The Tim Conway Show (1970 TV series)

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.[1][2]

Not to be confused with The Tim Conway Jr. Show.
This article is about the 1970 situation comedy. For the 1970 comedy-variety show, see The Tim Conway Comedy Hour. For the 1980-1981 comedy-variety show, see The Tim Conway Show (1980 TV series).
The Tim Conway Show
The Tim Conway Show's title card, showing the Beechcraft Model 18 Lucky Linda in flight against the glare of the sun.
GenreSituation comedy
Created byKenny Solms
Gail Parent
StarringTim Conway
Joe Flynn
Anne Seymour
Johnnie Collins III
Emily Banks
Fabian Dean
Dennis Robertson[1]
Theme music composerDan & Lois Dalton
Composer(s)Jerry Fielding
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Producer(s)Burt Nodella
Running time26 minutes
Production company(s)Timkel Enterprises, Inc./Andromeda Productions, in association with CBS
Release
Original networkCBS
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseJanuary 30 (1970-01-30) –
June 12, 1970 (1970-06-12)
Tim Conway (left) and Joe Flynn in a publicity photo for The Tim Conway Show taken on January 9, 1970, in front of the Beechcraft Model 18 which appeared in the show as the Triple A Airlines airliner Lucky Linda.

The show should not be confused with The Tim Conway Comedy Hour, which aired later in 1970, or with the 1980-1981 comedy-variety series also called The Tim Conway Show.

Cast
  • Tim Conway....Tim "Spud" Barrett
  • Joe Flynn....Herbert T. Kenworth
  • Anne Seymour....Mrs. K. J. Crawford
  • Johnnie Collins III....Ronnie Crawford
  • Emily Banks....Becky Parks
  • Fabian Dean....Harry Wetzel
  • Dennis Robertson....Sherman Bell

Synopsis

Tim "Spud" Barrett is the well-meaning but bumbling chief pilot – in fact, the only pilot – and part-owner of Triple A Airlines, a charter airline based at Crawford Airfield in Los Angeles, California. His business partner, the inept co-owner and president of Triple A, is Herb Kenworth, who is cranky, terrified of flying, and prone to airsickness. Triple A – which stands for "Anywhere Anytime Airlines" – owns only one plane, a decrepit Beechcraft Model 18 named Lucky Linda, and is always on the verge of bankruptcy. Mrs. K. J. Crawford, a tough businesswoman, owns both Crawford Airfield and Crawford Airlines, a larger and more successful charter airline that is in direct competition with Triple A and based at the same airport; she also holds a mortgage on Lucky Linda. Her sycophantic son, Ronnie Crawford, helps her run the airport and her airline and is always trying to put Triple A out of business. Spud has a romantic interest in a Crawford Airlines employee, Becky Parks, who is friendly toward Triple A and helps Spud and Herb whenever she can. Spud and Herb often eat at the airport terminal's diner, the Chez Skyway, run by Harry Wetzel.[1][2][3] Sherman Bell is the control tower operator.[4]

Production notes

Kenny Solms and Gail Parent created The Tim Conway Show, which paired Tim Conway and Joe Flynn in a situation comedy for the second time; they previously had starred together in McHale's Navy from 1962 to 1966 and in two 1964 theatrical films spun off from the series, McHale's Navy and McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force. It was the second attempt at giving Conway a starring role in a situation comedy of his own after the unsuccessful Rango of 1967.

Burt Nodella produced the show. Episode directors included Harry Falk and Alan Rafkin, and writers included Frank Gill, Jr., Rudy De Luca, Barry Levinson, Craig T. Nelson, Gene Perret, William Raynor, and Myles Wilder. Jerry Fielding composed and conducted the theme music,[5] and Dan and Lois Dalton wrote the title song.

