Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

The Smothers Brothers are an American double act, consisting of the brothers Thomas ("Tom") and Richard ("Dick"). The brothers' trademark act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic guitar, Dick on string bass), which usually led to arguments between the siblings. Tommy's signature line was, "Mom always liked you best!" Tommy (the elder of the two) acted "slow," and Dick, the straight man, acted "superior."

In the 1960s, the brothers frequently appeared on television variety shows and issued several popular record albums of their stage performances. Their own television variety show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, became one of the most controversial American TV programs of the Vietnam War era. Despite popular success, the brothers' penchant for material that was critical of the political mainstream and sympathetic to the emerging counterculture led to their program's cancellation by the CBS network in 1969.

The brothers continued to work, both independently and as a team, on stage, on television and in films during subsequent decades. They continue to tour the country as the longest-lived comedy team in history;[citation needed] 2008 marked their 50th year performing together.

Early years

The brothers were both born on Governors Island in New York Harbor, where their father, Thomas B. Smothers, a West Point graduate and U.S. Army officer, was stationed.[1] Major Smothers served in the 45th Infantry Regiment (United States) and died during the Second World War while being transported from a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Fukuoka, Japan, to a POW camp in Mukden, Manchukuo.[citation needed] They were raised by their mother in the Los Angeles area.

They graduated from Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California, and attended San Jose State University. After a brief time in a folk group called the Casual Quintet, the Smothers made their first professional appearance as a duo in February 1959 at The Purple Onion in San Francisco.[citation needed] They were a popular act in clubs and released several successful record albums, the most successful being Live at the Purple Onion, 1961. The first national television appearance for them was on The Jack Paar Show on January 28, 1961[2].

The brothers appeared in a segment of the television series Burke's Law, in 1964[3], in which they played two compulsive hoarders. Their first television series was a situation comedy, The Smothers Brothers Show (1965–1966). Tom played an angel come back to earth to oversee his brother Dick, who played a swinging bachelor. It did not do well in the ratings and had little of the music that was identified with the brothers. Tom would later[when?] say "Four Star (the production company) gave me ulcers."[citation needed]

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Later career

The Smothers Brothers had further television shows: a 1970 ABC summer replacement series, The Smothers Brothers Summer Show; The Smothers Brothers Show (1975)[4], initially produced by Joe Hamilton (who concurrently produced The Carol Burnett Show, starring his wife), which was an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the look and feel of the original comedy-variety series without the controversy; and The Tom and Dick Smothers Brothers Specials I and II in 1980. In 1981 Tom and Dick Smothers played non-brothers in a light drama, set in San Francisco, titled Fitz and Bones. Both characters worked at a Bay Area television station; Tom played cameraman Bones Howard and Dick played Ryan Fitzpatrick, an investigative reporter. The show was cancelled after five episodes.[5] Later there was The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1988–1989).[6] This show began production during a 1988 Writers Guild of America strike. As writer-performers, the brothers were allowed to perform their own material during the strike, as were their staff and guest stars. Prior to this they had reportedly saved an episode of Saturday Night Live by breaking through a picket line and hosting the show against the union's wishes; the episode was a ratings smash the likes of which the series had not seen since the 1970s. The Smothers Brothers also lent their (uncredited) singing voices to "Tom and Tom, the Brothers Brothers" in In Living Color (1990–1994), and guest starred on Bonnie Hunt's Life With Bonnie in 2004.

The brothers have worked independently as well; Dick has appeared as an actor in films, including a rare dramatic role as a Nevada state senator in Martin Scorsese's Casino. Tom Smothers appeared in the 2005 made-for-television movie Once Upon a Mattress.

The Smothers Brothers operate the Remick Ridge Vineyards (Remick was their mother's maiden name) in Sonoma County, California and continue to tour. Marci Smothers, wife of Tommy Smothers, hosts a talk show on KSRO, Santa Rosa, California.[citation needed]

They appeared in the documentary The Aristocrats in 2005 and had separate cameos in the 2009 film The Informant!.

In 2003, the brothers were awarded the George Carlin Freedom of Expression Award from the Video Software Dealers’ Association. The award recognizes the brothers' “extraordinary comic gifts and their unfailing support of the First Amendment.” In the same year, they both received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from San Jose State University. The Boston Comedy Festival presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to the brothers in 2008[2].

In September 2008, during the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, Tommy Smothers, a lead writer of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" was belatedly awarded a 1968 Emmy for Outstanding Writing In A Comedic Series. In 1968, Tommy Smothers had refused to let his name be on the list of writers nominated for the Emmy because he felt his name was too volatile, and thus when the writing staff won he was the only member not to receive the award.[8][2].

In December 2009, the duo guest starred in a 21st-season episode of The Simpsons that also featured Cooper, Peyton and Eli Manning.[9]

Discography

• 1961: Live at the Purple Onion
• 1962: The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers
• 1963: Think Ethnic!
• 1963: Curb Your Tongue, Knave
• 1964: It Must Have Been Something I Said!
• 1965: Tour de Farce: American History and Other Unrelated Subjects
• 1965: Aesop's Fables
• 1966: Mom Always Liked You Best!
• 1966: The Smothers Brothers Play It Straight
• 1968: Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
• 1969: Golden Hits of the Smothers Brothers, Vol. 2
• 1988: Sibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers

References

1. ^ Tom was born on February 2, 1937; Dick was born on November 20, 1939.
2. ^ a b c "The Smothers Brothers Biography". smothersbrothers.com. http://www.smothersbrothers.com/smobro_bios/sb_bio_.html. 
3. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0810686/
4. ^ The Smothers Brothers Show at the Internet Movie Database
5. ^ Fitz and Bones - TV.com
6. ^ The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1988) at the Internet Movie Database
7. ^ July 22, 2006 interview with Tommy Smothers from Vancouver's comedycouch.com
8. ^ Leopold, Todd (2008-09-21). "'Mad Men' wins best drama, '30 Rock' best comedy". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/21/emmy.awards/index.html. Retrieved 2008-09-21. 
9. ^ Walker, Dave (August 7, 2009). "Add Cooper to Manning brothers' voices on 'The Simpsons'". The Times-Picayune (NOLA.com). http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2009/08/add_cooper_to_manning_brothers.html. Retrieved 2009-08-08. 

External links

• The Official Smothers Brothers Home Page
• Smothers Brothers discography at MusicBrainz