So said director Kathleen Marshall to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. No official broadcast date has been set. The TV film, as previously reported, will also feature Matthew Morrison as Sir Harry, Denis O'Hare as Prince Dauntless, Zooey Deschanel as Lady Larkin, Tommy Smothers as King Sextimus, Michael Boatman as the Jester and Edward Hibbert as the Wizard. Carol Burnett, who starred in Mattress on Broadway in 1959 and on television in 1964 (in black and white) and in 1972 (in color), will play the conniving Queen Aggravain. The TV production was directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall.

Once Upon a Mattress, which is essentially the fable of "The Princess and the Pea" set to music, marked Carol Burnett's Broadway debut, and her role as the comical Winnifred became one of Burnett's signature parts. Featuring a score by Mary Rodgers (music) and Marshall Barer (lyrics) and a book by Barer, Jay Thompson and Dean Fuller, the original Broadway company also included Jack Gilford, Joe Bova and Jane White. The 1996 Broadway revival featured "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker in the role created by Burnett with co-stars David Aaron Baker, Jane Krakowski and Mary Lou Rosato.