Playing A Boxer’s Manager
Also in 1979, Don Knotts teamed up with Tim Conway in the boxing-comedy movie The Prize Fighter, where Conway portrayed the underdog boxer “Bags” and Knotts played his manager. Earning $6.5 million during the initial release, the film was a hit at the box office and was one of New World Pictures’ most financially successful films. Comedies like this were quite popular in the 1970s and 1980s and the movie capitalized on the successful genre.
Playing A Detective
A year later, Don Knotts teamed up with Tim Conway again in the 1980 mystery comedy The Private Eyes, where the duo play moronic American detectives that work for Scotland Yard. Their characters are parodies of the popular duo Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. The film is the last one that features the team-up of Knotts and Conway in starring roles.