MovieChat Forums > The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967) Discussion > The Smothers Brothers were NOT 'FIRED' f...

The Smothers Brothers were NOT 'FIRED' from CBS

posted 11 years ago by LightsCameraAction1
9 replies | jump to latest

To set the record straight, the brothers were NOT 'FIRED' from CBS....Tom asked for a release from the contract, to which Robert Wood obliged. You can plainly see it if you read through the many CBS memos, which are included on the DVD set. There was a time when I greatly enjoyed watching the Comedy Hour, but NOW, I have a different opinion. Tom is his own worst enemy, and enjoys harping on the myth they he and his brother were 'fired'.... Look at it THIS way....Two young upstarts (Tom and Dick) were given one hour of prime time programming (9pm), DIRECTLY after 'The Ed Sullivan Show' (which was just about the best lead-in a series could receive), and they soon begin to want to do things THEIR way, rather than comply with the wishes of CBS. INGRATEFUL!!! Once, I felt sorry for them, but...NO MORE. By the way, The SBCH was the mid-season replacement for the 1966-1967 brief run of 'The Garry Moore Show' (on which the brothers made several appearances).

[–] mactach 10 years ago

They were not upstarts.

They had been doing their routine for at least 10 years.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] movieghoul 9 years ago

An advance copy of each show was provided to the White House, after which CBS told them what had to be cut. Also, TV networks like CBS had to comply with FCC standards to maintain their license.

So it's simply untrue to say the bovernment had no role in the content of this or other TV shows.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] movieghoul 9 years ago

Sorry, but those standards are subjerctive and not necessarily applied consistently.

I'll give an example involving the SOmothers Brothers vs Rowan and Martin's Laugh In.

On the SOmthers Borthers, the script called for the following dialogue:

Dick; THey have a great ballet company in Russia.

TOm: Bolshoi

Dick, No, Tom, it really is a great ballet.

This exchange was censored out.

Meanwhile on Laugh In, there was a recurring line that went "Look it up in your FUnk and Wgnells" where the reader of the line would deliberately slur the "Funk and Wagnells" part.

THis line had no problem with the censors (even though many parents of small children complained).

So we have two pieces of dialogue, in both of which the joke is that a non obscenity is confused for an obscenity, but only the Smothers Brothers one was censored. Any explanation?

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] mactach 8 years ago

Laugh-In was NBC.

SB's was on CBS.

That's my guess.

[–] yourauntgussie 8 years ago

Yup. You got that one square on. In one brief sketch, the visual is nothing but a door, on which was a sign which said, "CBS Program Development," or some such. The following is not a direct quote -- merely an approximation.

Voice #1: Okay. So it'll be a fast-paced, hip, comedy-variety show with lots of great guest stars. What'll we call it?

Voice #2: Laugh-In?

Voice #1: Nah. That's been used.

Voice #2: Laugh-Out? (ad-libs a couple more)

Voice #1: I've got it! We'll call it Hee-Haw!

And that's exactly what Hee-Haw was -- CBS's attempt to draw older, more conservative, and (especially) rural viewers away from the barely-controlled chaos that was Laugh-In. I can't find a smoking gun, like a link to/from a CBS honcho, that says, "Let's rip off NBC." It may be urban legend, but I've heard many times that that was CBS's intention.

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[–] cary_howe 7 years ago

Smothers Brothers was more clever and the censors weren't very clever so they were always terrified they'd miss something on the Smothers Brothers so tended to red line first and think later. The in your face stuff on Laugh In largely went over their heads. Remember they weren't very clever the censors. When Married With Children came along the censors got so freaked out they banned stuff that was utterly meaningless because they assumed if they didn't understand it must be something bad.