The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

The Late Mr. Steve Allen once said that usually no one ever set out to be a Comedian; rather they usually started out as a funny Musician, a funny Salesman, a funny Juggler or whatever have you. As a fine example, we cite the example of 5 brothers, musicians out of Vaudeville. They were Leonard, Adolph, Milton, Julius and Herbert.

These Brothers gradually began to feature their wild and outrageous improvised humor as the main ingredient of their act. Upon the suggestion of The New Yorker Magazine Critic, Alexander Woolcott, the Brothers dropped their proper given names in favor of their nicknames of Chico, Harpo, Gummo, Groucho and Zeppo. The Marx Brothers, as we know them, had arrived.

Then it shouldn't have been any sort of a shocker in the 1960's to see a Folk Song pair turn their act from the Hootenanny to Comedy.

In 1965 "THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS SHOW" debuted on the CBS Television Network. This was a half-hour situation comedy. The basic premise:Tom had died, but was returned to Earth as an Angel: His mission reforming his younger brother.Dick was rapidly becoming both ruthless in Business and Industry; as well as a Big Womanizer.

One had to keep a close watch on the happenings of a half-hour episode, as you would find Tommy all over the place. We recall in one episode we saw the two brothers in a tough situation involving a hold-up or some such crime (the Smothers Boys innocent). As the scene quickly changes to a responding Police Patrol Car, we are taken inside to see the 2 man crew talking about their impending assignment; we discover one of the Cops as being Tommy. In full uniform and all of a sudden sporting a modified Kaiser Wilhelm hair culture above his upper lip; he is one easily missed by the home viewers.

Angels are good box office in the case of a sentimental Christmas Time Movie like Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) or in Dramatic TV Series, such as Michael Landon's "HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN" (!984-89) or "TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL" (1994-2003), starring Miss Della Reese & Company. But apparently the same doesn't hold true for sitcom/farce; as the series was axed at the end of the TV Spring Semester.

Only a half year later, CBS was so sure of the Smothers capabilities that they okayed a deal for Tom and Dick to return to the Network; but this time it would not be a filmed sitcom. Instead plans were made to produce an hour long Comedy-Variety Show, to be aired Sunday evenings. On February 5, Anno Domini 1967, it was the premier installment of "THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR." At last a show of their own, where they could be themselves and do their own thing. And like all Variety, they assembled a gang of regulars of their own to fill out the Playbill along with the best Guest Starring roster. And that included the best guests from all ends of the entertainment industry; be they Movie Stars, Rock Bands & Individuals, Comedians and Tragedians, alike.

They hit the ground running and never slowed down. Their humor was broad and they were constantly pushing the envelope. Their regulars fast became household names. What with Miss Leigh French's 'Hip' commentaries, some subtly making references to the growing drug culture and Pat Paulson's Editorials, we had more regular features to look forward to each week.

And speaking of Mr. Paulson, he gets our vote for the Smothers Brothers Find of the Show. Although he had certainly been around for some time and was definitely not an "overnight" success, it was on The Comedy Hour that he got his big break and got recognition for his talents and abilities. His running for President was at once the peak and valley of his career. It gave him the greatest exposure and camera time and gave all of us many a good laugh at our own Political System. But, when it was all over, and the team of Nixon & Agnew proved to be the winning ticket, where did this leave Pat Paulson? Long about the same time, 1968, the Smothers Brothers began to do more and more political humor and it definitely leaned solely to the Left. CBS tried to rein the Brothers Show in and exert some control, but somebody in the Smothers' Camp was insistent on continuing needling the Nixon Administration, The War in 'Nam, Civil Rights movement and Racial Strife, the Hip Counter Culture and words like cannabis sativa.

Ratings were good, but had begun to slip. Finally CBS reminded the Smothers Boys that it was their Ball Park (Network) and their ball. If they didn't want to play by their ground rules, the game was over. So, it was over.

In retrospect (and all hind sight is 20-20!) we can only say that perhaps the boys got to hung up o the idea of making these "meaningful" statements, political or otherwise. We don't pretend to tell anyone that they can't have their own feelings and beliefs; but one shouldn't get all hung up on this point. After all, when your not funny, what's the use?