Broadcast history and cancellation

The Tim Conway Show aired on CBS at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Fridays throughout its run.[1][2] It had a five-episode run in January and February 1970, then left the air until late April 1970, when it returned for another eight episodes that ran through mid-June 1970. The show drew low ratings and was cancelled after only 13 episodes.[5]

Almost simultaneously with the cancellation of The Tim Conway Show, Tim Conway accepted an offer to host a new comedy-variety show, The Tim Conway Comedy Hour. It aired during the fall of 1970, but was equally unsuccessful.[5]

Episodes

The Tim Conway Show ran for 13 episodes:[5][6]

Season #Episode #TitlePlot/NotesOriginal air date
11"To Cuba with Love"Spud and Herb think they have a Cuban hijacker aboard Lucky Linda when they fly a charter flight to a remote ranch.[7] Joan Crawford plays herself in a cameo appearance.[8]January 30, 1970
12"Mail Contract"Triple A competes against Crawford Airlines for a U.S. Mail contract, and after Spud agrees to care for a baby, he must bring the child aboard Lucky Linda during a check flight with a postal inspector. Peter Hobbs guest stars.[4]February 6, 1970
13?Mrs. Crawford takes out a big life insurance policy on Spud and Herb, making them think she is plotting to get rid of them.February 13, 1970
14?After Herb takes what he thinks will be an important executive position with a major airline, Spud accepts Mrs. Crawford′s offer to merge Triple A Airlines with Crawford Airlines – but then Herb changes his mind about taking the new job.[9]February 20, 1970
15"All of Our Aircraft is Missing"After Ronnie threatens to foreclose on Lucky Linda, Herb secretly arranges for a friend to "steal" the plane in order to have more time to come up with the money to pay Ronnie[10] – but complications ensue when Spud calls the police to report the plane stolen and Herb books a group of nuns for a charter flight to San Francisco before discovering that Lucky Linda really is missing. Edward Faulkner and Morgan Jones guest star.February 27, 1970
16?Spud and Herb hire new staff for Triple A Airlines and sign a contract with a rock'n'roll star to fly her to her next concert with the stipulation that if they do not get her to the concert on time it will cost them $100,000.April 24, 1970
17"The Boys in the Bandwagon"Ronnie sabotages Triple-A Airlines by making a large but phony reservation with Triple A, leading Spud and Herb to hire away all of Crawford Airlines' employees – and Spud ends up posing as the bandleader Lawrence Welk.May 1, 1970
18"Up, Up and Away"Spud and Herb mistake a television commercial director for a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, then get the chance to audition for him as stunt flyers.May 8, 1970
19"High and the Blighty"Spud and Herb get a passenger they think can put in a good word for Triple-A Airlines with British royalty, and Spud poses as an Englishman.May 15, 1970
110?Spud and Herb fly prospective buyers to what they believe is a new real estate development in the desert, but it turns out to be a ghost town and the front for a gambling operation.May 22, 1970
111?Triple-A Airlines is hired to fly a burro and a bale of hay to Mexico, and Spud and Herb worry that they are inadvertently becoming involved in a marijuana smuggling ring.[11]May 29, 1970
112?To win the business of a gourmet club, Spud and Herb set up a restaurant service aboard Lucky Linda[12] with Spud posing as a famous French chef.[11]June 5, 1970
113?Despite Herb′s strong objections, Spud agrees to fly a pregnant woman to San Francisco and unknowingly picks up a stowaway cat that also is pregnant – and while Spud and a passenger help the cat deliver a litter of kittens aboard Lucky Linda during the flight, Herb is left alone in the cockpit to fly the plane by himself.June 12, 1970

Notes
  1. Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, Sixth Edition, New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, ISBN 0-345-39736-3, p. 1042.
  2. McNeil, Alex, Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 839.
  3. tvacres.com Civilian Aircraft: Lucky Linda Archived 2013-07-06 at Archive.today
  4. Anonymous, "Good Deed Backfires For Spud," Schenectedy Gazette TV Section, January 31, 1970, p. 3.
  5. cctva.com The Tim Conway Show (1970)
  6. ultimate70s.com 1970-1982 Episode Guide for 'The Tim Conway Show'
  7. Schenectady Gazette, January 24, 1970, p. 18.
  8. joancrawfordbest.com Joan Crawford TV: 1970s
  9. Schenectady Gazette, February 14, 1970, p. 18.
  10. Schenectady Gazette, February 21, 1970, p. 18.
  11. Schenectady Gazette, June 6, 1970, p. 18.
  12. Schenectady Gazette, June 13, 1970, p. 18.
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