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Smothered - The Censorship Struggles Of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour [1h32m, 2002, Archive.org link] is a quality documentary about a lot of things, but mostly about how a folksy charming comedy show got too edgy for network television.
I remember enjoying The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in its revival season in 1988-89, when I was 8-9 years old. I was a weird kid with a thing for old comedy, and now I'm a weird adult with a thing for old comedy.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:54 AM on April 19, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:54 AM on April 19, 2023 [13 favorites]
I remember watching that show with my parents when I was kid. (It aired for three seasons from 1967 through 1969.) I remember seeing Steve Martin in sketches. (He was a writer on the show, as was Rob Reiner.) I associate comedian David Steinberg with that show too. And Mason Williams performing "Classical Gas." I remember my parents talking about how the show was getting heat for the commentary on the Viet Nam war. It wasnt' until more recently that I learned that it was Tommy not Dick who was the driving force behind the show. Thanks for this post!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:55 AM on April 19, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:55 AM on April 19, 2023 [6 favorites]
Same here. I remember watching the 1988 revival as a kid and I had no idea they were so subversive. I think that series opened with them coming back to CBS via helicopter only to find that there was a large piece of artillery on the building's roof firing at them.
There was also an anniversary show in the 1980s where the whole writing staff came out to take a bow and my Mom excitedly pointed to Lorenzo Music and told me "that's Garfield!"
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:08 AM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
There was also an anniversary show in the 1980s where the whole writing staff came out to take a bow and my Mom excitedly pointed to Lorenzo Music and told me "that's Garfield!"
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:08 AM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
Oh, the Lorenzo Music thing was also because he was facing the camera. A special had recently aired about the making of Garfield, and when showing the voice actors recording their lines the producers had played into the whole Carlton the Doorman bit and only showed Music back to the camera. I think Jim Davis may have also made some quip about never having seen his face.
Kid me didn't understand the joke and thought Lorenzo Music was mysterious, and seeing him in that Smothers Brothers anniversary special made me feel like I had cracked the code or something.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:23 AM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
Kid me didn't understand the joke and thought Lorenzo Music was mysterious, and seeing him in that Smothers Brothers anniversary special made me feel like I had cracked the code or something.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:23 AM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
George Clooney owns their life rights, and I wish he’d get going with a biopic or series about them and their work.
posted by Ideefixe at 7:25 AM on April 19, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by Ideefixe at 7:25 AM on April 19, 2023 [7 favorites]
"George Clooney owns their life rights" sounds like a line from a Los Angeles-centric Mad Max movie
posted by rifflesby at 8:07 AM on April 19, 2023 [21 favorites]
posted by rifflesby at 8:07 AM on April 19, 2023 [21 favorites]
It's a good thing Are You Being Served never made it to US network television in its heyday. The sheer number of pearl clutching injuries alone.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 8:15 AM on April 19, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 8:15 AM on April 19, 2023 [7 favorites]
They are from L.A. not San Francisco, and Thompson really meant a little earlier anyway, but to me their show will always embody The High Water Mark of Love against reaction: Sunday, March 23rd, 1969.
posted by ob1quixote at 9:18 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by ob1quixote at 9:18 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
I had access to one Smothers Brothers comedy LP as a child. To this day I will pronounce "poomas" and "cravisses" and everyone around me will the fuck and yes indeed it's the simple joys in life that make it worth living.
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:41 AM on April 19, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:41 AM on April 19, 2023 [14 favorites]
Also, did you know, if you get an outfit, you can be a cowboy too!
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:42 AM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:42 AM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
Dick: Why did you lie?
Tommy: National policy.
Some jokes never get old.
posted by Devoidoid at 10:47 AM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
Tommy: National policy.
Some jokes never get old.
posted by Devoidoid at 10:47 AM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
CHOCOLATE!!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:07 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:07 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
T-🎵 "Soap, soap, soap, soap, soap, soap, soap, soap."
D-"What was that?"
T- "Oh, about 8 bars."
I was in my teens when this show was on, and I had a crush on Jennifer. (Warnes, although I only remember her being introduced as just Jennifer)
Following up on those memories, I found this video, with her (not wearing the glasses I loved) singing, strangely accompanied by Glen Campbell and John Hartford.
posted by MtDewd at 12:03 PM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
D-"What was that?"
