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PBS recently showed a documentary
("Smothered") on the struggle between Tommy Smothers and CBS brass over
content of the "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" shown on CBS from
February 1967 to 1969. You might have expected a fairly ideological
blast at the network heavies for crassly suppressing the free-spirited
higher consciousness of the rebellious 60's but the film is actually fairly
nuanced and even-handed. For example, it shows us that CBS actually
permitted Pete Seeger-- who had been blacklisted during the McCarthy era--
to appear on the show. And then it excised "Waist Deep in the Big
Muddy" for it's allusion to Johnson in Viet Nam: "and the old fool said
'push on'". And then, after the Smothers Brothers protested to the
print media, allowed them to show it after all. Clearly, CBS brass was
concerned about getting flack from someone-- the White House, most likely--
about a song that slyly and cleverly attacked the Viet Nam War and Lyndon
Johnson himself. Yet, in the end, they let it go on.
The contract Tommy Smothers signed
with CBS gave him "creative control" over the show, so CBS was clearly not
within the spirit of the agreement to continue, through the life of the
show, demanding cuts and excisions based on it's own programming and
practices code. On balance, however, the documentary is not shy about
pointing out Tommy Smothers' own ornery contrariness over the issue.
Certainly, he wanted cutting edge writers and comedians, and he wanted the
show to be daring and relevant. But he also seemed to actively court
controversy and at times he was clearly arrogant about his own perceived
power-- "The Smothers Brothers" shockingly ousted long-time champion
"Bonanza" from the No.1 spot in the television ratings.
You come away with the impression
that CBS wasn't all that bad. They allowed Joan Baez to appear,
but cut out her comments about her draft-dodger husband. They
nitpicked a lot. Maybe they expected Smothers to eventually just give
in and self-censor: "oh, they'll never let us do that anyway, so let's take
it out", which is what most television people did. Smothers astutely
observed at one point that America liked to have some dissidents on TV to
show that they were a broad-minded, tolerant country... but not in
prime-time.
"The Smothers Brothers Comedy
Hour" never used canned laughter or applause, and treated their guests with
respect. Tommy Smothers recruited some the best young comedic talent
in the business, including Rob Reiner, Mason Williams, and Steve Martin, and
clearly influenced the development of Saturday Night Live a few years later.
And it was one of those young
talents-- David Steinberg-- that finally drove CBS over the edge, with a
"sermon" on Jonah and the Whale. Knowing that CBS would never allow
the sketch (after a torrent of angry letters about an earlier, similar
sketch about Moses), Tommy Smothers refused to turn in the tape of the show
early enough to allow CBS censors and the affiliates to preview it.
CBS used the technicality to cancel the show. The Smothers Brothers
sued CBS for breach of contract and eventually won.
By the way, the documentary left
out the funniest line of the Moses sketch. Moses stands before the
burning bush and God asks him to remove his sandals. But the ground
was hot and burned Moses' feet. And for the first time in the Bible
the words "Jesus Christ" were uttered.
How about that-- more than 30
years later, I still remember that line.
All contents copyright
© 2008 Bill Van Dyk
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