Burnett said that CBS had not originally wanted her to do a variety show, instead pitching a sitcom called "Here's Agnes."
"They didn't think that a woman could headline such a big show — was that the issue they had, Carol?" asked host Hoda Kotb.
"Yes," agreed Burnett.
"And nothing's changed!" quipped the host.
"'It's a man's game, comedy variety,'" Burnett said producers had told her. "Dean Martin, Milton Berle and Jackie Gleason."
"But you showed them," said co-host Kathie Lee Gifford. "And plowed that field for everybody else coming afterwards...such a role model for me growing up."
Watch the full interview below:
