Smothers Brothers
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the brothers frequently appeared on television variety shows and issued several popular record albums of their stage performances.
Their own television variety show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, became one of the most controversial American TV programs of the Vietnam War era.
Despite popular success, the brothers' (especially Tom's)[1] penchant for material that was critical of the political mainstream and sympathetic to the emerging counterculture led to their firing by the CBS network in 1969.
The brothers were both born on Governors Island in New York Harbor, where their father, Thomas B. Smothers Jr., a West Point graduate and U.S. Army officer, was stationed.
After a brief time in a folk group called the Casual Quintet, the brothers made their first professional appearance as a duo in February 1959 at The Purple Onion in San Francisco.
[6] On October 6, 1963, the Smothers Brothers made an appearance on the CBS variety series The Judy Garland Show which also showcased Barbra Streisand.
[10][11] While the Smothers themselves were at the forefront of these efforts, credit also goes to the roster of writers and regular performers they brought to the show, including Steve Martin, Don Novello, Rob Reiner, presidential candidate Pat Paulsen, Bob Einstein, Albert Brooks, and resident hippie Leigh French.
[12] George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Joan Baez, Buffalo Springfield, Cass Elliot, Harry Belafonte, Cream, Donovan, The Doors, Glen Campbell, Janis Ian, Jefferson Airplane, The Happenings, Peter, Paul and Mary, Spanky and Our Gang, Steppenwolf, Simon & Garfunkel, The Hollies, The Who, the original broadway cast of Hair and even Pete Seeger were showcased on the show, despite the advertiser-sensitive nature of their music.
[13] In September 1968, the show broadcast in successive weeks "music videos" (called "promotional films" at the time) for The Beatles' double A-side single "Hey Jude" and "Revolution".
As the group often did during that period, the Who destroyed their instruments at the conclusion of their performance of "My Generation", with the usual addition of mild explosives for light pyrotechnic effect.
Three specific targets of satire – racism, the President of the United States, and the Vietnam War – wound up defining the show's content for the remainder of its run, eventually leading to its demise.
In the season premiere, CBS deleted the entire segment of Belafonte singing "Lord, Don't Stop the Carnival" against a backdrop of the havoc during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, along with two lines from a satire of their main competitor, Bonanza.
With some local stations making their own deletions of controversial skits or comments, the continuing problems over the show came to a head after CBS broadcast a rerun on March 9, 1969.
In that program, Joan Baez paid tribute to her then-husband, David Harris, who was entering prison after refusing military service, while comedian Jackie Mason made a joke about children "playing doctor".
[24] In 1978, the brothers starred in a replacement cast for I Love My Wife, Cy Coleman's and Michael Stewart's Broadway musical satire on the sexual revolution of the 1970s, directed by Gene Saks.
In 1981, Tom and Dick Smothers played non-brothers in a light TV drama, set in San Francisco, titled Fitz and Bones.
The pair starred in the Cinemax Comedy Experiment Rap Master Ronnie, a film version of Garry Trudeau and Elizabeth Swados' off-Broadway play.
In 1989, they also appeared in the box office flop Speed Zone aka Cannonball Fever co-starring John Candy, Peter Boyle, and Donna Dixon.
Several of their former writers, including Steve Martin, Rob Reiner, and Mason Williams appeared as guests, as did former series regulars such as Jennifer Warnes and Glen Campbell.
And I'm a little bit looser.The brothers have worked independently as well; Dick has appeared as an actor in films, including a rare dramatic role as a Nevada state senator in Martin Scorsese's Casino.
On July 22, 2019, the Smothers Brothers made their first official appearance together in almost a decade at a charity event held at McCurdy's Comedy Theater in Sarasota, Florida.
In 1968, Tommy Smothers had refused to let his name be on the list of writers nominated for the Emmy because he felt his name was too controversial, and thus when the writing staff won he was the only member not to receive the award.
