 The Smothers Brothers - Brothers Tom & Dick
Smothers co-hosted the controversial variety program THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS
COMEDY HOUR/CBS/1967-69 that poked fun at Middle America, the military, the police
(Officer Judy), The Silent Majority, and government at large (Pat Paulsen's whacked-out
jibes and editorials aimed at President Lyndon Baines Johnson). Network censors
had a field day cutting what they considered unacceptable comedy skits from the
program.
Some examples of segments that got the censor's axe included:
- a special 1968 Mother's Day message which ended with the words "Please
talk peace" (referring to the Vietnam War)
- Harry Belafonte singing before a backdrop of disturbing images from the
1968 Democratic Party convention in Chicago
- an interview with Dr. Benjamin Spock, at the time an advocate for draft
evaders
- the cancellation of the performance in 1967 of folk singer Pete Seeger
(blacklisted from TV for some 20 years) who was scheduled to play the song
"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" about a WWII officer killed because of
his own foolishness. Afraid to insult the political powers, CBS
refused to allow the song (he did, however, perform the song on a later
episode). The country at the time was itself "deep" in the Vietnam War.
In October 1968, CBS executives began to prescreen all of their Smothers Brothers programs. After several tumultuous seasons, the program was canceled (the
Smothers Brothers called it being "Fired") and left the air in June of 1969.
The CBS network justified their cancellation by referring to network policy
that "Prohibits appeals for active support of any cause" (even if it was
"peace").
TRIVIA NOTE: The CBS network would not allow
singer Bob Dylan to sing "John Birch Society Talking Blues" on the ED SULLIVAN
SHOW in 1963. Dylan then refused to appear on the show.
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