As a child, I remember enjoying the Smothers' Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS. However, in hindsight, I must have missed lots of the information flow of the show (drug references and political references would have been lost on the 3-6 year old I was during the show's run).
However, watching clips on YouTube, I can see how the show would have been appealing, and even moreso to an older version of myself.
"Dangerously Funny - Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers" by David Bianculli tells of what was going on, both on-screen and behind the scenes at this show. I am astounded to hear how strong a character Tom Smothers has behind the scenes, compared to his naive on-screen persona - I was even surprised to find out that he is the older brother.
The barriers that were broken on this show regarding racism, religion and politics make it a truly groundbreaking television event. It's sad to see the show only ran 3 years (3 big years 67, 68 and 69), but seeing the behind the scenes battles, it is likely the show would have been cancelled at some point - the damage among the principals was too great, Tommy, as producer, became quite militant and drew far away from the CBS executives - it is hard to imagine any hierarchy surviving that type of schism - somebody had to go.
The timing was truly unfortunate - in today's world, that show (which was still a ratings success) would have likely found a home on cable and ran a normal life-cycle (e.g. dying out when viewers tired of the show) not a removal due to corporate politics.
I think Tom and Dick Smothers can remain proud of their product - they could have run a more "normal" show, and had a longer stay on network television, but I doubt they would have been as fulfilled as they are from this one. I also doubt anybody would write, let alone read or listen to, the story of the show 40 years later. Few shows retain this level of interest after they leave the air.
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