CBS apologizes for not airing Burnett tribute

Carol Burnett got a public apology after a tribute to her was left out of CBS's 75th anniversary special.

"I am sorry that during the excitement of a 'live 3-hour television event' the wonderful film piece we prepared that paid tribute to the 'Carol Burnett Show' was not aired," executive producer Gil Cates said Wednesday in an open letter addressed to "Dear Carol" and published in trade papers.

Cates noted that Burnett received a "glorious standing ovation" from the audience in the New York ballroom where the Nov. 2 show was held.

"Sometimes 'goofs' happen. We all feel bad about that. I promise that won't happen on the 100th," Cates wrote in the ad that was published in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.

There was a touch of irony in the incident. In 2001, CBS scored big ratings with a special on Burnett's 1967-79 variety show. Its popularity triggered a nostalgic flood of tributes to other old series.

It was a skipped cue that failed to bring up clips of Burnett's show before she took the stage, Cates said in an interview Wednesday. Burnett didn't complain, and he apologized to her the next day, he said.

He said he took the ad out, in part, to explain to those in the TV industry who might have wondered why Burnett's show had been omitted.

Burnett was surprised by the ad, said her publicist, Deborah Kelman.

"She's been in live TV her whole life and she certainly understands it and that goofs can happen. She didn't feel an apology was necessary," Kelman said.