Question Celebrity

Carol Burnett, who at 73 has sued the Fox network for a very brief and (I think) harmless depiction of herself on the animated series "Family Guy," has swan-dived into the big, bottomless divide between what comedy (and, really, all pop culture) used to be, and what it is now. Burnett is angry about an 18-second blip in an episode from a year ago, which showed her trademark "charwoman" janitor mopping up in a porn shop, aped the theme music from her hit '70s comedy show, and made a vulgar reference to Burnett's signature ear tug. After Fox refused to cut the scene from future reruns or DVDs, Burnett filed a $2 million copyright infringement suit against the network.

Nothing could more succinctly tell the world: "I'm old, and I don't get it, and I sure don't dig it," but one can sort of sympathize with Burnett, and maybe even be tempted to bet on her, if for no other reason than that eons ago she successfully sued the National Enquirer for libel (it had written that she'd appeared drunk at a restaurant in 1976). After winning, she donated part of her settlement money to the University of Hawaii's journalism school (so it could teach ethics), which bought her years of free tolls on the celebrity high road. Sadly for her (not for us), America is more parody-happy than ever, and courts have most always favored the lampooning of public figures. Even Fox, in a bemused response to last month's lawsuit, pointed out that Burnett earned her fame and fortune by making fun of others.

Surely Burnett knows somebody who can explain to her not only the broad legal limits of spoofing, but also what an honor it is to be cited, three decades later, by a show that propels itself on light-speed references to pop icons. Lady, the producers and writers of "Family Guy" are assuming their whip-smart, Gen-Y, ADD-addled, advertiser-elusive viewers know who the heck Carol Burnett is. That's a compliment, years after the reruns dried up. That's a sign that you're sliding toward immortality, and, from the impure perspective that bad-publicity-is-still-good, it should go right up there with your Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors award. That sentiment, of course, sounds like nonsense through the hearing aid of insult. In which case, Burnett also had another option: Ignore it. Her suit, however, ensures that those 18 seconds will be looked at again and again, getting funnier all the time.

E-mail: celebrity@washpost.com.