Carol Burnett becomes the latest great from TV’s past to enter the world of streaming on Friday with the debut of her Netflix series “A Little Help With Carol Burnett,” and the 85-year-old actress told Vulture that she prefers the streaming world to broadcast television these days, saying “there are just too many cooks now.”
“A Little Help” will see Burnett and her co-host, comedian Russell Peters, work with a group of kids to help solve the problems of celebrities including Billy Eichner, Taraji P. Henson and Mark Cuban. The show marks Burnett’s first regular return to television since CBS’ ill-fated attempt at reviving her variety series “The Carol Burnett Show” in the early 1990s. Since then, Burnett had appeared in guest spots on a handful of series including “Glee,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Hot in Cleveland.”
So why did Burnett decide to return to the television format, particularly on streaming? Burnett told Vulture that working with Netflix reminded her of the early days of TV, where network executives weren’t as involved in the making of the shows.
“I liked it, because they stayed away,” she said of Netflix. “When I was doing my show back in the covered-wagon days, they didn’t even want to read a script.” She added that executives such as CBS’ William Paley would leave her alone. “But a lot of the networks now, they’ve got an army of people coming to comment and tell you how you should change something, and it’s very bothersome to me.”
Burnett said that shooting guest spots on a 22-minute sitcom would take up to five hours, “because everybody, after every scene, there were all these writers and network people saying ‘Oh, no. Change that line.'”
Netflix has winning over the creative community lately, luring big time TV showrunners like Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes away from broadcast television.
Burnett is just the latest to praise Netflix’s hands-off approach. “They had some notes and suggestions when we were casting, and then afterwards, they left us alone,” she added.
Summer TV Premiere Dates: Every New and Returning Show (Photos)
Find out when the most hotly anticipated new shows and your old favorites return this summer. We'll keep updating this gallery as more shows are announced.
"I'm Dying Up Here" (Showtime) Sunday, May 6 at 10 p.m.
Showtime
"Sweetbitter" (Starz) Sunday, May 6 at 8:30 p.m.
Starz
"Vida" (Starz) Sunday, May 6 at 8 p.m.
Starz
"Safe" (Netflix) Thursday, May 10
Netflix
"All Night" (Hulu) Friday, May 11
Hulu
"Patrick Melrose" (Showtime) Saturday, May 12 at 9 p.m.
Showtime
"Little Women" (PBS) Sunday, May 13 at 8 p.m.
PBS
"13 Reasons Why" (Netflix) Friday, May 18
Netflix
"Fauda" (Netflix) Thursday, May 24
Netflix
"Picnic at Hanging Rock" (Amazon) Friday, May 25
Amazon
"The Bachelorette" (ABC) Monday, May 28 at 8 p.m.
ABC
"Six" (History) Monday, May 28 at 10 p.m.
History
"100 Code" (WGN America) Tuesday, May 19 at 10 p.m.
WGN America
"America's Got Talent" (NBC) Tuesday, May 29 at 8 p.m.
NBC
"Animal Kingdom" (TNT) Tuesday, May 29 at 9 p.m.
TNT
"Beat Shazam" (Fox) Tuesday, May 29 at 8 p.m.
Fox
"Love Connection" (Fox) Tuesday, May 29 at 9 p.m.
Fox
"Queen Sugar" (OWN) Tuesday, May 29 at 10 p.m.
OWN
"World of Dance" (NBC) Tuesday, May 29 at 10 p.m.
NBC
"American Ninja Warrior" (NBC) Wednesday, May 30 at 8 p.m.
NBC
"MasterChef" (Fox) Wednesday, May 30 at 10 p.m.
Fox
"Reverie" (NBC) Wednesday, May 30 at 10 p.m.
NBC
"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" (Netflix) Wednesday, May 30
Netflix
"Pose" (FX) Sunday, June 3 at 9 p.m.
FX
"Succession" (HBO) Sunday, June 3 at 10 p.m.
HBO
"Dietland" (AMC) Monday, June 4 at 9 p.m.
AMC
"So You Think You Can Dance" (Fox) Monday, June 4 at 8 p.m.
Fox
"Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (CW) Monday, June 4 at 9 p.m.
CW
"Humans" (AMC) Tuesday, June 5 at 10 p.m.
AMC
"Teachers" (TV Land) Tuesday, June 5 at 10:30 p.m.
TV Land
"Younger" (TV Land) Tuesday, June 5 at 10 p.m.
TV Land
"Condor" (Audience) Wednesday, June 6 at 10 p.m.
