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Carol Burnett accepts Golden Globes award named after her with moving speech

We're so glad we've had this time together, Carol.
/ Source: TODAY

If there were one Golden Globe honor that was a complete no-brainer on Sunday night, it was the winner of the inaugural Carol Burnett Award for lifetime achievement in television.

Because it was Carol Burnett who won the award!

Image: 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Show
Carol Burnett, accepting the TV achievement award named for her at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.Paul Drinkwater / Getty Images

Presenter Steven Carell created some hilarious tension by suggesting others were in the running for the prize, like Christian Bale, Charlize Theron and Antonio Banderas, which gave us a chance to see legendary comedian Burnett "shaking" with nerves backstage, but of course the prize was always going to go her way.

And Burnett, 85, made a gracious, expansive speech that showed exactly why she deserved such a prize.

"Does this mean I get to accept it every year?" she quipped after taking the stage, then noted how she'd grown up watching as many as eight movies a week with her grandmother, who raised her.

That was, at least, until they got a TV in the house. "Regardless of the medium, what fascinated me was the way the stars on the screen could make people laugh or cry or sometimes both," she said. "And I wished and hoped that maybe, just maybe, someday I could have the chance to do the same thing. Well, those childhood dreams came true."

Boy, did they ever, most vividly during the 11-year run from 1967 to 1978 of her CBS variety series "The Carol Burnett Show," during which she and ensemble cast members including Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway created wacky sketch after wacky sketch that included pratfalls, pies in the face, crazy costumes and wigs, and never stopped trying to make each other laugh.

Burnett also made waves in movies like 1981's "The Four Seasons" and 1982's "Annie" (who could forget her as Miss Hannigan!), and she even appeared on "Law & Order: SVU" in 2009, but it was the variety show that earned her the other four Globes she now has.

After thanking everyone who worked on her variety show, she added that it was a weekly herculean effort that won't ever be replicated. "What we did then, it couldn't be done today; the cost alone would be prohibitive," she said, noting they had a 28-piece live orchestra, 12 dancers and an average of 65 costumes each week.

Carol Burnett On 'The Carol Burnett Show'
Carol Burnett as a charwoman during a skit on a 1967 episode of "The Carol Burnett Show."CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images

"We all became one happy family for 11 joy-filled years," she said. "We've been granted a gift, a canvas to paint with our talent. One that can make people laugh or cry or maybe do both."

And then she closed by not only tugging her earlobe (a lifelong shout-out to her grandma) but with the words she ended each of her shows with: "I am so glad we had this time together."

So are we, Carol!