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Screen Actors Guild Awards 2016: Queen of Comedy Carol Burnett receives the Life Achievement Award

Carol Burnett received the Life Achievement Award Saturday evening at the Screen Actors Guild Awards

Carol Burnett received the Life Achievement Award Saturday evening at the Screen Actors Guild Awards

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Everyone loves Carol Burnett. And they certainly showed it Saturday night at the Screen Actors Guild Awards when she took the stage, helped up the stage to receive the SAG Life Achievement Award from funny ladies Tina Fey and Amy Poehler who spoke about how influenced they were by her and her long-running variety show.

“Carol has been such a huge part of our lives for 50 years,” said Poehler. “Carol is better than all of us.” Fey and Poehler both grew up watching “The Carol Burnett Show” and loved that not only was Burnett the star, she was also the “boss.”

FULL COVERAGE: Screen Actors Guild Awards

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Burnett, 82, received a long and loud standing ovation both before and after she received the award.

As Burnett told The Times, she was “gobsmacked” when she learned last year she was receiving the SAG honor and she seemed gobsmacked on Saturday night on stage at the Shrine Exposition Hall.

“Tina and Amy, you just touched my heart so much,” Burnett said. “You are the whole ball of wax.”

She admitted that CBS didn’t want her to do a musical variety show but rather a half-hour comedy called “Here’s Agnes.” She was told that musical variety series were not “for a gal. Comedy variety is a man’s game.”

Screen Actors Guild Awards: Live coverage | Best and worst dressed | Complete list | Full coverage | Red carpet

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Of course, Burnett proved them wrong. And for 11 seasons, she said, “we mounted a musical comedy revue a week.”

She thanked the crowd with the line from her famous song that ended each episode of her series, “I’m so glad we had this time together.”

And then she gave her traditional tug-of-her ear farewell.

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Screen Actors Guild Awards 2016: Complete list of winners and nominees

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Screen Actors Guild Awards: Winning doesn’t necessarily mean Oscar gold

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