When Tim Conway Broke Television with One Sketch — “Dr. Nose” and the Chaos That Made It Unforgettable

In the annals of television comedy, there are moments you laugh at… and then there are moments you remember for the rest of your life. The Carol Burnett Show’s sketch “Dr. Nose” falls squarely into the latter category. What looked like a harmless bit of “doctor helps a patient with a giant nose” quickly spirals into a tornado of timing, improvisation, and pure comedic genius — led, brilliantly, by Tim Conway

The scene opens with Conway playing the titular Dr. Nose, a surgeon so preposterous he’s already lost the audience before he says a word. His entrance — arms spread wide, gait wobbly, eyes darting — sets the tone. And then he starts speaking. Every line clicks. Every gesture rips a layer of dignity away. The audience starts to laugh. They know they’re in safe hands.

Tim Conway Has to Stop Dr. Nose | The Carol Burnett Show – YouTube

Then, something remarkable happens. mid-sketch, his co-actor slips. A prop goes wrong. Conway sees it, freezes for half a second, then uses it. A new joke is born.
This switch — from rehearsed to spontaneous — is the sketch’s secret weapon.

The show rolls on, laughter builds, cameras catch every crack in the facade. But by the time the “nose” gag enters its final act, the studio audience is clapping on their seats, the laugh is uncontrollable, and one man is contagious: Harvey Korman, who tries desperately to stay in character, fails, and then collapses laughing.

People who were there say the entire room shook with laughter. Crew members confess they had to step out for fresh air. Decades later, the clip still spreads online with dozens of comments like:
“I cried laughing so hard I missed half the jokes.”
“This is the apex of sketch comedy.”

Tim Conway Has to Stop Dr. Nose | The Carol Burnett Show

But what makes “Dr. Nose” more than just a funny sketch is the humanity behind it. Tim Conway, by letting things fall apart, told the audience it was okay to break. To slip. To laugh at the absurdity of it all. And for viewers, that became a relief, a moment of release — especially in a time when television was so often polished and perfect.

And when that last gag landed, and Conway held up the comically enormous nose, the applause didn’t just happen… it roared.

The Carol Burnett Show wasn’t just aired that night.
It was etched into television history.