Carol Burnett to receive inaugural Golden Globes television achievement award

With the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s new lifetime achievement award for television, they picked a true TV legend.

Carol Burnett will receive the first Golden Globe award introduced as the TV equivalent to the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Not only will Burnett receive the inaugural award in 2019, the award will bear her name as the Carol Burnett Award.

This new entry to the ceremony, honoring “the highest level of achievement in the medium” of TV, was first announced during the unveiling of the Golden Globe nominations.

“For more than 50 years, comedy trailblazer Carol Burnett has been breaking barriers while making us laugh,” HFPA President Meher Tatna said in a statement. “She was the first woman to host a variety sketch show, The Carol Burnett Show. She was also the first woman to win both the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and Kennedy Center Honors. And now we add another first to her running list: the first recipient – and namesake – of the new Golden Globe top honor for achievement in television, the Carol Burnett Award. We are profoundly grateful for her contributions to the entertainment industry and honored to celebrate her legacy forever at the Golden Globes.”

According to a press release from HFPA, future recipients “will be chosen based on their body of work and the lasting impact that their television career achievements have had on both the industry and audiences.”

The Golden Globes ceremony will air on NBC coast-to-coast on Sunday, Jan. 6 at 5-8 p.m. PT, as hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg.

Related content:

• Golden Globe nominations 2019: See the full list
• Carol Burnett reflects on her most iconic roles, from Annie to The Carol Burnett Show
• EW’s critics on the hits, misses, and burning questions of the Golden Globes film nominees