“11 SEASONS… AND THE AUDIENCE HAD NEVER LAUGHED THIS HARD.” Harvey Korman tried to stay calm… but the moment Tim Conway walked in as “Dr. Nose,” the whole thing just fell apart. You could see Harvey already shaking, lips pressed tight, hand halfway over his face — that look people get when they know they’re seconds away from losing it on live TV. Then Tim leaned in, completely serious, and whispered, “This might sting a little.” That was the breaking point. Harvey cracked. The audience cracked. Even the cameras started trembling because the crew behind them couldn’t hold it together. Tim kept piling on — new lines, tiny gestures, little surprises — turning the sketch into pure, unstoppable chaos. The funniest part? The moment that finally destroyed Harvey wasn’t even a joke. It was a tiny, accidental movement from Tim… so quick you’ll miss it if you blink. But once you catch it, you’ll understand why comedians still study this meltdown decades later.

In the annals of television comedy, there are moments you laugh at… and then there are moments you carry with you for the rest of your life. The Carol Burnett Show’s sketch “Dr. Nose” belongs firmly in the second category. What starts as a seemingly harmless bit — a doctor helping a patient with an absurdly oversized nose — quickly spirals into a whirlwind of timing, improvisation, and pure comedic brilliance, all driven by the unmatched genius of Tim Conway.

The sketch opens with Conway as the infamous Dr. Nose, a surgeon so ridiculous he has already lost the audience before he even utters a line. His entrance — arms spread wide, wobbling steps, eyes darting with mock seriousness — sets the perfect comedic tone. And once he begins speaking, every line lands. Every gesture peels away another layer of seriousness. The audience laughs, fully aware they’re in the hands of a master.

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

Then the moment arrives — the one no script could ever predict. In the middle of the sketch, a co-star slips. A prop misfires. Conway notices it instantly. He freezes for a heartbeat, then transforms the mistake into a fresh joke. That shift, that lightning-fast leap from rehearsed to improvised, becomes the sketch’s greatest strength.

The show barrels forward, laughter rising with each beat. The cameras catch everything: the smiles trying to hide, the actors teetering on the edge of breaking. And by the time the oversized “nose” gag reaches its final crescendo, the studio audience is no longer just laughing — they are clapping between breaths, unable to contain themselves. At the center of the storm is Harvey Korman, valiantly attempting to maintain his composure before finally losing the battle and collapsing into laughter.

Witnesses say the room shook from the sheer volume of laughter. Crew members admit they had to step outside for fresh air. Decades later, the clip continues to circulate online, with 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 elevates “Dr. Nose” beyond just great comedy is the humanity behind it. Tim Conway — by embracing the chaos, letting mistakes bloom into magic — told audiences something quietly profound: it’s okay to break. To slip. To let life’s absurdities knock you off balance. That moment of shared laughter became a release, especially in an era when television tried so hard to look polished and perfect.

And when the final gag landed, and Conway triumphantly lifted the giant rubber nose, the applause didn’t simply start… it erupted.

The Carol Burnett Show wasn’t just broadcast that night.

It was etched into television history.