History Series / TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour

Not to be confused with ''The Smothers Brothers Show'', a half-hour FantasticComedy aired during the 1965-66 season, which had Tom playing Dick's GuardianAngel. The show was notable not only for being CBS' last black-and-white sitcom, but also for Tom fighting with production execs for creative control (since, per him, the show didn't play to the Brothers' strengths).

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smothers_brothers_comedy_hour.jpg]]

Part of that appeal was a wry sense of humor that not only played on the Brothers' usual playful SiblingRivalry musical shtick, but also to its increasingly fearless political satirical humor along with as much ribald humor as they could get away with with great writers like Creator/SteveMartin. The former was especially apparent in Pat Paulsen's editorials, which eventually led to a mock presidential election bid in 1968.

[[quoteright:310:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smothers_brothers_comedy_hour.jpg]]

A landmark comic VarietyShow hosted by the folk music/comedy duo The Smothers Brothers (Tom and Dick Smothers), which ran on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1967-69.

* DraftDodging: One of the Brothers' more notorious musical numbers was a great cover of "The Draft Dodger Rag" with George Segal, with glorious three-part harmony.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smothers_brothers_comedy_hour.jpg]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0939.JPG]]

Eventually, however, the execs lost all patience and abruptly pulled the show in June 1969. The Brothers subsequently sued the network for breach of contract (which was eventually ruled in their favor in 1973), but their peak time of cultural influence was over. Still, the Brothers had set a precedent for political satire, daring humor that later shows like NBC's ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' would take much further.

Not to be confused with ''The Smothers Brothers Show'', a FantasticComedy aired during the 1965-66 season, which had Tom playing Dick's GuardianAngel. The show was notable not only for being CBS' last black-and-white sitcom, but also for Tom fighting with production execs for creative control (since, per him, the show didn't play to the Brothers' strengths).

A landmark comic VarietyShow hosted by folk-music/comedy duo The Smothers Brothers (Tom and Dick Smothers), which ran on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1967-69.

Landmark comic VarietyShow hosted by folk-music/comedy duo The Smothers Brothers (Tom and Dick Smothers), which ran on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1967-69.

Unfortunately, this innovative and contemporary comedy and music all too often had to be hard won against CBS' ExecutiveMeddling over the show's content. For instance, while the execs were okay with Seeger being on TV, his new ProtestSong "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" was not and the Brothers had to fight to eventually get it on the air in a later broadcast. Eventually, the show and network were butting heads continually, with Tom Smothers being more brazen and stubborn and the network execs receiving complaints both from [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon the President of the United States himself]] and rural-oriented affiliates. Further, the show's good ratings had less sway with CBS than they would've had with a lower-rated network (and those ratings were beginning to fall anyway, due to the controversy and in competition with ''RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'' on NBC).

Landmark comic VarietyShow hosted by folk-music duo The Smothers Brothers (Tom and Dick Smothers), which ran on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1967-69.

* RockersSmashGuitars: The Who did plenty of that on their appearance, including smashing a prop guitar from Tom and Tom jokingly asking Dick if the band have his double bass for a minute.

Debuting in February 1967 as a sacrificial lamb of a production against the Creator/{{NBC}} powerhouse ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'' on Sunday nights, the ''Comedy Hour'' soon became an outstanding hit that appealed increasingly across the demographics, but especially youth audiences who found it appealed especially to them.

Eventually, however, the execs lost all patience and abruptly pulled the show in June 1969. The Brothers subsequently sued the network for breach of contract (which was eventually ruled in their favor in 1973), but their peak time of cultural influence was over.

Still, the Brothers had set a precedent for political satire daring humor that later shows like ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' would take much further.

Not to be confused with ''The Smothers Brothers Show'', a FantasticComedy that aired on CBS during the 1965-66 season, which had Tom playing Dick's GuardianAngel. (It's also notable for being the network's last sitcom to be filmed in black-and-white.)

