Tom Smothers, who with his younger brother Dick changed the face of comedy with their musical humor and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, died Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California, following a cancer battle. The news was announced by the National Comedy Center, on behalf of Smothers’ family. He was 86.
Tom and Dick Smothers started out as folk musicians in the early ’60s, and soon discovered that, while they were not good enough to be professional musicians, the act worked if they mixed in comedy.
Dick Smothers said in a statement, “Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years. Our relationship was like a good marriage – the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another. We were truly blessed.”
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The elder brother was a regular on The Steve Allen Show in 1961. He appeared the following year on The Danny Thomas Show.
In 1965, the duo landed The Smothers Brothers Show, a CBS sitcom that ran from 1965 to 1966. Tom felt that the show did not play to the brothers’ strengths and wanted creative control over their next venture.
He got it with their next CBS project, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, in 1967. While it was in the vein of the traditional variety show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour changed TV.
Journey Gunderson, National Comedy Center Executive Director, said in a statement, “Tom was a true pioneer who changed the face of television and transformed our culture with The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, which satirized politics, combated racism, protested the Vietnam War, and led the way for Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, today’s network late night shows, and so much more.”
And it wasn’t just the content. The show was a proving ground for other legendary writers and performers. The roster included Hal Goldman and Al Gordon (from The Jack Benny Program), Jim Stafford, Steve Martin, Don Novello, Rob Reiner, Lorenzo Music, perennial presidential candidate Pat Paulsen, Nell Scovell, Bob Einstein, Leigh French and pop singer Jennifer Warnes.
Reiner shared his thoughts online today, writing, “In 1968, Tommy Smothers plucked me out of the improv group, The Committee, and gave me my first writing job for his show. Tommy was funny, smart, and a fighter. He created a ground breaking show that celebrated all that was good about American Democracy. We loved you best, Tommy.”
The series showcased new musical artists such as George Harrison, Joan Baez, Buffalo Springfield, Cass Elliot, Harry Belafonte, Cream, the Who, Donovan, the Doors, Janis Ian, Yank Barry, Jefferson Airplane, Peter, Paul and Mary, Spanky and Our Gang, Steppenwolf, Simon and Garfunkel, Ray Charles, Hello People and Pete Seeger, despite the sometimes controversial nature of their music.
The brothers frequently butted heads with network censors. For the 1968–69 season, the network demanded the shows be delivered 10 days before airdate so that they could be vetted and edited by censors. It didn’t take long. In the season premiere, CBS deleted Belafonte singing “Lord, Don’t Stop the Carnival” against a backdrop of the the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Another simmering dispute revolved around satirical sermons by comedian David Steinberg, the most controversial of which involved Moses and the Burning Bush in 1968. The network told the brothers that they could no longer have Steinberg do the sermons, a directive Tom promptly ignored. Before the year was out, he asked Steinberg to do another in which the comeidan satirized the biblical story of Jonah and the whale. The sketch never made it to air.
Steinberg posted a remembrance today.
“The world just became a lot less funny,” he wrote. “We got into so much trouble together. And you were one of the great supportive friends. I owe so much to you. I love you Tommy and I will miss you.”
In 1969, as tensions mounted, the network aired a rerun rather than show a segment in which Baez paid tribute to her husband, who went to jail rather than comply with the draft.
CEO and president William S. Paley suddenly canceled the show in April 1969. The brothers later sued and, after a four year court battle, CBS was ordered to pay them $776,300.
The duo returned to TV several times: with a 60-minute special, The Return of the Smothers Brothers. in 1970; The Smothers Brothers Show in 1975; and then in The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1988-1989.
In 2008, the elder Smothers was awarded a special Emmy which was presented by onetime Smothers Brothers writer Steve Martin. The Smothers Brothers were inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2010.
Dick and his wife Marie have requested that memorial donations honoring Tom be made to the National Comedy Center, the nation’s official cultural institution dedicated to comedy, which has preserved and showcases the Smothers Brothers career and legacy.
Smothers is survived by Dick, his children Bo and Riley Rose Smothers, grandson Phoenix, Marcy Carriker Smothers, sister-in-law Marie Smothers, and several nephews and a niece. He is predeceased by his son Tom and sister Sherry Smothers.
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