Carol Burnett has 'Crazy' lunch plans
The great Carol Burnett, a comedy legend who received the Life Achievement honor at the SAG Awards Saturday, plans to get together with Rachel Bloom, the Golden Globe-winning star of CW's critically praised first-season comedy, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Monday, 8 p.m. ET/PT).
"I'm a fan of Rachel Bloom," Burnett tells Paste BN, adding that they're getting together for lunch in February.
One question: How do we get a reservation at their table?
Burnett blended music and comedy brilliantly during 11 seasons of the Emmy-winning Carol Burnett Show, while Bloom expertly combines comic lyrics, music and dance to convey the complicated feelings of Crazy's Rebecca Bunch, an accomplished lawyer who gives up her New York corporate gig to follow a long-ago boyfriend to West Covina, Calif.
Maybe Burnett will teach Bloom her classic Tarzan yell.
Or Bloom can discuss her song-and-dance technique.
If the get-together sounds wonderful, how it was arranged may be an even better story. Donna Lynne Champlin, who plays Rebecca's Crazy colleague, Paula, starred on Broadway and at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in Hollywood Arms, a play written by Burnett and her daughter, Carrie Hamilton, that reflects on Burnett's experience growing up in Hollywood.
"She played me as a college student," says Burnett, who also is a fan of Fox's The Grinder and CBS's Life in Pieces. "When Donna Lynne came out (to Los Angeles for Crazy), she said, 'I'm working with a wonderful girl. You've got to watch this show.' I did and e-mailed Donna Lynne and said, 'Oh my God, it's fabulous!' She gave me Rachel's e-mail and we went back and forth a little bit. When she won the Golden Globe, I e-mailed her. I was so thrilled for her. So, now we're going to try to get together and have lunch: Donna Lynne, Rachel," executive producer Aline Brosh McKenna and Burnett.
We're guessing this meal will come with a big side of laughter.