My wife and I had the pleasure of dining with the Smothers Bros one night in the late 1970's when they were performing in Toronto in the play "I love my wife".  The brothers were much different than their TV personas.  Now here's my 6 degrees of separation.  Marjorie (Marge) Anthony was at that time, a VP at CTV Network and I worked with her.  She had been the personal manager of the Smothers Brothers, in a previous career. Hence, the dinner invitation to spend an evening with the Brothers. But that's not the whole story.  Marjorie Anthony (Linden) was a force of nature, and she had been born in NS.  She was one of the first female TV weather presenters in Canada, Her wikipedia entry is really impressive.   Every time we read or hear of the Smothers Brothers, we think fondly of Marg.  She was an extraordinarily talented person, at a time when few women achieved that level of success in broadcasting or talent management.  Here's just a snippet from the wikipedia entry.

"She moved to the United States to further her career, and was a producer at the NBC affiliate in Houston. Her works there included Furnishings of the White House, and A Texan Visits the White House featuring Lady Bird Johnson. She moved to work in Hollywood in the 1960s, and became vice-president, artist relations, for the company handling the Smothers Brothers. Then she worked in New York at CBS Records, with such artists as Kenny Rogers, Barry Manilow, and Nana Mouskouri. She also oversaw a world tour and two television specials for Neil Diamond. She returned to work for the Smothers Brothers in California, this time as their personal manager."

Last edited by tvguy (December 27, 2023 2:20 pm)

The documentary mentioned in the obit article, "Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," was very good. It's on the Internet Archive here for free if you've never seen it. 

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was waaaay ahead of its time in term of its writers, which included Mason Williams ("Classical Gas"), Bob Einstein (pre Super Dave Osborne and Curb Your Enthusiasm), a young Steve Martin, Winnipeg born Allan Blye (The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour as well as The Elvis '68 Special), Carl Gotlieb (Co-writer of the "Jaws"  screenplay, comedian Murray Roman and quite a few others.  Tommy Smothers played guitar and sang on John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band's "Give Peace A Chance" recorded at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel. in June 1969.

I interviewed Tommy and Dick Smothers sometime in the early '90s (I'd have to check the DAT for the exact year).
It was a fun interview.

Last edited by Doug Thompson (December 27, 2023 11:58 pm)

CTV carried the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and ran the episode that ultimately got the Smothers Brothers cancelled and never aired on CBS.  CTV had a pre release of the show and ran it during it's regular time slot in Canada.

Great documentary and it was worth noting that the brothers and CBS did make amends eventually.  They even had another short lived variety show on CBS during the 1988/89 season.  Tom and Dick also had attempts at a revival on ABC and NBC in the early 70's.  When CBS cancelled the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour it was eventually replaced by......Hee Haw.

Does anyone remember this show? I liked the Brothers, but I have no memory of this ever airing. It was from the Fall of 1981 but was apparently shot in 1980 and kept on the shelf for a year by NBC which couldn't find a place for it. Turns out they were right. It aired for two months to dismal ratings and critical lambasting and sank, never to be seen again.

Doug Thompson wrote:

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was waaaay ahead of its time in term of its writers, which included Mason Williams ("Classical Gas").

I remember seeing the video they made of the instrumental on the Smothers Bros. show. It was the first music video I'd ever seen - and I suspect I wasn't the only one. (The term "music video" hadn't even been coined then.)

It made quite an impression on me, although who could have dreamed years later the creation of an MTV? 

Anyway, this was a pioneering effort in that new genre and I've never forgotten it. Never thought I'd see it again, but there's almost nothing you can't find on YouTube, and yep, it's there.

(Note: This seems like a joke, but it isn't. If you or someone you know has epilepsy, you might want to avoid these flashing images, just in case.)

paterson1 wrote:

mace wrote:

In the 1967-68 season, the Smothers Brothers were able to knock Bonanza from 1st to 6th place.

At the shows peak over 30 million viewers in the US tuned in every week.  With Bonanza still strong at #6 makes you wonder what ABC had on their schedule Sunday night. 

7pm Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. 8pm- The FBI [#22] 9pm- ABC Sunday Night Movie.