Lily Tomlin

"The Lily Tomlin Special, Vol. I." Karl-Lorimar. $39.95. This is the first of Tomlin's often hilarious and daring network specials from the '70s to be made available on video. The 1973 show won two Emmys, for best special and best writing. One suspects that the awards came largely in response to the long final sketch co-starring Richard Pryor and Alan Alda, since its realistic subject (poverty and drug addiction) went against the "comedy special" grain.

The audience was kind when actress Lily Tomlin cut short her one-woman show. After just 30 minutes Tuesday night, Tomlin gave a lengthy apology to a near-capacity crowd. "I just cannot serve the play," she said, explaining she had an extremely dry mouth because of an anti-flu medication. She asked the audience what she should do and was greeted with shouts of "Don't push yourself!" and "We love you anyway!"

Lily Tomlin will star in an hourlong comedy series for HBO, created by husband-and-wife producers Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason of "Designing Women" and "Evening Shade" sitcom fame. The comedy, "12 Miles of Bad Road," features Tomlin as Amelia Shakespeare, head of a real estate company and matriarch of a wealthy Dallas family. In the pilot, Mary Kay Place plays Amelia's sister and Leslie Jordan plays a cousin.