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Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour by David Bianculli
mk4_naka's review against another edition
4.0
Very accessible and generally entertaining read; some may appreciate the re-caps and redundancy in some sections, but thinking, "I know this already" interrupted the flow for me. But it felt like a proper "insider" account--a definite feat.
bargainsleuth's review against another edition
4.0
I fell in love with the Smothers Brothers as a middle school student in the 1980's when their "Angel Show" was running on Nick at Nite and they were making frequent appearances on Hollywood Squares. Soon I was hunting down their comedy albums at the flea markets and antique malls my parents dragged me to and taping their Magnavox magazine ad on my bedroom wall, next to the Monkees, Dan Marino, and Wham! I made frequent trips to our central library and photocopied every article I could find. I wrote fan letters and always received a response, including an autographed photo one time. I was fully immersed in Smotherdom when the 20th Reunion Show and subsequent reboot of the variety show happened in the late 1980's. To say I was a fan does not begin to cover it. From 1991 until the Smothers Brothers retired from touring in 2010, I saw them live ELEVEN times.
I thought I'd go back and revisit Dangerously Funny, a book I had been anticipating for more than 20 years, when the answer to one of my fan letters indicated a book was in the works. It still holds up pretty well. As someone who didn't live through the censorship on television of the 1960s, this is an illuminating look at the overall time period, not just including the Smothers Brothers. I absolutely don't get the hate some reviewers have saying that Nixon had nothing to do with the Smothers' firing. Maybe the reviews were written before the tapes were released, but I've heard Nixon bitching about the brothers and if there was any way to get them off of TV. Nixon was good friends with the president of CBS and literally called him in the middle of the night after one particular show skewered him.
I'm hoping that someday a full biography is written about the Smothers Brothers because this book is hyper-focused on the Comedy Hour. There is some content regarding their early lives and background into the early days of their comedy act, as well as the years after the firing (not cancellation).
RIP Tom Smothers. You were a trailblazer, and I'm glad history has shown you to be the champion for free speech that you were.
I thought I'd go back and revisit Dangerously Funny, a book I had been anticipating for more than 20 years, when the answer to one of my fan letters indicated a book was in the works. It still holds up pretty well. As someone who didn't live through the censorship on television of the 1960s, this is an illuminating look at the overall time period, not just including the Smothers Brothers. I absolutely don't get the hate some reviewers have saying that Nixon had nothing to do with the Smothers' firing. Maybe the reviews were written before the tapes were released, but I've heard Nixon bitching about the brothers and if there was any way to get them off of TV. Nixon was good friends with the president of CBS and literally called him in the middle of the night after one particular show skewered him.
I'm hoping that someday a full biography is written about the Smothers Brothers because this book is hyper-focused on the Comedy Hour. There is some content regarding their early lives and background into the early days of their comedy act, as well as the years after the firing (not cancellation).
RIP Tom Smothers. You were a trailblazer, and I'm glad history has shown you to be the champion for free speech that you were.
sjgrodsky's review against another edition
3.0
I wish the author had teamed with a sociologist, a psychologist, a historian, or all three. These folks would have asked and attempted to answer the more interesting questions Bianculli leaves unaddressed. Did the Nixon admin really try to kill the show? Why did the CBS admin leap on the chance to fire Tom just weeks after it had renewed the contract? Why did 30-something Tom insist on playing chicken with CBS when an adult would have chosen his battles?
That said, the author has researched the facts and stuffs each sentence with them, regardless of relevance, heedless of sentence structure. I doubt anyone will write a second book about a television show. But if someone wanted to delve more deeply into the why and how, this book supplies much of the who and when. It's excellent source material for the much better book that could be written.
That said, the author has researched the facts and stuffs each sentence with them, regardless of relevance, heedless of sentence structure. I doubt anyone will write a second book about a television show. But if someone wanted to delve more deeply into the why and how, this book supplies much of the who and when. It's excellent source material for the much better book that could be written.
cmcarr's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book. It felt like the author is a little head over heels for the Smothers Brothers, giving them credit for inspiring every comical utterance in the world from 1970 to present. Nevertheless, it provided a good history of the show and helped put it into the context of that time period.
amberhayward's review against another edition
3.0
I need to make a shelf for biographies of shows I've never watched, bands I've never listened to, and actors with whose work I am unfamiliar. I would put this there. It started and ended kind of slow for me but the tender vittles in the middle were charming and great.
gjmaupin's review against another edition
5.0
If you're interested in this sort of thing, and you should be, this is well told. The attempts to force the Nixon connection at the end get strained, but there's a lot of gold in here.
cpalisa's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun read! I only remember seeing the Smothers Brothers in reruns when I was younger and I didn't really know much about how controversial they were at the time. This books covers all three seasons of the program, touching on the controversies, guests, and miscellaneous behind the scenes stuff. I kept going to YouTube to watch the "subversive" bits they kept getting in trouble for. So funny compared to what is on TV today. Anyhow, fun book, a little repetitive here and there and a bit long winded at the end, but entertaining!
spinnerroweok's review against another edition
3.0
I loved listening to my parents' Smothers Brothers album when I was a kid. So, when I saw this book dealing with the Smothers Brothers and their TV show, I just had to read it.
The book spent a lot of time describing various skits on the show, and repeated itself often. A good edit would have shortened the book by about 10%. But, it was interesting.
If you like the Smothers Brothers, I would recommend.
The book spent a lot of time describing various skits on the show, and repeated itself often. A good edit would have shortened the book by about 10%. But, it was interesting.
If you like the Smothers Brothers, I would recommend.
chemistry_goodness's review against another edition
4.0
I read a number of other Goodreads' reviews and I can't add anything unique so I won't even try.
Read a few of the 2-5 star reviews and that will give you enough information to decide whether or not you want to read it.
Read a few of the 2-5 star reviews and that will give you enough information to decide whether or not you want to read it.
thomcat's review against another edition
4.0
Mr. Bianculli did his research for this book, which is fairly well presented. Sometimes the events were out of order, events were repeated from previous chapters, or there were repeated events and stories. The frequency of repeating repeats makes me think this started as a collection of articles - but don't repeat that verbatim. I repeat, a fairly good book.