Dangerously Funny (edition 2009)

I like the Smothers Brothers but not as much and Bianculli appears to, if this book is anything to go by!

I'll admit to not finishing it because there is too much detail. If you want to know every guest, every song and every fight with CBS censors then this is the book for you. Me, I think I'm saving some pennies to buy the complete set of the series on DVD to enjoy each guest, each song and just know in the back of my mind that much of this came at a great cost to Tom and Dick Smothers in their fight to bring political awareness to their audience. Tom in particular fought with his heart and it got dented badly as a result.

Although I was overwhelmed with the detail I did skim a great deal of this and there is some information here and I'm glad I got a chance to look it over. ( )

Fired not Canceled and other irrelevant distinctions of the Genius Tommy Smothers
I just finished Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” by David Bianculli. It is a wonderful recounting of Tom and Dick Smothers overcoming the death of their father in a POW camp on Bataan, and the revolving door of men in and out of their mother’s life. I laughed and laughed, and Mr. Bianculli does a wonderful job of capturing their rise to fame that at first seemed like as arbitrary and strange as driftwood washed up on a beach. Their self-destruction seems just another of the many vast right wing conspiracy stories that like a chronic drug induced paranoia hang over what is left of the brains many of the 1960’s flower power warriors. Like many, many other examples in their career, they were possibly the first recorded case psychedelic battle fatigue.
Some self-disclosure: From a political standpoint, there in not a single position of Tom and Dick that I know about that I agree with. But I have always loved their humor, and for some reason the Smothers Brothers show is one I actually remember from my early childhood. I was only 6 or 7 when it went off the air.
Politics aside, Tommy was a genius. The caliber of talent Tommy was able to place in front of America over and over and over again was and remains unparalleled. The writers alone included names like Steve Martin and Rob Reiner. The Who, the Doors, Jefferson Airplane all appeared on the Smothers Brothers before they were widely known to America and the world. Tommy worked with the greatest straight man, his brother Dick, since Gracie Allen. All of this was fueled and focused by Tommy very real and passionate idealism. Each week Tommy used his persona as a not too bright, but warm hearted little boy whose only desire was to have his mother’s love, trapped in the body of a grown man who took positions each week that put the counter in counter culture – and he killed. KILLED!
The Smothers Brothers went up against the biggest baddest television icon of American independence and grit – Bonanza; and the Smothers Brothers achieved what no one before them had ever done. The Smothers Brothers drew more viewers. This is what makes Tommy’s actions so infuriating and incomprehensible.
Apparently Tommy is allergic to censorship. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to defend CBS standard and practices, the Nixon administration, or even the lemming like mindset of the greatest generation who by this time were in their 40’s and just wanted a century or so of peace after surviving WWII. But Tommy was fighting the wrong battle.
Almost from the start CBS began limiting what he could say, and how he could say it. Over and over again, the anti-war, anti-establishment, anti-conformity present in Tommy’s humor resonated with his audience, and he had the love of the American people to prove it. Rather than using his immense talent to express his ideas in a different way. Knowing CBS would veto a bit with a not too subtle marijuana reference “Tea with Mary Jane”, the name that followed “A Little Tea with Goldie O’Keefe”. It got past the censors, but not the Smothers Brothers audience. With each battle Tommy became more entrenched, and victory with the audience was superseded by Tommy’s demand for a victory with the CBS censors. Tommy’s stubbornness was equivalent to Vincent Van Gogh demanding praise from the blind.
Ultimately, Tommy was not the loser, but rather the American people. In the arena of ideas the best idea does not always win. Look no further than the words our own Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”, an idea that was almost immediately vanquished in constitution that did not outlaw slavery. Tommy had the chance to elevate the ideas being discussed in his day, and he missed it. Satire by its very nature is subversive, but Tommy became more interested in preaching about the hypocrisy of the censors. Yell at a fat man about his obesity, and he will remain fat. Make him chase you and like or not, his physical condition will improve.
From the moment CBS took the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour off the air, and to this day, Tommy has argued with all his might that the show was not canceled, but that he and Dick were fired. A federal court would later agree with Tommy. But the Vietnam war continued for five more years, Nixon was elected to a second term before endangering our republic and disgracing his office, and Tommy’s ideas, censored or not, were no longer in front of a massive American audience.
Tommy is certainly not to blame for these events. But there is a cliché of note which says that a rising tide lifts all boats Had his ideas remained in the American arena now known as “the ‘60’s” it may have been enough to raise us past these outcomes. Sadly, all we know for sure is that Tom and Dick Smothers were fired and not canceled. ( )

When I was young I discovered records by The Smothers Brothers in my family records collections and became a fan of their witty interpretations of folk music classics. I even went to see them perform live one time and was sorely disappointed by what felt like a phoned-in performance. The show was days after The Gulf War began in 1991 and since I knew the Smothers Brothers' tv show was notoriously anti-war during the Vietnam era and expected some commentary on the contemporary situation but there was none to be had.