* {{Uncancelled}}: The Brothers came back for a short-lived series in 1975, two NBC specials in 1980, and a short-lived CBS series in the 1988-89 season.
** The pilot of the 1988-89 run featured the Brothers in a helicopter on their way to do their first show. Dick is worried that CBS holds a grudge against them, when Tom reassures him that everything has been forgiven between them and the network. Then sharpshooters on the roof of Television City start trying to take the copter down...

'''''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour''''' was a landmark comic VarietyShow, hosted by folk-music duo Creator/TheSmothersBrothers (Tom and Dick), which ran on {{CBS}} from 1967 to 1969.

Originally produced as a sacrificial lamb of a production against the {{NBC}} powerhouse series, ''{{Series/Bonanza}}'', on Sunday nights, the series soon became an outstanding hit that appealed increasingly across the demographics, but especially youth audiences who found it appealed especially to them.

Part of that appeal was a wry sense of humor that not only played on the Brothers' usual playful SiblingRivalry musical shtick, but also to its increasingly fearless political satirical humor along with as much ribald humor as they could get away with with great writers like Creator/SteveMartin. The former was especially apparent in Pat Paulsen's editorials that eventually led to a mock presidential election bid in 1968.

The show also noted for its musical guests, which included not only Hollywood stalwarts like JimmyDurante, but wild rock acts like TheWho and TheDoors. As such, the show gained such clout that it was able to make move like breaking the blacklist on the noted folk singer Creator/PeteSeeger, getting the first American screening of TheBeatles' MusicVideo of their all time biggest hit single, "Hey Jude," and even staff writer Mason Williams got a moment to shine debuting the hit guitar instrumental, "Classical Gas."

Unfortunately, this innovative and contemporary comedy and music all too often had to be hard won against Network ExecutiveMeddling over the show's content. For instance, while the execs were okay with Seeger being on TV, his new ProtestSong "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," was not and the brothers had to fight to eventually get it on air in a later broadcast. Eventually, the show and the network were butting heads continually, with Tom Smothers being more brazen and stubborn and the network execs receiving complaints both from [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon the President of the United States himself]] and rural oriented affiliates. Furthermore, the show's good ratings had less sway with CBS than they would have had with a lower-rated network (and those ratings were beginning to fall anyway, due to the controversy and in competition with ''RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'' on NBC). The execs eventually lost all patience and abruptly pulled the show in 1969. The Brothers successfully sued the network for Breach of Contract, but their peak time of cultural influence was over.

Still, the Brothers had set a precedent for political satire daring humor that later shows like ''SaturdayNightLive'' would take much further.

Don't confuse this with ''The Smothers Brothers Show'', a FantasticComedy that aired in 1965-66 with Tom playing his brother's {{guardian angel}}.

!!''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' provides examples of:
* DraftDodging: One of the Brothers' more notorious musical numbers was a great cover of "The Draft Doger Rag" with George Segal with glorious three part harmony.
* RockersSmashGuitars: TheWho did plenty of that on their appearance, including smashing a prop guitar from Tom and Tom jokingly asking Dick if the band have his double bass for a minute.
* TakeThat: The Brothers' on air jabs against network censorship were notorious.
* {{Uncancelled}}: The ''Brothers'' were revived for a number of NBC specials in the 80s and a short lived CBS series run. The pilot of the CBS 90s run featured the brothers in a helicopter on their way to do their first show. Dick is worried that CBS holds a grudge against them, when Tommy reassures him that everything has been forgiven between them and the network. Then sharpshooters on the roof of CBS Television City start trying to take the copter down....

