Tim Conway on his '30 Rock' gig and more

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To this day, Tim Conway can't resist playing pranks on Harvey Korman, his friend and the comic he cracked up on "The Carol Burnett Show.""It's because he's all these wonderful things if you want to pick on someone," Conway told reporters during a recent conference call."He's obsessive. He thinks (Osama) bin Laden is after him. He doesn't go to sleep until 4 in the morning because he's up and locking doors and things of that nature."He's as bright as anyone I've ever met. He can do The New York Times crossword puzzle in 10 minutes with a pen, but he can't tie his own shoes," said Conway, who guest-stars on NBC's "30 Rock" on Thursday (8:30 p.m. EDT/PDT).Conway, who described himself as "the dumbest guy in show business," said he found it easy to make Korman believe anything. For example, there was the time that their plane landed at an airport to refuel. Conway waited until the plane took off to play his prank.Conway told Korman, "Harvey, I was watching them put the gas in, and I don't think they put the gas cap back on." Korman talked to the pilot, who told him, "We don't have a gas cap on a plane."The actor, 72, said he got custody of Korman after "The Carol Burnett Show" ended and continues to take him out for walks. Actually, they spent eight years together doing a traveling show with comedy sketches.Conway talked about Korman and comedy as he promoted his "30 Rock" gig. In the episode, Conway plays Bucky Bright, who is rejected by NBC executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) as a celebrity speaker at a fund-raising dinner for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain. Bucky was an NBC star in the 1940s and '50s and during a brief comeback in 1972.So Bucky wanders the halls of NBC in New York, looking at old photos on the walls and telling stories about the good old days to Kenneth Parcell, the wholesome page played by Jack McBrayer. To his shock, Kenneth discovers that TV's "Golden Age" wasn't so innocent as Bucky quietly throws out startling and even politically incorrect comments, all with Conway's trademark straight face."It's a strange part. ... It doesn't sound like me. I think that's the twist in the show. They gather people who you wouldn't think would be doing what they're doing, and they do it," Conway said.He joked most of the time during a conference call that left reporters laughing."I didn't get to meet with any of them; my character is in the basement," Conway said about "30 Rock" cast members. "No, they were wonderful. Alec, I've known for some time, so that was comfortable. Tina (Fey, the "30 Rock" executive producer, creator and star), I had never met. She is probably the most talented lady since Carol Burnett. And she's so nice that it's hard to tell she's in this business. Jack was just delightful. I think we're going to get an apartment together; I'm not sure."Conway, who's a fan of such shows as "Seinfeld" and "Everybody Loves Raymond," said "The Carol Burnett Show" has remained funny because its sketches avoided political or religious overtones and commented on simple things that made everyone laugh."Carol made it a point to never try to offend anyone or pick on anyone who's made a mistake in their personal lives," Conway said.In addition, Burnett kept a relaxed atmosphere and encouraged him to do whatever he felt was funny, Conway said.For Conway, that meant waiting until the actual taping before a Los Angeles studio audience before he would improvise changes to the script and make Korman crack up on the show."What was irritating to Harvey was that I never laughed back," Conway said.(Dave Mason of the Ventura County Star can be reached at dmason(at)VenturaCountyStar.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)