The actors themselves have said that they shot each week's show twice, with two different audiences, and then the best bits from each version would be edited together.
The first show was done with the actors doing each bit "to the ink", as Carol says it - literally to the letter of the script.
Once the master version of the show was in the can, they did the second show the following day. Actors were free to ad lib bits of comedic business, or to improvise lines, which led to plenty of unscripted territory on so many of the shows.
A good editor would know which bits to incorporate, and which lines to cut, in order to produce the funniest finished product.
A comparison of scripts for other tv shows vs their finished episodes indicates that it's not uncommon to trim down bits of scenes or sketches, and that the broadcast version may end up different from the script.
It's not a stretch to think that editors for this show simply tightened the timing, and trimmed the deadwood, on each sketch, leaving the funnier versions of each bit intact, while at the same time editing a giggle-heavy sketch for the amount of broadcast time allowed.
All of this can happen without the need to plan for an actor to fill airspace by giggling uncontrollably.
Considering that Tim Conway wrote for the show as well as appearing on screen, it seems unlikely that he or other writers would be allowed to plan for unfilled stretches in the script in the hope that something funny would magically appear at the last second on camera.
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SataiDelen
12 years ago
Interesting. I don't remember any of them saying that in their interviews. Rather, everyone often commented on how professional Harvey Korman insisted on trying to be, but Tim Conway would wind up derailing him with adlibbed lines and movements, and Harvey would wind up "losing it" in spite of trying desperately not to. So, no, most of Harvey's giggling/laughing was not planned.
What I find interesting on a personal note for myself is that I never found the laughing by the actors irritating in this show, but whenever I watch Roseanne, I find myself getting annoyed whenever Roseanne appears to "lose it" because it really seems fake in her case. Which is a shame because I do love that show.
But back to Carol's show, my guess would be that Tim Conway might be "to blame" for a lot of the uncontrolled laughter. He seemed to be the one to improvise the most, and that seemed to set everyone else off.
That's just my opinion.
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AdmrlLocke
11 years ago
I loved it when they cracked up, usually because Tim Conway was so funny. There was one time that Carol forgot her line, and she kept saying, "The wheels that are spinning, that are spinning," and Harvey said, "Do you mean, 'The windmills that you find in the corners of your mind?'" and Carol ad-libbed, "I'm going so crazy that you even know my own lines better than I do," or something to that effect. That still cracks me up 40 years later or so.
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