T- "Oh, about 8 bars."
I was in my teens when this show was on, and I had a crush on Jennifer. (Warnes, although I only remember her being introduced as just Jennifer)
Following up on those memories, I found this video, with her (not wearing the glasses I loved) singing, strangely accompanied by Glen Campbell and John Hartford.
posted by MtDewd at 12:03 PM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
Daniel Boone was a trailer and a tractor.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:57 PM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:57 PM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
I meant to include this short review from AV Club.
Man, 2003 and Nathan Rabin takes me back. Seeing the comments lost forever from when The AV Club was amazing is a heartbreaker.
posted by yerfatma at 1:12 PM on April 19, 2023
Man, 2003 and Nathan Rabin takes me back. Seeing the comments lost forever from when The AV Club was amazing is a heartbreaker.
posted by yerfatma at 1:12 PM on April 19, 2023
Dick: I tell you Tommy, you’re very glib.
Tommy: I certainly do.
posted by RakDaddy at 1:53 PM on April 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
Tommy: I certainly do.
posted by RakDaddy at 1:53 PM on April 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
To this day I will pronounce "poomas" and "cravisses" and everyone around me will the fuck and yes indeed it's the simple joys in life that make it worth living.
same! also "Take it, Tom!*"
while going through my kid papers at my mom's place I found a "what do you want to be when you grow up?" worksheet that I'd answered with "I want to be a comedian and go on Smothers Brothers;" clearly kid me thought the '88 revival was going to last more than one season, given that it was obviously the funniest thing on television
* the Folksinger's Handbook says you've got to take it
posted by taquito sunrise at 4:39 PM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
same! also "Take it, Tom!*"
while going through my kid papers at my mom's place I found a "what do you want to be when you grow up?" worksheet that I'd answered with "I want to be a comedian and go on Smothers Brothers;" clearly kid me thought the '88 revival was going to last more than one season, given that it was obviously the funniest thing on television
* the Folksinger's Handbook says you've got to take it
posted by taquito sunrise at 4:39 PM on April 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
Take it where?
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:15 PM on April 19, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:15 PM on April 19, 2023 [7 favorites]
Great, now I've got "Boil That Cabbage Down" stuck in my head.
posted by Devoidoid at 8:00 AM on April 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Devoidoid at 8:00 AM on April 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
I never got my parents being into the Smothers Brothers, who seemed incredibly square and folksy, when I was a kid. I have much more respect for them now after watching this. Fascinating.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:45 PM on April 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:45 PM on April 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Someone earlier said that the 1988 series was the revival of the show, but it was the second revival — the first was in 1975. I remember watching it from my ICU hospital room after a dual-hip surgery when I was 10 years-old. My parents made arrangements with the nursing staff that I'd be allowed to watch it.
My dad, about the same age as the brothers, had all their records and watched the 60s show. I listened to the records, too, and the Smothers Brothers were one of the few things he and I bonded over.
Watching that episode is the only good memory I have of my time in the hospital. This was a charity children's orthopedic hospital, formerly a TB sanitarium, and was not like hospitals today. Rather, think of big sex-segregated wards of rows of children in beds and inattentive, overworked nurses. It was a six-hour drive from where we lived and my parents had to keep working (and my sister was two months old) so they left me alone in the hospital for the sixteen days I was there — they were there when I had the surgery and came for two of the three weekends. I felt abandoned and had a hard time dealing with it. However, the four days I spent in ICU were so, so much better than being back in the boys' ward. The nurses were much nicer and they were happy to let me watch the episode. The only bad memory I have is that the totally paralyzed boy I shared the ICU with had a urine bag spill in the middle of the night and while I called for the nurse, I recall being embarrassed for the boy and thinking oh, I shouldn't feel sorry for myself I'm lucky by comparison.
My father and his older brother were also hospitalized at that very same hospital when they were teenagers. The doctors misdiagnosed our genetic disease as something else and tried to treat it with extended traction — my dad and his brother each was hospitalized for months at a time, bedridden in traction, away from their families. They'd play chess against each other and when they both weren't there, they'd play chess by mail. In that way, too, I felt I didn't have a right to feel so bad, being alone there for only a few weeks instead of months like they had been.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that period was about when Dad began listening to the Smothers Brothers. I think he liked that they were slyly, mildly subversive and clever. I inherited my liking for them — as a kid, the old folk songs mostly bored me but I loved the funny ones.
