hen The Carol Burnett Show aired its fourteenth episode of Season 2 on January 6, 1969, audiences expected another evening of musical numbers, sketches, and Carol’s radiant charm. What they didn’t expect was the birth of something iconic — a television hour so funny, so unpredictable, that it would forever cement Tim Conway as one of comedy’s most beloved figures.
The night opened with a classic Burnett flourish: sequins, orchestra, and Carol’s warm wink to the crowd. But when Conway appeared — boyish grin, mischievous eyes — the energy shifted. He wasn’t just a guest star. He was a spark plug, instantly syncing with Carol, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner as though he’d been born into their comedic rhythm. His timing was so sharp, so fearless, that even the camera operators were caught laughing between takes.
In one memorable segment, “The Night They Raided Rimsky’s,” Conway played a fumbling undercover detective who couldn’t quite manage the glamour of a 1920s speakeasy. Every move was perfectly wrong — the spilled drink, the delayed punchline, the accidental tango with Carol — and yet every second felt perfectly right. By the time Harvey Korman broke character mid-scene (trying not to laugh, and failing spectacularly), the audience was in tears. That sketch alone would go down as one of the most re-watched moments in Carol Burnett history.
But Conway’s magic went beyond the laughs. Between sketches, there was something endearingly human about him — a performer who never needed to dominate, but somehow lifted everyone else higher. Carol herself once said, “When Tim walked on stage, you could feel the joy — he wasn’t performing at you, he was performing with you.” That collaborative joy radiated through every beat of the episode. Inga Neilsen’s musical performances blended effortlessly into the night’s momentum, and the audience seemed to understand they were witnessing lightning in a bottle.
For viewers who grew up in the 1960s, this episode became a cherished memory — a reminder of when television felt alive, unpredictable, and genuinely shared. There were no CGI effects, no scripted perfection, just raw humor and quick-thinking genius. For younger fans discovering the clip today on YouTube, it feels almost revolutionary: a masterclass in comedic timing where mistakes became punchlines and laughter was gloriously contagious.
Rewatching it now is like stepping into a time capsule — the kind that doesn’t just remind you of the past, but of what entertainment used to feel like. This wasn’t comedy designed to go viral. It was comedy that made you breathe easier, laugh louder, and love humanity a little more.
So when you click play on The Carol Burnett Show Season 2, Episode 14, you’re not just revisiting vintage television. You’re reliving the moment Tim Conway turned laughter into art — and proved that sometimes, the funniest thing in the world is simply a man who can’t stop making everyone around him laugh
