The Smothers Brothers

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The Smothers Brothers

Tom Smothers
Born February 2, 1937
New York, New York

Dick Smothers
Born November 20, 1939
New York, New York

American actors, comedians, and singers

Tom and Dick Smothers—known as The Smothers Brothers—crafted themselves into a musical comedy team that represented the struggles of the nation in the 1960s. The brothers' variety show reached nearly every household in the United States. Ninety percent of viewers tuned into one of the three major networks that existed in the country at the time. To this large audience, the brothers offered political satire that recognized society's uncertainty about the war in Vietnam (1954–75) and shifting opinions about drugs and sex. Despite the high ratings of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967–70), host network CBS became increasingly uncomfortable with the show's content. The struggle between the Smothers Brothers and CBS helped define the role entertainment, especially television, would play in social change.

"Mom always liked you best."

—Tom Smothers's most famous line, delivered to his brother as part of their comedy act.

The Smothers brothers were born just before the outbreak of World War II (1939–45). Thomas B. Smothers III was born February 2, 1937, and his brother, Richard, was born November 20, 1939, both in New York City. The brothers were the sons of army officer Thomas B. and homemaker Ruth Smothers. Their father died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in 1945, and their mother raised them.

While attending San Jose State College in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the brothers developed a singing act. At the time, folksingers were very popular. Tom and Dick teamed with Bobby Blackmore to create a group called The Smothers Brothers & God. (Blackmore played God.) The act made them so popular that neither Tom nor Dick felt it necessary to finish college. Tom abandoned his pursuit of an advertising degree in his senior year. Dick dropped out of his education major classes in his junior year. The trio started as a musical group, but the banter that Tom and Dick used to introduce songs slowly developed into a major portion of their show, making it part music and part comedy. Their first professional performance was an extended show at the Purple Onion in San Francisco in 1959. Although the group did well, after six months Blackmore left the group to move with his new bride to Australia.

Jokes prevail over music

The brothers were left on their own and wondered if they could succeed without Blackmore, their lead singer. The two spent more than a year performing in Colorado and California, perfecting their new act. They kept their music clean and folksy while they developed their comedy. Soon they learned what made audiences laugh. The two played four shows each night, and Tom made up new jokes for each show. When he started to run out of ideas, Dick suggested that he repeat some of them. At first Tom resisted, thinking that people would catch on. But Tom soon recognized that he could sing songs over and over without upsetting his audience. When he tried some of his jokes again and got another laugh, he was amazed. Their often-repeated phrase soon became "Mom always liked you best." In 1960 they signed a recording contract with Mercury Records; by 1965 they had recorded eight albums. Despite their steady production, Tom rarely wrote down his jokes.

In January 1961, the brothers were invited to perform on NBC's The Tonight Show with host Jack Paar. Paar jokingly complimented the two after their act, saying "I don't know what you guys have, but no one's gonna steal it," according to Gerald Nachman in Seriously Funny. In the early 1960s, 90 percent of American households owned televisions and a similar percentage tuned in nightly to one of the three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC. The Smothers Brothers' television debut was seen by a huge portion of television viewers. The show became an overnight success and the Smothers were instant celebrities. Their newfound popularity helped them to land guest appearances on such shows as The Andy Williams Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Sonny and Cher Show, The Steve Allen Show, and Hootenany.

The Smothers Brothers on television

CBS offered Tom and Dick their own show for the 1965 and 1966 season. The Smothers Brothers Show was a comedy in which Tom played an angel and Dick played his human brother. CBS canceled that show after one season but offered the Smothers Brothers their own variety show the next year. The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour debuted on CBS opposite NBC's Bonanza, the top-rated show at the time. CBS hoped that the brothers' mix of clean-cut good looks, youthful comedy, and music would attract a traditional, older audience while appealing to a younger audience at the same time. The Smothers Brothers had broad, safe appeal. They "were primarily viewed as a couple of genial, middle-of-the-road entertainers who generated laughs with the dizzy siblings spats of their folksinging comedy act," reported Mike Duffy in the Detroit Free Press. The brothers selected a mixed group of performers to round out their show. For example, they booked established movie star Bette Davis at the same time as the up-and-coming British rock band The Who. Along with the Smothers Brothers, writers for the show included Rob Reiner and Steve Martin.

By mixing guests from different generations on the same show, the Smothers Brothers caused changes in prime-time television offerings. During the second year of the show, the brothers started to address the political and social changes in the country in ways no one had seen before. Dressed conservatively in tuxedoes or blazers with pressed pants, the brothers uttered some of the first political satire ever heard on television. CBS cautiously endorsed the brothers' brand of comedy, telling them that it was okay to make jokes about "the president as long as you do it with respect," as noted in Seriously Funny. For their news-driven satire, Tom played a silly, well-meaning college kid to Dick's more conservative, sensible authority figure. In one show, Dick said, "We've come a long way since that first Thanksgiving in Plymouth, when the Pilgrims sat down at the table with the Indians to eat turkey." Tom replied, "Boy, I'll say we've come a long way. Now we're in Paris, sitting down at a table with the Viet Cong, eating crow." With remarks like these, however, CBS began to feel that the brothers lacked respect and began censoring the show.

