Anyone remember the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour?

[pokerfan]

I was between eight and ten years old when their show was on the air and it was must-see TV in our house.

Pretty subversive for its time (civil rights, Vietnam) and it no doubt warped my fragile little mind.

"Mom always liked you best!"

[azmouse]

1. I remember it!

My uncle looks like Tommy Smothers. Makes me laugh every time I see him!

[jpgray]

2. It's amazing how that and something like M*A*S*H were so popular

And yet look at the elected gov't we have these days.

[blondeatlast]

36. It's mind-boggling, isn't it?

I watched it at a very young age but I think it had an effect on me.

Of course I grew up in a very liberal yellow-dog household, so who knows?

[lavenderdiva]

3. I remember it, it was a must-see in our house....

so was Lawrence Welk, Ed Sullivan, Get Smart, Bewitched...

[spacelady]

27. Sounds like we grew up in similar houses....Gunsmoke & Green Acres.

[lavenderdiva]

29. Ah, yes, how could I forget those two?

Gunsmoke: wasn't Hoss and Little Joe on that one?

Green Acres: Green acres is the place for me.
Farm livin' is the life for me.
Land spreadin' out so far and wide
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.

New York is where I'd rather stay.
I get allergic smelling hay.
I just adore a penthouse view.
Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue.

...The chores.
...The stores.
...Fresh air.
...Times Square

You are my wife.
Good bye, city life.
Green Acres we are there.


And these came to mind: Petticoat Junction, Mr Ed, My Mother the Car, Batman (the original series)

Those were the days!

[Ron Mexico]

4. This is clearly an attempt to

find out which of us are old :)

And yes, damn it, I remember the show ;)

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Oh, yeah

Pat Paulsen used to break me up with his mumbling during political speeches and saying stuff like "President Johnston" and "President Nixton."

I also remember Cher as a guest star when Kissinger was globe-trotting for deténte (:eyes:). There was a blackout sketch where she was sitting on a big swing, singing, "I wonder where's Kissinger now."

And Dick and Tom singing a song called "My Old Man" or something ("My old man's a policeman / Whadya think about that?") and Tommy comes in with "My old man's a negro." Dick explains to him, "Your old man wasn't a negro because my old man wasn't a negro," and Tommy says, "No wonder mom always liked you best!"

And I remember the Who doing "My Generation" and destroying their amps and instruments, and Tommy standing there like "Uh..."

Great show!

Edit: Now that I think of it, the Cher bit might've been on "The Sonny and Cher Show," which got pretty political too.

[China_cat]

6. It was blacked out here in Charleston

after the first 2 episodes.

[nuxvomica]

7. Definitely

Very funny, great music, and I never understand when I was a kid why it was controversial. My parents loved that show and they weren't controversial. :shrug:

[u4ic]

8. Yes!

I even have an old album of theirs kicking around somewhere. :hi:

What was the name of that mime duo that kept on appearing on the show? (or am I thinking of the Sonny & Cher show?)

[dancing kali]

34. Shields & Yarnell

They were the mime duo.

Knowing that makes me old, doesn't it?

[spinbaby]

9. Yeah, I remember watching it as a kid

Then they did something--forget what--that got them kicked off the air and Hee Haw got put on instead.

[CBGLuthier]

13. It started over a Pete Seeger song

Waist deep in the big muddy. CBS edited it from the show.

Then it got really messy.

Tommy Smothers kept pushing the material harder and harder. He may have played the idiot in the act but he was anything but.

Actually, they had been renewed until he started complaining about the censorship and then they were fired.

They sued CBS over breach of contract and won.

There was an excellent documentary about it made a few years ago.

[havocmom]

17. That documentary was terrific. Puts a lot in context for the younger folks

to understand the Smothers Brothers.

Man, we need them more now than we ever did.

I loved Goldie too. 'Ladies, I'd like to greet you today like I always do...'HI(gh)'
Gads she was great.

Carlin got a good kick there too, didn't he? Or was that from their summer replacement?

It was good TV.

Man, we are OLD!

[pokerfan]

18. "Smothered"

Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (2002) (TV)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348056/

I saw it not too long ago. Brought back some great memories.

"Watch for Dick's reaction when Tommy talks about lighting up a joint." LOL!

[blondeatlast]

37. Thanks for the tip; I'll have to check that out. nt

[hedgehog]

10. If I remember rightly, It was always a toss-up whether it'd be on

CBS was always turning chicken at the last minute and pulling the plug. Viet Nam was very like Iraq in the sense that if you didn't have anyone over there you could pretty much pretend there wasn't a war going on. That's why so many people got so angry when the news reports started showing nightly footage from the scene and when the Smothers Brothers and others started suggesting that this wasn't the same as WWII you would have thought they were burning women and children to death right in front of us. (Well, that was in fact what was happening, but people didn't want to be told about that.) Remember, WWII was still very close, a lot closer to us then than Viet Nam is to us now. (1945 t0 1970 to 2006 makes it 25 years apart for the first and 36 for the second)

[LaurenG]

11. Yes, I do!

I still use this line "Mom always liked you best!" on my siblings.

