Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Deliver Heartwarming Tribute to Carol Burnett at the 2016 SAG Awards

By
This video is unavailable because we were unable to load a message from our sponsors.

If you are using ad-blocking software, please disable it and reload the page.


Tina Fey
and Amy Poehler teamed up again to honor Carol Burnett with the Life Achievement Award at the 2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The 82-year-old comedian accepted her award at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Saturday, delivering a funny, heartwarming monologue where she revealed that she was discouraged from starting her now-iconic Carol Burnett Show because she was a woman.

"They told me comedy is a man's game," Burnett remembered, elaborating that she was fortunate to have a contract that allowed her to demand they let her continue with her variety show "at the push of a button."

"I'm so happy I pushed that button," Carol said.

PHOTOS: The 13 Best SAG Awards Dresses of All Time

Fey and Poehler hilariously and fondly remembered growing up watching Burnett's show, and being inspired to take the lead in their own comedic careers.

"It was important for us to see that Carol was the boss," said Fey. "It was her show."

"The point is: Carol is better than all of us," Poehler added. "We're gonna give her a prize for it."

This honor is Burnett's first at the SAG Awards, but the actress has previously won more than 30 awards at other ceremonies, including five Golden Globes and six Emmys, and has received over 40 other nominations.

Her most iconic role remains the eponymous Carol Burnett Show, which ran 11 seasons from 1967 until 1978, followed by a revival of the series in 1991. Burnett has also brought her acting charm to many other TV series, including Glee, Hot in Cleveland, and Hawaii Five-0.

WATCH: Carol Burnett Isn't Thrilled With How TV Is Being Made Today

Last week, Burnett spoke to ET about the changes since her TV debut, noting that she's thankful there wasn't "a network breathing down our neck all the time."

"We did an hour and fifteen minutes, with all of the costumes changes and musical numbers and all of that, in about two hours," Burnett said of the shooting schedule for her classic sketch comedy show. "A lot of these 22-minute shows will take five or six hours to tape and that just makes me crazy. It's because they're nitpicking and redoing stuff until there's no spontaneity left. I couldn't do that."

"I don't think anyone had more fun than we had," she added.

MORE: SAG Awards 2016: The Complete Winners List

In addition to acting, Burnett has earned accolades for her three memoirs, One More Time,This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection and Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story. The latter two were both Grammy-nominated for Best Spoken Word recording.

MORE: SAG Awards 2016: Idris Elba and Helen Mirren Lead the Pack With 3 Nominations Each

Burnett is showing no signs of slowing down. She’s in the process of writing her fourth book, In Such Good Company, and is in development with CBS Films on the unfinished play Sunrise in Memphis, which was written by her late daughter, Carrie Hamilton. The playwright, singer and actress died in 2002 after battling lung and brain cancer.

It'd be hard to think of anyone more deserving of recognition for a lifetime of accolades. Congratulations, Carol Burnett!