''The Tim Conway Comedy Hour'' is a

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

television show broadcast in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

as part of its 1970 fall lineup on Sundays at 10:00 pm.

Background

''The Tim Conway Comedy Hour'' was one of several attempts to develop a starring vehicle for

Tim Conway Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (December 15, 1933 – May 14, 2019) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. From 1966 to 2012 he appeared in more than 100 TV shows, TV series and films. Among his more notable roles, he portrayed the ...

, who had been a

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

in the 1962-1966

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

McHale's Navy ''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC television network. The series was filmed in black and white and originate ...

'' and two 1964 theatrical films spun off from it (''

'' and ''

McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force ''McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force'' is a 1965 film based upon the television 1962–1966 sitcom ''McHale's Navy''. Series supporting players Joe Flynn and Tim Conway are the leads for this sequel to the first film made in 1964, also named ...

''), and in several

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

films, but who had never had much success in developing an audience for programming in which he was the main star (see '' Rango''). His previous show, the situation comedy '' The Tim Conway Show'', had run for only 13 episodes in the spring of 1970, and had been cancelled almost at the same time that he agreed to host ''The Tim Conway Comedy Hour''. Conway had two television flops in the same year.

Format

The show emphasized sketch comedy, musical production numbers and Conway's offbeat humor. The show also featured guest stars:

Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized per ...

David Janssen David Janssen (born David Harold Meyer) (March 27, 1931February 13, 1980) was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Richard Kimble in the television series '' The Fugitive'' (1963–1967). Janssen also ...

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

Audrey Meadows Audrey Meadows ( Cotter, February 8, 1922 – February 3, 1996) was an American actress best known for her role as the deadpan housewife The Honeymooners#Alice Kramden, Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy ''The Honeymooners''. ...

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play ''The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...

Imogene Coca Imogene Coca (born Emogeane Coca; November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on ''Your Show of Shows''. Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and wishe ...

Shelley Winters Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

and

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

Reruns

The complete series was added to the

Stirr Stirr is an American ad-supported video streaming service owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The streaming service is available on the web and via apps for iOS, Android devices and various streaming TV devices, including Amazon Fire TV, Roku, ...

program library in 2021 through a licensing arrangement with

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

.The Tim Conway Comedy Hour
at Stirr, retrieved February 18, 2022

References

External links

* 1970s American comedy television series CBS original programming 1970 American television series debuts 1970 American television series endings {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub