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A review by expendablemudge
Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour by David Bianculli
3.0
If you remember the Smothers Brothers, read this book for a tiptoe thru the tulips (I know it was on a competing show, but timeliness was the aim) buried under the neiges d'antan. If either phrase has left you scratching your wig-holder, look THAT up in your Funk and Wagnalls.
But don't read this rather dense, somewhat longwinded recap of the three-season run of the Smothers Brothers's show. It will mean little to you, and the density of the behind-the-scenes material won't fascinate. The author clearly knows his onions about TV, about the time period, and about the brothers. His style isn't sparkling, but it is very informative and it's never dry. Just thick. Like a fallen souffle, it still has the savor but the texture's just a little off.
I grew up on Smothers Brothers material because my sisters are both much older than I am, so were listening to their albums, and Kingston Trio albums, and Vaughn Meader albums, and Bob Newhart albums. *sigh* What a way to grow up. Then along came the Beatles, and out went everything else...except the Smothers Brothers, the eldest sister was a granola-and-granny-gowns girl to the horror of our Balenciaga-wearing mother.
So along comes the TV show the clean-cut young men put on, on Sunday night opposite "Bonanza" which neither of my parents cared diddly about (if it had been opposite "Gunsmoke" I'd've never even heard of it); the closing-in-on-50 mom and closing-in-on-40 dad tried to be gravy (joke on "groovy," slang of the times...they were as inept at modern slang as I am, and you will be, youngsters) by watching it with their teens and the caboose.
We all loved it. Pat Paulsen was so funny that my arch-conservative parents thought he was the highlght of the show with his first-time-ever-done fake run for President. My sisters loved "Share Tea with Goldie", with a flower child making in-jokes about drugs that Mama and Daddy didn't get. I was in love with Mason Williams, of "Classical Gas" fame. Still one of my very favorite pieces of pop music, up there with "In Your Eyes" and "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel.
No one used dirty words. No one was more than mildly salacious, to my father's disgruntlement. But everyone was ethically opposed to the Vietnam war, and my mother's nephew was a Navy pilot at risk, plus she'd lost "someone close" in the Ia Drang battle (never discussed in detail, quite mysterious), so we as a family were opposed to the unwinnable war (Dad's name for it).
Hard to imagine now, in this fractured entertainment landscape, but the Smothers Brothers drew 35% (THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT) of the TV-viewing audience...and got canceled! If someone drew a 35% share today, the network execs would offer their grandchildren as slaves and their houses as rewards to the people who delivered such monster ratings. Then, well...that was just ordinary. What wasn't ordinary was the men delivering the ratings were young and idealistic and ready to talk about things that were taboo (eg, religious hypocrisy, racial politics) without hesitation. The people who watched the Smothers Brothers were mostly young, mostly rich, mostly well-educated and almost always all three. What an audience!!
And they got canceled.
Even my arch-conservative parents thought that was stupid. "Can't stop people thinkin' and best not to try," said Mama. "What's the use of a Constitution if you can only agree with powerful people?" asked Dad.
Yeah. That's what I'm sayin' after reading this book. They didn't back down from any fight, and they lost the war...but damn, it's hard not to admire their spirit. Tommy, though, comes across as a self-righteous little pisher and Dickie as a self-absorbed bore. But hey, they fought a good fight and today's TV landscape looks the way it does in good part because of these guys and their irritating ways.
Someone give them a show, quick! They're still alive, but who knows for how long!
But don't read this rather dense, somewhat longwinded recap of the three-season run of the Smothers Brothers's show. It will mean little to you, and the density of the behind-the-scenes material won't fascinate. The author clearly knows his onions about TV, about the time period, and about the brothers. His style isn't sparkling, but it is very informative and it's never dry. Just thick. Like a fallen souffle, it still has the savor but the texture's just a little off.
I grew up on Smothers Brothers material because my sisters are both much older than I am, so were listening to their albums, and Kingston Trio albums, and Vaughn Meader albums, and Bob Newhart albums. *sigh* What a way to grow up. Then along came the Beatles, and out went everything else...except the Smothers Brothers, the eldest sister was a granola-and-granny-gowns girl to the horror of our Balenciaga-wearing mother.
So along comes the TV show the clean-cut young men put on, on Sunday night opposite "Bonanza" which neither of my parents cared diddly about (if it had been opposite "Gunsmoke" I'd've never even heard of it); the closing-in-on-50 mom and closing-in-on-40 dad tried to be gravy (joke on "groovy," slang of the times...they were as inept at modern slang as I am, and you will be, youngsters) by watching it with their teens and the caboose.
We all loved it. Pat Paulsen was so funny that my arch-conservative parents thought he was the highlght of the show with his first-time-ever-done fake run for President. My sisters loved "Share Tea with Goldie", with a flower child making in-jokes about drugs that Mama and Daddy didn't get. I was in love with Mason Williams, of "Classical Gas" fame. Still one of my very favorite pieces of pop music, up there with "In Your Eyes" and "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel.
No one used dirty words. No one was more than mildly salacious, to my father's disgruntlement. But everyone was ethically opposed to the Vietnam war, and my mother's nephew was a Navy pilot at risk, plus she'd lost "someone close" in the Ia Drang battle (never discussed in detail, quite mysterious), so we as a family were opposed to the unwinnable war (Dad's name for it).
Hard to imagine now, in this fractured entertainment landscape, but the Smothers Brothers drew 35% (THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT) of the TV-viewing audience...and got canceled! If someone drew a 35% share today, the network execs would offer their grandchildren as slaves and their houses as rewards to the people who delivered such monster ratings. Then, well...that was just ordinary. What wasn't ordinary was the men delivering the ratings were young and idealistic and ready to talk about things that were taboo (eg, religious hypocrisy, racial politics) without hesitation. The people who watched the Smothers Brothers were mostly young, mostly rich, mostly well-educated and almost always all three. What an audience!!
And they got canceled.
Even my arch-conservative parents thought that was stupid. "Can't stop people thinkin' and best not to try," said Mama. "What's the use of a Constitution if you can only agree with powerful people?" asked Dad.
Yeah. That's what I'm sayin' after reading this book. They didn't back down from any fight, and they lost the war...but damn, it's hard not to admire their spirit. Tommy, though, comes across as a self-righteous little pisher and Dickie as a self-absorbed bore. But hey, they fought a good fight and today's TV landscape looks the way it does in good part because of these guys and their irritating ways.
Someone give them a show, quick! They're still alive, but who knows for how long!