Unfortunately, this innovative and contemporary comedy and music all too often had to be hard won against Network ExecutiveMeddling over the show's content. For instance, while the execs were okay with Seeger being on TV, his new ProtestSong "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," was not and the brothers had to fight to eventually get it on air in a later broadcast. Eventually, the show and the network were butting heads continually, with Tom Smothers being more brazen and stubborn and the network execs receiving complaints both from [[RichardNixon the President of the United States himself]] and rural oriented affiliates. Furthermore, the show's good ratings had less sway with CBS than they would have had with a lower-rated network (and those ratings were beginning to fall anyway, due to the controversy and in competition with ''RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'' on NBC). The execs eventually lost all patience and abruptly pulled the show in 1969. The Brothers successfully sued the network for Breach of Contract, but their peak time of cultural influence was over.

Unfortunately, this innovative and contemporary comedy and music all too often had to be hard won against Network ExecutiveMeddling over the show's content. For instance, while the execs were okay with Seeger being on TV, his new ProtestSong "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," was not and the brothers had to fight to eventually get it on air in a later broadcast. Eventually, the show and the network were butting continually with Tom Smothers being more and more stubborn and brazen while the Network executives, were receiving complaints both from the President of the United States himself and rural oriented affiliates. Furthermore, the show's good ratings, which beginning to fall with the controversy and in competition with NBC's ''RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'', had less clout than they would have on a lower rated network than #1 CBS in that decade and the execs eventually lost all patience and abruptly pulled the show in 1969. The Brothers successfully sued the network for Breach of Contract, but their peak time of cultural influence was over.

The show also noted for its noted musical acts, which included not only older Hollywood stalwarts like JimmyDurante, but wild rock acts like TheWho and TheDoors. As such, the show gained such clout that it was able to make move like breaking the blacklist on the noted folk singer Creator/PeteSeeger, getting the first American screening of TheBeatles' MusicVideo of their all time biggest hit single, "Hey Jude," and even staff writer Mason Williams got a moment to shine debuting the hit guitar instrumental, "Classical Gas."

The show also noted for its noted musical acts which not only included Hollywood stalwarts like JimmyDurante, but wild rock acts like TheWho and TheDoors. As such, the show gained such clout that it was able to make move like breaking the blacklist on the noted folk singer Creator/PeteSeeger, getting the first American screening of TheBeatles MusicVideo of their all time biggest hit single, "Hey Jude," and even staff writer Mason Williams got a moment to shine debuting the hit guitar instrumental, "Classical Gas."

'''''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour''''' was a landmark comic VarietyShow, hosted by folk-music duo Creator/TheSmothersBrothers, which ran on {{CBS}} from 1967 to 1969.

'''''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour''''' was a landmark comic VarietyShow starring and produced (primarily by Tom) by the Creator/SmothersBrothers which ran on {{CBS}} from 1967 to 1969.

* WriterRevolt: The Smothers were butting heads with the network all the time.

Don't confuse this with ''The Smothers Brothers Show'', a FantasticComedy that aired in 1965-66 with Tommy playing his brother's {{guardian angel}}.

Unfortunately, this innovative and contemporary comedy and music all too often had to be hard won against Network ExecutiveMeddling over the show's content. For instance, the execs were okay with Seeger being on TV, his new ProtestSong "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," was not and the brothers had to fight to eventually get it on air in a later broadcast. Eventually, the show and the network were butting continually with Tom Smothers being more and more stubborn and brazen while the Network executives, were receiving complaints both from the President of the United States himself and rural oriented affiliates. Furthermore, the show's good ratings, which beginning to fall with the controversy and in competition with NBC's ''RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'', had less clout than they would have on a lower rated network than #1 CBS in that decade and the execs eventually lost all patience and abruptly pulled the show in 1969. The Brothers successfully sued the network for Breach of Contract, but their peak time of cultural influence was over.

Originally produced as a sacrificial lamb of a production against the {{NBC}} powerhouse series, ''{{Bonanza}}'', on Sunday nights, the series soon became an outstanding hit that appealed increasingly across the demographics, but especially youth audiences who found it appealed especially to them.

* TakeThat: The Brothers' jabs against network censorship were notorious.