In the past here, we've complained that the Mark Twain Award — the one given out by Kennedy Center for contributing to American comedy — has sometimes gone to people with rather short track records, thereby ignoring deserving folks with longer ones. Whatever the worthiness is of Will Ferrell, Ellen DeGeneres and Tina Fey, it oughta continue for another decade or three…and if it doesn't, then maybe they weren't as deserving as they seemed when they were selected before Sid Caesar, Stan Freberg, Shelley Berman, Don Rickles, Mort Sahl, Robert Klein, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, David Letterman, Tim Conway, Dan Aykroyd, Jerry Lewis, Jon Stewart, Dick Van Dyke and a whole buncha producers and authors.
The last time I made up such a list here, Carol Burnett's name was on it but now they've announced that she'll be the recipient of the next one, which will be presented in October. Good choice. Let's hope it's not a "token older person" and that next year's will go to someone who'll have a hit sitcom or movie between now and then.