What shows like this have going for them are clips, loads of archive clips, and viewers can enjoy another glimpse of Carol Burnett, Milton Berle, Jonathan
Winters, Red Skelton, and George Burns in their primes. In the Skelton segment, archive footage shows Red portraying some of his numerous characters: Freddie the Freeloader, Sheriff Deadeye, and Clem Kadiddlehopper.
This year the producers promise that this accolade show will make you laugh. To further support this claim, the two-hour event (airing live from Hollywood, CA.) will deliver a few solid laughs from comedy legend Red Skelton in a rare TV appearance. Walter Matthau will present writer Neil Simon with the Lifetime Creative Achievement Award for his contribution to comedy with such plays as "Plaza Suite," "California Suite" and "The Odd
Couple." Carol Burnett, Marsha Mason, Matthew Broderick, and Alan Alda, who have appeared in Simon's productions, comment about the writer in a short salute. Nell Carter is scheduled to perform "I've Got What It Takes, But I
Hate to Give It Away." Satirist Mark Russell will recap the year in politics. An ABC spokesman reports that there will be onstage reunions between Harvey Korman and Vicki Lawrence (both from "The Carol Burnett Show"), and Ruth Buzzi
and Arte Johnson (both from "Laugh-In"). Roseanne Barr, Tracey Ullman,
and Candice Bergen compete for funniest female performer in a TV series. Michael J. Fox, Garry Shandling, John Goodman, and Jay Leno have been nominated in the funniest male TV performer category. Nominees for movie comedies include Jamie Lee Curtis ("A Fish Called Wanda"), Melanie Griffith
("Working Girl"), Bette Midler ("Big Business"), John Cleese ("A Fish Called Wanda"), Tom Hanks ("Big"), and Leslie Nielsen ("The Naked Gun"). Roseanne Barr, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, and Elayne Boosler compete in the funniest
stand-up comic category.