Production
Seeking a compatible series to insert in its Sunday evening lineup after its hit America's Funniest Home Videos show, ABC aired Tim Conway's Funny America in the summer of 1990. Starring Tim Conway, Tim Conway's Funny America borrowed heavily from the format of the long-running Candid Camera show, with Conway traveling around the United States in various disguises and playing practical jokes on unsuspecting people while hidden cameras filmed their reactions. Among the show's gags were Conway pretending to be an old man crossing a street, an eccentric employee of a pet-grooming salon, a member of the "fashion police" in a motorcycle policeman 's uniform ticketing passersby on the street for their attire, a clumsy teppanyaki chef in a Japanese restaurant, and an aerobics class leader – the latter in the guise of his character "Dorf," a dark-haired man with a normal-sized head, body, and arms, but extremely short legs and an odd foreign accent. Conway presented the resulting videos to a studio audience. [2] [3]
Despite his success as a member of the cast of the situation comedy McHale's Navy from 1962 to 1966 and in two theatrical films spun off from the series, McHale's Navy in 1964 and McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force in 1965, as well as his popularity during several years as a regular on The Carol Burnett Show in the 1970s, Tim Conway had found no success in starring in a television show of his own. His situation comedies Rango in 1967, The Tim Conway Show in 1970, and Ace Crawford, Private Eye in 1983 had all been cancelled after short runs, as had two comedy-variety series, The Tim Conway Comedy Hour in the fall of 1970 and The Tim Conway Show in 1980-1981. Conway had no better luck with Tim Conway's Funny America, which was cancelled after only a few weeks on the air. [2] [3] A total of seven episodes aired, including a special on April 29, 1990, and six weekly episodes broadcast between July 29 and September 2, 1990. [1]
Tim Conway's Funny America aired at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday throughout its brief run. [3]
Ernest Borgnine was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular performer, he also appeared as a guest on numerous talk shows and as a panelist on several game shows.
Matthew Keith Hall, known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an off-beat, energetic performance style that fused elements of surrealism, observational comedy, slapstick, satire and music. When performing, he usually wears browline glasses and a dress shirt with a distinctive oversized collar and cuffs.
The year 1962 involved some significant events in television. Below is a list of notable events of that year.
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. Conway is perhaps best known as a regular cast member (1975–1978) on the TV comedy The Carol Burnett Show where he portrayed his recurrent iconic characters Mister Tudball and the Oldest Man. Over his career he received numerous accolades including five Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. He received the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2002.
It's Garry Shandling's Show is an American sitcom that was initially broadcast on Showtime from September 10, 1986 to May 25, 1990. It was created by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel. The series is notable for breaking the fourth wall.
America's Funniest Home Videos, also called America's Funniest Videos, is an American video clip television series on ABC, based on the Japanese variety show Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan (1986–1992). The show features humorous homemade videos that are submitted by viewers. The most common videos feature unintentional physical comedy, pets or children and some staged pranks.
The NBC Mystery Movie is an American television anthology series produced by Universal Pictures, that NBC broadcast from 1971 to 1977. Devoted to a rotating series of mystery episodes, it was sometimes split into two subsets broadcast on different nights of the week: The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie and The NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie.
The Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner. In 1975, frequent guest star Tim Conway became a regular cast member after Waggoner left the series. In 1977, Dick Van Dyke replaced Korman but it was agreed that he was not a match and he left after 10 episodes.
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 originated from a one-hour drama titled "Seven Against the Sea", broadcast on April 3, 1962 as part of the Alcoa Premiere anthology series. The ABC series spawned three feature films: McHale's Navy (1964); a sequel, McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965); and a 1997 sequel-remake of the original series.
The Jackie Gleason Show is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms.
Turn-On is an American surreal sketch comedy series created by Digby Wolfe and George Schlatter that aired once on ABC on Wednesday, February 5, 1969. Only one episode was shown partially before being pulled from ABC's airing schedule, leaving another episode unaired. The show has since been considered one of the most infamous flops in TV history, with significantly low initial ratings and negative critical reception.
Almost Live! was a local sketch comedy television show in Seattle, Washington, USA, produced and broadcast by NBC affiliate KING-TV from 1984 to 1999. A re-packaged version of the show also aired on Comedy Central from 1992 to 1993, and episodes aired on WGRZ-TV and other Gannett-owned stations in the late 1990s. The show was broadcast in Seattle on Saturday nights at 11:30, pushing Saturday Night Live back to midnight, while other Gannett stations aired it after Saturday Night Live.
Joseph Anthony Flynn III was an American actor. He was known for playing Captain Wallace Binghamton in the 1960s ABC television situation comedy McHale's Navy. Flynn was also a frequent guest star on 1960s TV shows, such as Batman, and appeared in several Walt Disney film comedies.
Rango is an American Western situation comedy starring comedian Tim Conway, which was broadcast in the United States on the ABC television network in 1967 and lasted 17 episodes.
The Tim Conway Comedy Hour is a variety/sketch comedy television show broadcast in the United States by CBS as part of its 1970 fall lineup on Sundays at 10:00 pm.
The Danny Kaye Show is an American variety show, hosted by the stage and screen star Danny Kaye, which aired on Wednesday nights from September 25, 1963, to June 7, 1967, on the CBS television network. Directed by Robert Scheerer, it premiered in black-and-white. It switched to color broadcasts in the fall of 1965. At the time, Kaye was at the height of his popularity. He starred in a string of successful 1940s and 1950s musical comedy features, made numerous personal appearances at venues such as the London Palladium, and his rare selective visits to the small screen were considered major events. With his recent motion pictures considered disappointments, three triumphant early 1960s television specials led the way to this series. Prior to his film and television career, Kaye had made a name for himself with his own radio show, also titled The Danny Kaye Show. He made numerous guest appearances on other comedy and variety radio shows and headlined in several major Broadway musical revues throughout the 1940s.
Ann Jillian is an American sitcom television series created by Deidre Fay and Stuart Wolpert, starring Ann Jillian that aired on NBC from November 30, 1989, to August 19, 1990.
Friends and Lovers is an American sitcom starring Paul Sand which centers on a musician in Boston, Massachusetts, and his personal relationships. It was Sand's only starring role in a television series. The show aired from September 14, 1974, to January 4, 1975.
The Tim Conway Show – the first of two television series of the name – is a 1970 American sitcom starring Tim Conway and Joe Flynn which centers on a single-plane charter airline. The show aired during periods between January 30, 1970, and June 12, 1970.
The Tim Conway Show – the second of two television series of the name – is a 1980–1981 American variety/sketch comedy television show starring Tim Conway. It aired on CBS from March 22, 1980 to May 17, 1980, and from September 20, 1980 to March 7, 1981.
