Michaels didn’t comment for the story, nor has he ever commented on why he hasn’t extended the invite. There was certainly some snobbery involved in the snub, at least initially; when SNL began, Michaels and his writers were adamant not to air anything “too Carol Burnett.” Unlike SNL, which quickly became known for political satire, “We seldom did anything topical,” Burnett tells The New Yorker. “I just wanted to go for belly laughs.” In the early days of his show, Michaels scorned “breaking” (or laughing during a sketch), something that The Carol Burnett Show stars did often. Yet over the decades SNL has softened on that point and others that may have once distinguished it from the broad, suburban sensibility of Burnett’s variety series. Beyond that, plenty of SNL alums (like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, quoted in the New Yorker piece) openly revere Burnett. In 2023, SNL A-listers Amy Poehler, Kristin Wiig, Tina Fey, Bill Hader, and Jimmy Fallon all participated in her 90th birthday television special, which aired on Michaels’ home base, NBC.
And still, no invite! Unlike SNL, Burnett isn’t known for political comedy, but she’s willing to speak up in defense of it. Looking back at the politically-motivated cancellation of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Burnett recalls, “I was sorry that CBS cancelled them, because they were very funny, and they had a point to what they were doing.” Similarly, she says of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! suspension, “I was horrified. I texted Jimmy the minute it happened and said, ‘The whole world has gone mad.'” Burnett exudes a general bonhomie to the comedy community, even professing herself a fan of Saturday Night Live—”when it’s good”—back in 2016. Yet in 2023, the same year her birthday special aired on NBC, she expressed some hesitance about the show in an interview with Vulture. “I don’t think I would” host, she said at the time. “Maybe like 20 years ago or whatever. But that ship has sailed.”