Looking back on that CBS-Smothers Brothers feud, it all seems just a little trivial. Particularly when one thinks of this bygone period of nearly a half a century ago and contrasts it to our anything goes world today, it is strictly "G" Rating material.

Lemmee say right up front that, yeah, this was a funny show. I rarely if ever missed it. And it was cutting edge too. Really pushed the envelope. But, that said, you young'uns out there that never got to see it, don't buy into the manufactured swill that it was "censored." It wasn't. Tom and Dick made all the political and social commentary points they wanted to make. They just wanted to take it a step further and posture and pose as "victims" being stepped on.

Just remember, we are talking about 1967 and the few years following, and in those days it was easy to be cutting edge. The times they were a changing. And the Smothers Brothers were right there in the middle of it. But they weren't victims and they weren't censored. CBS (yeah, *that* "see b.s.," of the forged phony lying documents to try to steal an election fame. Yep, *those* guys) tried to hold them to the standards then extant of the Tiffany Network, as CBS was once and then known. Their sponsors, the ones paying for it all, demanded it. That was all.

----UPDATE 02/02/2008----

Okay all you voters, you hate my comment. But I stand by it.

I said it was a good show. I said it was a show I rarely missed. My comment is that the allegations of "censorship" are way overblown. This show suffered from failing ratings. They tried to jack up the ratings by claiming that they were being persecuted, but it didn't work. It couldn't be saved. End of story. Use your common sense.

What can I say about this except that it better demonstrates the ugliness of censorship than any other show I've experienced.

By this, I don't mean that the show was ruined. Rather, the Brothers poked fun at the censors and made evident just how ugly the censorship movement was (and IMO still is) in American television. This show should be watched, if ever you can have the fortune to see it, if only for the elucidation of the fact that our speech isn't nearly as free as we think it is.

Aside from that, the show was clever and funny. Many brilliant parodies that were ahead of their time.

Alas, it was censorship which eventually put an end to the show when CBS canceled it.

This is a show which could never, to this date, have existed at any other time. Previous to this era, it would not have been accepted at all. Subsequent to this era, political correctness has grabbed TV in a way which never would have permitted such honest parody.

We lost a gem when it ended but it's still remembered. Thanks, guys!

I remember this show well. I was a fan at first. This show was a humorous and entertaining variety show the first season. Then it became less and less entertaining and humorous as they began wasting a lot of time fighting the network's "standards and practices" about risqué material. The show became basically unwatchable by the last season. Reading other comments, it seems people don't remember that they were always allowed to poke fun at politicians. They skewered LBJ the first two years, and Nixon the last year, and also individual members of Congress. For example, they attacked Senator Pastore personally because he was an outspoken critic of television programming at the time.

It's an example of a good show that lost its vision and became mediocre.

That's right, mom had great taste. She liked this show the best, even better than Dicky Smothers. This show is the most brilliant example of political satire in the 1960's. What is amazing is that the network censors at CBS thought the Ameican public was either too stupid to understand it, or would get too upset by the extreme political views in the satire.

Because of this, some episodes of the show were cut to ribbons by network censors. It is a shame, but this show & the way it was censored shows you why bringing back the fairness doctrine would not work. It is that doctrine which the censors used to hit the brothers over the head.

Tom & Dick had honed their act for many years prior to this show starting. What they did with this is assemble a great group of writers & produce a very entertaining show. Saturday Night Live, when it started in the mid 1970's borrowed it's edge from this show.

The show was so popular, that when they spun off Glenn Campbell from it, he became a sensation from the brothers build up. Hee Haw got barnstorming ratings as a summer replacement for this too. Anyone who became associated with this show went on using it's coat tales to help themselves.

The critics, & the censors have been proved wrong a lot. This show was a one of a kind, & while it was ahead of its censors intelligence, the fans & audience of the Smothers Brothers sure appreciated the show & the fact that they were smarter than the censors, because they watched it & enjoyed every show.

Sonny & Cher actually borrowed some of their shows format from the Smothers Brothers. Naturally Sony & Cher were no where near as intelligent as Tommy & Dick Smothers, but they were bright enough to copy some of the edgy political satire on their CBS variety show. I believe Sonny & Cher were a "summer replacement" series for this show one year. Glen Campbell and Hee Haw were 2 others that replaced the Smothers during the summers this show ran.