, the untitled series represents Burnett’s first starring role in a sitcom ever; despite 60 years in the industry, she’s spent most of her time working in sketch comedy and as a guest star on a wide swathe of projects. (In the past few years, she appeared on Hawaii Five-0, Hot In Cleveland, and Glee.) Saltzman—whose other credits include Hell On Wheels and Halt On Catch Fire—is a long time friend and admirer of Burnett’s, going back to his very first meeting in Hollywood.
Poehler, meanwhile, presented the comic actress with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actor’s Guild this year (alongside Tina Fey). At the time, Poehler told audiences, “We watched Carol with our moms, and our moms taught us 90 percent of what we needed to know to be the kind of women that we are today, and the other 10 percent is Carol.”