For years, audiences tuned in to The Carol Burnett Show with one delightful expectation: Tim Conway would do something outrageous, and Harvey Korman would completely lose control. That was the magic formula. Conway, with his innocent grin and mischievous timing, specialized in derailing sketches. Korman, the consummate professional, tried desperately to stay composed — and almost always failed.
But one unforgettable night, the roles reversed.
Instead of Harvey breaking first, it was Tim. The man famous for making others collapse into helpless laughter suddenly found himself gasping for air, shoulders shaking, eyes wide with disbelief. It wasn’t scripted. It wasn’t rehearsed. It was pure, unstoppable laughter — the kind that takes over your body and refuses to let go. And it happened during one of the show’s most brilliant parodies: “Jowls.”
A PARODY BORN FROM A CULTURAL PHENOMENON
To understand why “Jowls” worked so perfectly, you have to rewind to 1975. That was the year Jaws hit theaters and changed Hollywood forever. Steven Spielberg’s thriller didn’t just scare moviegoers — it practically emptied beaches. A simple shark fin slicing through water became a universal symbol of terror. Kids were afraid of swimming pools. Adults hesitated before stepping into the ocean. The film’s suspense, paired with John Williams’ legendary score, made it an instant classic.
But time has a funny way of softening fear. As the years passed, some of Jaws’ most intense moments began to feel exaggerated. The mechanical shark looked less convincing. The drama felt larger than life. And whenever something iconic reaches that level of recognition, parody is inevitable.
Enter The Carol Burnett Show — television’s reigning champion of smart, character-driven comedy.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF “JOWLS”
Rather than spoofing the ocean-setting directly, the writers went somewhere even funnier: an apartment building. Instead of a massive great white shark terrorizing swimmers, “Jowls” introduced the world to a ridiculous new menace — the “sewer shark.”
Yes, a shark living in the plumbing.
The sketch opens with escalating panic among residents after bizarre bathroom incidents. One poor woman is dramatically “attacked” while using her bathtub, launching the story into full disaster-mode parody. Officials are called. Alarms are raised. Serious faces deliver increasingly absurd lines with total commitment — a hallmark of Burnett’s comedy style.
Carol Burnett herself plays Helen Wills-Fishfinder, a city water department worker whose very name is a punchline. She insists the building’s water system is compromised and recommends shutting everything down. Naturally, no one listens.
That’s where Tim Conway enters the chaos as Wally Fuhrman, the building superintendent who is wildly out of his depth but brimming with misplaced confidence. Instead of evacuating residents, he calls in a “professional” to handle the crisis.
That professional? Harvey Korman as a grizzled plumber parodying Robert Shaw’s shark hunter Quint from Jaws.
WHEN COMMITMENT MAKES IT FUNNIER
Korman’s plumber is all dramatic seriousness, growling about pipes the way Quint talked about the sea. He approaches the bathtub like it’s open water, delivering lines with heroic intensity — which only makes the ridiculous situation funnier.
Then comes one of the sketch’s most legendary visual gags.
In an attempt to catch the sewer shark, Korman lowers a fishing rod into the bathtub… baited with a worm.
The image alone is comedy gold. A full-grown man, playing it deadly serious, fishing in a bathtub for a fictional plumbing shark. Conway stands nearby, reacting with just enough bewilderment to amplify the absurdity.
But the true genius of Tim Conway wasn’t just in the jokes — it was in the pauses, the unexpected looks, the tiny improvised touches that pushed his co-stars to the brink. You can actually see Korman fighting to stay in character, lips pressed tight, eyes watering as he tries not to laugh.
This time, though, Conway went too far — even for himself.
THE MOMENT EVERYTHING FELL APART
As the plan to catch the sewer shark grows more ridiculous, the characters decide the only logical next step is to use Wally — Conway’s character — as bait.
What follows is a masterclass in escalating nonsense. There’s talk of dynamite. There’s overly dramatic strategy. And there’s Conway, reacting in ways that clearly weren’t all rehearsed.
At one point, something — a line, a look, a perfectly timed pause — breaks Tim completely. His composure shatters. He bends forward, shoulders bouncing, trying to hide his face from the camera. The audience roars louder because they know what they’re seeing is real.
Harvey Korman, usually the first to crumble, looks almost triumphant. For once, he’s the one holding it together while Conway dissolves into helpless laughter.
Carol Burnett, a veteran of on-stage chaos, does what she always did best: she keeps going, subtly adjusting her performance to ride the wave instead of stopping it. That’s the secret ingredient that made the show legendary — the cast didn’t freeze when things went wrong. They leaned in.
AN ENDING ONLY THIS SHOW COULD PULL OFF
In true parody fashion, the sketch ends with an explosion meant to signal victory over the sewer shark. But the final twist reveals Conway’s character has outsmarted everyone, emerging unharmed while someone else takes the fall.
It’s ridiculous. It’s loud. It makes absolutely no logical sense.
And it’s perfect.
WHY THIS SKETCH STILL WORKS TODAY
Decades later, “Jowls” remains one of the most shared and beloved sketches from The Carol Burnett Show. Not just because it spoofs a famous movie, but because it captures something rare in television: unscripted joy.
Modern comedy is often tightly edited and carefully polished. But here, you see performers surprised by their own scene. You see professionals losing control and choosing laughter over perfection. That kind of authenticity is timeless.
You don’t have to have lived through the Jaws craze to appreciate it. The fear of sharks may have faded, but the joy of watching people laugh so hard they can’t stand up? That never goes out of style.
THE LEGACY OF LAUGHTER
Tim Conway built a career on being unpredictable. Harvey Korman built his on trying — and failing — to stay serious. Together, they created some of television’s most unforgettable moments.
But “Jowls” stands apart.
Because for once, the prankster got caught in his own trap. The man who made everyone else break… broke himself.
And audiences loved him even more for it.
That’s the magic of The Carol Burnett Show. Not just jokes. Not just sketches. But moments where laughter took on a life of its own — and nobody, not even the performers, could stop it.