Well, I can't explain that bad show but after reading Bianculli's book I've learned much about their great show that aired for three seasons on CBS in the the late 1960s. The first thing I learned is that the Smothers Brothers are unlike their onstage personas. Tommy Smothers, the dumb brat in the act is actually the brains behind it all. Bianculli depicts Tom as a keen talent scout giving young musicians tv exposure before they had mainstream appeal and hiring great comedians and writers (many of the musicians, comedians, and writers would go on to greater fame). It was also Tommy who would lead the fight against network censors to who tried to squelch political and anti-war speech in the show. While the network censorship battles are detailed with all the gory details and seem unfair (and often absurd due to how tame the Smother Brothers show seems in retrospect), Bianculli also show that Tom Smother over-earnest desire to fight fanned the flames of the show's demise.

Each episode is described in detail with Bianculli emphasizing the innovation, stand-out performances, and counter-cultural undertones of the shows. The backstage story is also rollicking with humorous anecdotes of multiple generations of entertainers working on the show. The show didn't last long but its legacy remains. Bianculli credits the Smothers Brothers with laying the groundwork for innovative shows of the 1970s from Saturday Night Live to M*A*S*H to the comedies of Norman Lear. I need to find the DVDs and catch up. ( )

I've only discovered the Smothers Brothers fairly recently, and I've never seen their show (I was 18 months old when it went off the air). After reading this book, I'd really like to fix this.I knew them as funny folk singers. I'd heard they had a political bent as well, as many folk singers of that era did. I had no idea what they'd accomplished on their show, and how much more they tried to do, but were stopped by CBS and the censors.I really enjoyed the look at the brothers as people, and I particularly liked finding out about how they influenced the world. Tom Smothers had an eye for talent, featuring writers, comedians and musicians that had never been heard from before, but are well known now.The late 60s/early 70s were a time of change, and the conflicts within the show were representative of this. On the one hand, there was a desire (particularly among the younger set) for more openness about sexuality (we're talking use of the word "breast", not anything that would be seen as steamy today), about religion (the first skit that caused problems was one that was actually enjoyed by audiences of clergy of multiple denominations), and drugs. On the other hand, there was a feeling that the airwaves should be safe for everyone-- that no one should be offended by what they see on TV, and that the network censors had a responsibility to make that happen.Then there was the political landscape-- the changing views about the Vietnam War, and what was appropriate to say about it was an ongoing issue for the show, and popular opinion underwent a significant change over the three years the show was on the air. I really only know the big facts about Nixon and his presidency-- this book showed me a part of the kind of control he tried to wield over the entire nation, including the world of television. The book also does a very good job of showing the influence the Smothers Brothers have had on later generations of shows and entertainers. The content of the book gets a full 5 stars from me. Unfortunately, the writing style did not work quite as well.I can't quite describe what bothered me about it-- the best I can say is that I was often aware of the narrator over the story being told, and I usually didn't see the value to this. In addition, the same information was repeated multiple times, perhaps in an effort to make each chapter able to stand on its own.I didn't have any major problems with the writing, but it did dampen my enjoyment of the book a little.Overall, this was a wonderful read, and I'd recommend it for anyone with an interest in television, in politics, or this era. Think holiday present! ( )

Excellent and insightful overview of the careers of Tom and Dick Smothers, with particular emphasis on the groundbreaking and tempestuous three-year run of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS during some of the turbulent years in American culture and politics. Bianculli details the ongoing battles between Tommy and the other writers and the management of CBS. It's an unbiased examination of the underlying issues, with Tommy fighting for artistic control and total freedom of speech and the network censors trying to appease the sensitivities of viewers in more conservative markets in order to keep the show on the air.
It's fascinating to read this story over 40 years later. The points of contention seem so mild now that it's astounding to realize how much public sensitivities have changed in the intervening generations. ( )