When my father died in 2008, we were estranged. His childhood was pretty terrible, with an abusive and alcoholic father who killed himself when I was three and my father was 24. Dad was abusive, too, though far less violently so than my grandfather, and so although he and I were a lot alike, we were never close.
But the Smothers Brothers were something I could share with him and these days they're one of the few ways I'm able to reminisce about my father with fondness. My favorite songs as a kid were Mediocre Fred and, of course, My Old Man. Last year I was delighted to discover that my sister and even my mother could join me in singing it, which was almost painfully nostalgic. My brother-in-law and nephews were baffled.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:28 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
My dad, about the same age as the brothers, had all their records and watched the 60s show. I listened to the records, too, and the Smothers Brothers were one of the few things he and I bonded over.
Watching that episode is the only good memory I have of my time in the hospital. This was a charity children's orthopedic hospital, formerly a TB sanitarium, and was not like hospitals today. Rather, think of big sex-segregated wards of rows of children in beds and inattentive, overworked nurses. It was a six-hour drive from where we lived and my parents had to keep working (and my sister was two months old) so they left me alone in the hospital for the sixteen days I was there — they were there when I had the surgery and came for two of the three weekends. I felt abandoned and had a hard time dealing with it. However, the four days I spent in ICU were so, so much better than being back in the boys' ward. The nurses were much nicer and they were happy to let me watch the episode. The only bad memory I have is that the totally paralyzed boy I shared the ICU with had a urine bag spill in the middle of the night and while I called for the nurse, I recall being embarrassed for the boy and thinking oh, I shouldn't feel sorry for myself I'm lucky by comparison.
My father and his older brother were also hospitalized at that very same hospital when they were teenagers. The doctors misdiagnosed our genetic disease as something else and tried to treat it with extended traction — my dad and his brother each was hospitalized for months at a time, bedridden in traction, away from their families. They'd play chess against each other and when they both weren't there, they'd play chess by mail. In that way, too, I felt I didn't have a right to feel so bad, being alone there for only a few weeks instead of months like they had been.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that period was about when Dad began listening to the Smothers Brothers. I think he liked that they were slyly, mildly subversive and clever. I inherited my liking for them — as a kid, the old folk songs mostly bored me but I loved the funny ones.
When my father died in 2008, we were estranged. His childhood was pretty terrible, with an abusive and alcoholic father who killed himself when I was three and my father was 24. Dad was abusive, too, though far less violently so than my grandfather, and so although he and I were a lot alike, we were never close.
But the Smothers Brothers were something I could share with him and these days they're one of the few ways I'm able to reminisce about my father with fondness. My favorite songs as a kid were Mediocre Fred and, of course, My Old Man. Last year I was delighted to discover that my sister and even my mother could join me in singing it, which was almost painfully nostalgic. My brother-in-law and nephews were baffled.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:28 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
For another take on "dealing with the network censors", Howard Stern's film "Private Parts" deals with his struggles with WNBC's management, which wasn't happy with the content, but couldn't deny the ratings. (I think it's on Amazon Prime now)
posted by mikelieman at 3:49 AM on April 21, 2023
posted by mikelieman at 3:49 AM on April 21, 2023
As a child in the late 80s early 90s, I got a lot of mileage out of my father's Smothers Brothers (and Gilbert and Sullivan) albums. One of my favorite songs/sketches from childhood is Tommy's Song. Lately I've been subjecting my partner to Smothers Brothers routines (she's a fan of both Mason Williams and Steve Martin, so it seemed a relatively safe bet that she'd enjoy them).
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:36 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:36 PM on April 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Interesting video, here's a news article about it from 2002. Hard to remember that Bravo did anything but reality TV.
Was this the first TV show to publicly feud with their network? It made me wonder if this inspired Letterman when he sent a fruit basket to NBC's new GE overlords.
posted by credulous at 1:42 PM on April 21, 2023
Was this the first TV show to publicly feud with their network? It made me wonder if this inspired Letterman when he sent a fruit basket to NBC's new GE overlords.
posted by credulous at 1:42 PM on April 21, 2023
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