By John Michael Thornton
With their comedy-variety show “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” Tom and Dick Smothers took the counterculture, put a blazer on it, and brought it home to meet your parents. What happened next depends on who you ask, but what’s for sure is this:Â by trying to bridge the divide between the generation that fought WWII and the generation that burned their draft cards, the Smothers Brothers laid essential groundwork for the balls out TV comedy we enjoy today.
In its first season, the “Comedy Hour” featured standard comedic talent—George Burns, Elaine May,  Jack Benny—but were introducing bands like The Who to the American mainstream, in an attempt to define themselves as the hip alternative to standard variety  like Lawrence Welk and Ed Sullivan. This move paid off with good ratings, and as Tom Smothers became more confident in the show’s success, he increasingly attempted to bring on comedians and musicians with a political message.
Longhaired musicians were one thing, anti-war satire quite another. It was only a matter of time before the censors squawked. The first major dust-up was over allowing blacklisted folkie Pete Seeger to perform on the show. Eventually the network relented—which only made Tom Smothers push harder. (Dick Smothers, who was more interested in racecars than Vietnam, didn’t hinder Tom’s crusade.) Through the second and third seasons, Tom openly waged war on the censors, even writing Op-Eds to rally public support.
Looking back, it’s hard to see what the fight was about; and one might reasonably think that if Tom Smothers hadn’t pushed the boundaries, someone else would’ve. But “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” was the show that did it, and for that it deserves a place in the pantheon. It certainly paid a heavy price:Â in 1969 the network unexpectedly canceled the show and Tom and Dick’s contracts under the pretense that they failed to deliver a show on time. Tom and Dick sued CBS for wrongful termination and won, but their careers never recovered.
Apart from its (counter)cultural significance, its writing staff was a bit like a hippie “Your Show of Shows”: Rob Reiner, Superdave Osborne, Don Novello (“Father Guido Sarducci”), and Steve Martin. And Tom and Dick themselves should also be remembered for being genuinely funny. Theirs was a conventional two-man act—Tom as dummy, Dick as straight-man—updated for a young 60s audience. They’re a tightly crafted bridge between old-style showbiz, and the more naturalistic (but not really any more honest) comedy we have today. Being in neither camp means they’re often overlooked, but they shouldn’t be.
To get the full story on all this, check out Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” by David Bianculli. (Mike G’s also seen a TV program on the topic, probably on Comedy Central.)Â
Smothers Brothers Official Site
The Act
Smothers Brothers: Boil That Cabbage Down
Smothers Brothers: Red River Valley
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Pete Seeger Sings “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” (1968)
Steve Martin Does Magic (1968)
The Who Sing “My Generation” (1967)
Pat Paulsen for President (1968)
Three Pat Paulsen Editorials (1967, 1968)