[BrotherBuzz]

12. Pat Paulsen's "Double Talk" editorials were great!

and launched is campaign for President in 1968.

Incredible Coincidences!

A recent study has revealed incredible
coincidences linking Pat Paulsen to Abraham
Lincoln...

* The names Paulsen and Lincoln both contain 7
letters.

* Lincoln was killed in Ford's Theatre.
Pat once owned a Ford (Maverick).

* Lincoln's secretary warned him not to go to the
theatre.
Paulsen's manager warned him to stay away from
all theatres.

* Lincoln was slain in the presence of his wife.
Paulsen's wife nearly killed him one night (in their
Lincoln).

* John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at the theatre and
hid in a warehouse.
Paulsen once lived in a warehouse.

* John Wilkes Booth has 15 letters in his name.
Patrick L. Paulsen has 15 letters in his name.

COINCIDENCE?
MAYBE.

DESTINY?
PERHAPS.

YOU DECIDE.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

14. Is that where George Carlin

did the Hippy Dippy Weatherman? I'm old enough so I should remember. sheeesh...

[GalleryGod]

15. No. But Steve Martin and Rob Reiner were comedy writers

Carlin debuted on the "John Davidson" summer replacement show.

[pokerfan]

19. Carlin did appear on the 12/15/68 episode

No idea whether that was his debut or not nor even what bits he might have done.

SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR EPISODE SCHEDULE (list of all guests)
http://www.smothersbrothers.com/episodes.htm

[GalleryGod]

21. Davidson appearance was in the Summer of '68

He also appeared on the "Robert Klein Show" that summer

[Hissyspit]

16. Yup. Loved it. n/t

[yellowdogintexas]

20. I remembe when it was cancelled, too. nt

[grasswire]

22. Tommy's still radical

A couple of years ago I saw him on Maher, I think it was, and he was saying that he wanted to be fighting the man again but couldn't see a venue. Some people were urging them to buy a television network.

The Smothers Brothers own a vineyard now, in California. You can buy their wine.

[Kat45]

23. I loved that show!

Anyone remember 'Officer Judy'?

[blondeatlast]

38. I do, vaguely. I was only about 7 or 8. nt

[Kat45]

42. He went on to become Super Dave Osborne!

an interesting bit of trivia.

[EstimatedProphet]

24. I was about 6-7

That was one of my favorite shows!

[blue neen]

25. I have great memories of watching The Smothers Brothers show with my dad.

He absolutely loved Pat Paulsen, especially when Pat Paulsen was running for President.

It would be fantastic to have a show like that again...someone to push the envelope and skewer the Bush administration like they did to Nixon.

[RevCheesehead]

26. Sock it to me, baby!

:hippie:

[ScreamingMeemie]

28. "It was a puma...! I swear!"

You bet I do. :hi;

[Orsino]

41. "Get those pumas out of there."

"I'm not goin' down in that craviss (sic)."

I liked the show a lot, but I no longer remember anything specific.

[CBHagman]

30. You and I must be abou t the same age, pokerfan.

Oh, yeah, we were huge fans of the Smothers Brothers. In fact, I even recall the EARLIER show they did together (boy, that dates me) in which the conceit was that Tommy was an angel visiting his brother on Earth.

But I digress. Their variety show was a favorite at my house, and we loved it when Tommy and Dick would begin playing a song straight and then Tommy would cause it to disintegrate into madness. They did that one night with "English Country Gardens" (or whatever the song is called), with Dick providing a litany of birds found in an English country garden, and then Tommy correcting him: "Robins, Robins, you forgot the robins!" And it went on from there: "Vultures, vultures, you forgot the vultures!" We kids imitated that routine for some time after.

[mac56]

31. Oh, yeah, we never missed it.

Right after Ed Sullivan.

Remember "Share A Little Tea With Goldie"? The first pot reference on network TV, I believe.

[tibbir]

32. I used to watch it every Sunday night

(at least I think that was the day it was on). I don't remember my parents liking it all that much but my brother and I were teenagers and had some say so in the channel selection.

[pokerfan]

33. My parents were more right leaning than left

I think they just loved the humor.

[graywarrior]

35. Dick tools around on his bike here in Sarasota

[blondeatlast]

39. It set my taste for humor, without a doubt. I was about 7, I think.

I'm a huge fan of political satire and black humor, and I THANK the Smothers.

I just remember finding the show very funny, possibly because my parents howled with laughter at it.

[wildhorses]

40. loved it

say good night dick

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

43. What relation, if any, did it have to Rowan & Martin's "Laugh In"?