Audience Network
"American Woman" (Paramount) Thursday, June 7 at 10 p.m.
Paramount Network
"The Four" (Fox) Thursday, June 7 at 8 p.m.
Fox
"Marvel's Cloak & Dagger" (Freeform) Thursday, June 7 at 8 p.m.
Freeform
"Nashville" (CMT) Thursday, June 7 at 9 p.m.
CMT
"Big Hero 6: The Series" (Disney) Saturday, June 9 at 9 a.m.
Disney
"The $100,000 Pyramid" (ABC) Sunday, June 10 at 9 p.m.
ABC
"Celebrity Family Feud" (ABC) Sunday, June 10 at 8 p.m.
ABC
"Claws" (TNT) Sunday, June 10 at 9 p.m.
TNT
"To Tell the Truth" (ABC) Sunday, June 10 at 10 p.m.
ABC
"The Bold Type" (Freeform) Tuesday, June 12
Freeform
"Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back" (Fox) Wednesday, June 13 at 9 p.m.
"Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce" (Bravo) Thursday, June 14 at 10 p.m.
Bravo
"Marlon" (NBC) Thursday, June 14 at 9 p.m.
NBC
"Strange Angel" (CBS All Access) Thursday, June 14
CBS All Access
"Goliath" (Amazon) Friday, June 15
Amazon
"The Affair" (Showtime) Sunday, June 17 at 9 p.m.
Showtime
"Deep State" (Epix) Sunday, June 17 at 9 p.m.
Epix
"Shades of Blue" (NBC) Sunday, June 17 at 10 p.m.
NBC
"Drunk History" (Comedy Central) Tuesday, June 19 at 10 p.m.
Comedy Central
"Yellowstone" (Paramount) Wednesday, June 20 at 9 p.m.
Paramount Network
"Young & Hungry" (Freeform) Wedneday, June 20 at 8 p.m.
Freeform
"Detroiters" (Comedy Central) Thursday, June 21 at 10 p.m.
Comedy Central
"The Gong Show" (ABC) Thursday, June 21 at 8 p.m.
ABC
"Queen of the South" (USA) Thursday, June 21 at 9 p.m.
USA
"Shooter" (USA) Thursday, June 21 at 10 p.m.
USA
"Marvel's Luke Cage" (Netflix) Friday, June 22
Netflix
"Preacher" (AMC) Sunday, June 24 at 10 p.m.
AMC
"Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (CW) Monday, June 25 at 8 p.m.
CW
"GLOW" (Netflix) Friday, June 29
Netflix
"Masters of Illusion" (CW) Friday, June 29 at 8 p.m.
CW
"Power" (Starz) Sunday, July 1 at 9 p.m.
Starz
"Sacred Games" (Netflix) Friday, July 6
Netflix
"Heathers" (Paramount) Tuesday, July 10 at 10 p.m.
Paramount Network
"The Outpost" (CW) Tuesday, July 10 at 8 p.m.
Getty Images
"Burden of Truth" (CW) Wednesday, July 11 at 8 p.m.
Getty Images
"Harlots" (Hulu) Wednesday, July 11
Hulu
"The HollywoodPuppet Show" (Fuse) Tuesday, July 17 at 10:30 p.m.
Fuse
"Suits" (USA) Wednesday, July 18 at 9 p.m.
USA
"Snowfall" (FX) Thursday, July 19 at 10 p.m.
FX
"Trial & Error: Lady, Killer" (NBC) Thursday, July 19 at 9 p.m.
NBC
"Wynonna Earp" (Syfy) Friday, July 20 at 9 p.m.
Syfy
"Killjoys" (Syfy) Friday, July 20 at 10 p.m.
Syfy
"Outcast" (Cinemax) Friday, July 20 at 10 p.m.
Cinemax
"Castle Rock" (Hulu) Wednesday, July 25
Hulu
"Swedish Dicks" (Pop) Thursday, July 26
Pop TV
"Casual" (Hulu) Tuesday, July 31
Hulu
"The Sinner" (USA) Wednesday, August 1
USA
"Mr. Mercedes" (Audience) Wedneday, August 22 at 10 p.m.
Audience Network
"The Innocents" (Netflix) Friday, August 24
Netflix
"Jack Ryan" (Amazon) Friday, August 31
Amazon
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From returning favorites like Netflix’s “Luke Cage” to highly anticipated debuts such as Ryan Murphy’s “Pose,” TheWrap’s complete guide to summer TV premieres
Find out when the most hotly anticipated new shows and your old favorites return this summer. We'll keep updating this gallery as more shows are announced.