By LYNN ELBER
AP TELEVISION WRITER
LOS ANGELES — For Carol
Burnett, once around with “Once
Upon a Mattress” was far from
enough.
Before Burnett established her-
self as one of television’s great
comedians, she made a sparkling
Broadway debut in the 1959 musi-
cal. She revisited it in a 1964 black-
and-white TV special and in anoth-
er broadcast version in 1974.
But her fondness for the tale, a
peppy spoof of the tale of the
princess and the pea, remained
undiminished. So Burnett is taking
a fourth crack at it, with a twist:
she’s graduated from the role of
princess to that of queen, as well as
executive producer.
The new version airs 7-9 p.m.
EDT Sunday on ABC’s “The
Wonderful World of Disney,” with
Burnett in fine form as the over-
bearing Queen Aggravain. With
overblown motherly devotion, she
has contrived to keep her son,
Prince Dauntless, from marrying
and living happily ever after.
“It’s been kind of roiling around
in my mind for 10 years now, redo-
ing it, playing the queen, having a
part in the production,” Burnett
said. “I felt a lot of people now
watching television have never
seen ‘Mattress.’ There have been
two or three new generations.”
For a fair number of TV viewers,
however, it will be familiar materi-
al. A Broadway revival (in 1996,
with Sarah Jessica Parker) had a
lackluster run, but “Once Upon a
Mattress” remains among the most-
performed musicals at schools and
community theaters.
Part of its appeal, Burnett specu-
lates, is its array of “meaty, wonder-
ful roles.”
Then there’s the offbeat story,
with the fairy-tale roots that attract
children and, for adults,
the
“smother love, the Oedipal thing,”
as Burnett put it, referring to the
overzealous queen so intent on
keeping her aging boy a bachelor.
Aggravain has rejected dozens
of potential brides for Dauntless, a
blow not only to the prince but to
the royal court, including lovebirds
Lady Larkin and Sir Harry. They
are forbidden to marry until, it is
said, “Dauntless shares his mar-
riage bed.”
On a last-ditch search the prince
finds