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Tim Conway Gone At 85
I note the passing of perennial second banana Tim Conway here for several reasons. For one, he was the only member of the legendary Carol Burnett Show who could crack up a cast of wily veterans on a regular basis and provided some of that program's most famous moments.
Second, he had his roots in radio. He and the late great Ernie Anderson (the one time voice of ABC, most famous for saying "The Love Boat" in promos in the late 70s) began on the medium as a comedy team in Ohio.
And his son, Tim Conway Jr., is a longtime talk show host at KFI in Los Angeles, who once worked alongside Bill Carroll.
Conway had an unfortunate history of never quite making it as a star in his own right. His most famous role, beside his Burnett appearances, came on McHale's Navy. But shows he starred in, like Rango, were outright flops and became a running joke throughout his career.
Conway was 85.
Comedian Tim Conway Of 'The Carol Burnett Show' Dies At 85
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Re: Tim Conway Gone At 85
I have no idea if this is true, but Conway always used to say that his licence plate number was 13, because his television series rarely lasted longer than 13 weeks. Rango did manage to last 17 episodes from Jan-May 1967 on ABC.
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Re: Tim Conway Gone At 85
Here's a rare episode of Rango that survived online.
Rango
I'd long forgotten this, but Tim Conway also has the distinction of being the guest star on the only TV show ever cancelled in the middle of its first episode! It was called "Turn On" and it was from Laugh-In creator George Schlatter. But it was also a turn off for audiences and it was gone before it even reached the west coast.
If memory serves, I don't think it ever ran on WKBW, so I never got to see it. There is almost no evidence of it on the web, which is rare. But because it became so infamous, there are a lot of people talking about what a disaster it was. Except Schlatter, who still defends his creation. 
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Thread Starter- mace
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Re: Tim Conway Gone At 85
From what I have read about Turn-On, there was one skit where a stunningly attractive, busty young woman is tied to a post and is about to be executed by a firing squad. The person in charge approaches the woman and says something like Normally it is our policy to give the prisoner one last request. However, in this case, the firing squad has one last request. I thought it was funny. Perhaps for 1969, not so much. One other thing. RA you seem to have quite a collection of TV Guides. Would you possibly have one from early Feb 1969. It would probably show if WKBW and WOKR were listed as carrying the show. Whether they actually did, is another matter. The show may have also had a TV Guide Close Up analysis.
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I'll look but my collection isn't catalogued in any particular order. May take me awhile and I may not have that exact edition in any case. Back then, I only saved a TV Guide if there was an article I wanted to keep - like the one above. If I find it, I'll post it here.
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