Surviving the censors

The Smothers Brothers did not bow down to network pressure. As the brothers started developing distinct opinions about the Vietnam War and social issues at home, their opinions came out in their show. Having the attention of hundreds of thousands of people every week proved an irresistible soap-box for the brothers. They and the nation were deeply moved by such events as protests erupting at the 1968 Democratic convention and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968; see entry) and Senator Robert Kennedy (1925–1968). Yet when the Smothers Brothers had scheduled folksinger Pete Seeger to sing on their show, CBS censored his song because of its antiwar message. "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" included lyrics that criticized President Lyndon B. Johnson (1909–1973; served 1963–69; see entry) and his policies regarding the war in Vietnam. The song describes military troops who lose their lives when their commander orders them to cross a dangerous river. CBS later allowed Seeger to perform his song after the public insisted. However, much of the Smothers' political material was never allowed to be shown.

Their opinions were too radical for CBS executives. As noted in People Weekly, a CBS vice president said in 1969 that the Smothers Brothers "touched nerves with those jokes." The brothers anticipated censors axing their lines and would add in offensive lines as decoys in order to slip their true message past the censors. To draw public attention to their plight, the brothers introduced satirical skits into the show that poked fun at the CBS censors. While jokes about drugs and sexuality slipped by censors, political jokes were immediately cut.

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour had become something unlike any show ever before seen on television. And during its second year, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour toppled Bonanza from its long-held top rank. But the struggles between the brothers and the network only grew, and CBS fired the brothers in their third season. The brothers, in turn, sued the network for not fulfilling their contract and received $776,000. As noted in the television documentary Smothered and quoted in the Detroit Free Press, comedian Bill Maher recalled: "The Smothers Brothers sacrificed their show because they wouldn't sacrifice their principles." (Maher lost his network show, Politically Incorrect, after he made some highly controversial political statements about the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.)

The Smothers Brothers had opened television to the new world. After The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour left the air, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In on NBC became the hit comedy for young audiences, using humor inspired in part by the Smothers Brothers. The brothers took a break from performing after the cancellation of their show. Tom told People Weekly that after the show ended "I lost my sense of humor.… Everything was deadly serious." But eventually that sense of humor returned. In addition to revamping their act and touring again, the brothers have each married and divorced several times and pursued other interests. Tom has three children and Dick has six. Dick enjoys racing cars, and Tom owns and operates a winery in California. One of the wines he produces is called "Mom's Favorite Red."

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In (1968–73) was the top-ranked television show in 1968 and 1969. The show featured comedy skits and celebrity guests but put a new twist on the comedy-variety show format. Instead of longer segments featuring guests and musical numbers, Laugh-In strung rapid-fire jokes, one-liners, celebrity cameos, and dancing segments into an hour-long show. The show required several video editors to piece together the hundreds of shots that flashed, sometimes for fewer than thirty seconds, from one joke, dancer, or flashcard with a one-liner on it to another. The show created such popular phrases as "Sock it to me!" and "You bet your sweet bippy!" Each episode ended in the same way, with regulars and guests popping their heads through little doors in a wall to deliver a quick joke as the credits rolled.

Although the show focused mainly on silliness, it also dabbled with political humor. A one-liner said, "George Wallace, your sheets are ready," referring to the alignment of Alabama governor Wallace (1919–1998) with the racist attitudes of the Ku Klux Klan. But the political humor on Laugh-In did not seem to threaten as much as The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Conservatives such as actor John Wayne and even President Richard Nixon (1913–1994; served 1969–74) appeared on Laugh-In.

The Smothers Brothers have made guest appearances on several television shows as well as some movies. In the early 2000s, they were still performing and were considered revolutionaries in prime-time television. CBS featured a twentieth reunion for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1988. During the reunion, as quoted in People Weekly, the brothers joked about their comeback show on CBS, the same network that had fired them in the 1960s. "'I knew they'd change their minds,' says Tom.… 'It's been 20 years though,' Dick observes."

But other than the occasional special feature, such biting political satire as their 1960s prime-time offerings was included in the early 2000s only on late-night television shows and a few cable offerings. The political climate of the early 2000s brought renewed interest in the Smothers Brothers' continuing political satire. Tom told the Hollywood Reporter: "Dickie and I still feel it's our job to question power and authority." He added: "It's feeling like 1968 all over again. People are questioning the patriotism and Americanism of those who speak out. We all suddenly have to watch what we say."

For More Information

Books

Nachman, Gerald. Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s. New York: Random House, 2003.

Periodicals

Carr, Steven Allen. "On the Edge of Tastelessness: CBS, the Smothers Brothers, and the Struggle for Control." Cinema Journal (Summer 1992): pp. 3–24.

Duffy, Mike. "'Smothered' Revisits Brothers' Battle with CBS." Detroit Free Press (December 2, 2002).

Kaufman, Joanne. "Censors, Beware! 20 Years After They Were Banned by CBS, the Smothers Brothers Are Back in a Breakthrough Special." People Weekly (February 8, 1988): p. 46.

Richmond, Ray. "Timely Return for Smothers Brothers." Hollywood Reporter (April 14, 2003): p. 1.

Tresniowki, Alex. "Grapes without Wrath: For Winemaker and New Dad Tommy Smothers, These Are Vintage Years." People Weekly (August 5, 1996): p. 63.