Returning from a trip to Kentucky a station wagon loaded with instruments and luggage passed us. They pulled into the Holiday Inn. For some reason we followed the car in. The station wagon parked and out step the Smothers Brothers! My Aunt and I were so excited. Dick disappeared, but Tom was in the lobby. We ran in for an autograph. We didn’t have any paper, but my Aunt spotted a piece of paper in my purse. She grabbed it and tore it half. I about had a heart attack. I cried out that the paper was the basis for my term paper! Tommy was so sorry, but I said go ahead, sign it. He did for both of us. I still managed to write my term paper. Got an A on it. Still have that autograph . . . Somewhere.
RIP Tommy Smothers, The Smothers Brothers act was wonderful. I never new about any of this, I was too young. I am grateful to have watch this video and gotten the real story. Wow!
They were performing at the Playboy Club & Resort outside of Lake Geneva, WI. Dick is a pilot and they flew in, in Dick’s wee Piper Cherokee. Tommy hung out up at the hotel, but several times, Dick wandered down to the airport, which was located in the northeast corner of the resort, and talked airplanes and flying with us.
Thank you so much for this. The Smothers Brothers were always my favorite. I remember them being a little controversial, but that’s what made them so great. I never understood why they were cancelled when they were so high in the ratings. Again, thanks for posting this. I would love to have the entire catalog.
I was 7 yrs. old when this was a hit show. We did'nt know why it was canceled. We did'nt know what racial or political was...we also had Smothers Brothers vinyl records....
I was 10 when the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour went off the air. I watched every episode. I loved the show, even at that young age. I remember being sad when they disappeared and not understanding why. Seeing this last episode makes me yell "BS!". David's sermon was not offensive. Heyal, the fact that Dan Rowan did blackface was far worse. But no, they were fired because of the overall atmosphere of them doing what they wanted and not cowtowing to the network. I'm glad they were paid for the remainder of the season and that they won their courtcase. RIP Tommy. ♥
It never aired on CBS. I remember seeing a TV Guide of a few months later (New York-Metropolitan Edition) where WNEW-TV 5 ran it. Dickie's "spat" was staged, as he had a racing car commitment he had to meet, thus Rowan filling in.
Cile was my mother's friend. Cile loved to laugh. With her big horsey teeth, boy, she loved to laugh. .. and, she loved the Smothers Brothers .. .. and, the Smothers Brothers came to our town .. .. and Cile and I went. And how she laughed .. the tears running down her face .. Cile up there. And now, Tommy, you up there .. boy there must be .. it must be shaking the rafters up there .. if they have rafters up there .. .. can almost feel it down here ..
Loved how Tommy ended the show on a serious note by paying homage to MLK. It was a shame that CBS canned the show simply because the brothers addressed the current political and social issues of that time, but I suppose they felt the mainstream just wasn't ready for such candidness.
What is sad that we never learn. Nixon was president and believe he was above the law. Today we have crazy Trump. One difference is Nixon had a brain Trump doesn’t. Plus at that time the Republican Party still cared for the country unlike today. I wish their was a Smother Brothers around to show this absurdity through their comedy. Tommy your insight will be missed.
@@ginilinenkemper9261 George Conway has called him a "narcissistic psychopath" on national TV. Rob Reiner has called him a "psychopath" on national TV. He is now so far past just being a sociopath!
Imagine, instead of the sermonette, the brothers could have inserted Pat Paulsen, whose humor is always guaranteed a laugh and the season might have continued for the brothers. Instead, dick had to insist upon another sermonette that he knew would piss off CBS.
If you think one person or one "sermonette" killed the show, you may want to Google it. CBS could have just censored it, like usual. The brothers and the writers of the show were constantly making fun of the President and joking about the stupidity of the Vietnam War and CBS was constantly cutting those parts out as too controversial. That had been happening for years and CBS kept renewing the show.
@@GAKTV-z4byeah, but Pat Paulsen was not featured on this skit and he was featured in many episodes. You don’t know what might have happened. We do know that the serminette skit pissed off a lot of the affiliates in the South.
I guess they don’t believe in limits to what can be put on tv. That’s their right, but most people believe there has to be common decency. Sad that they didn’t. The saddest part is, they think they are some kind of heroes.
I' ve been a huge Smothers Brothers fan since early 60s. That bit, as well as the opening bit with Dick and Dan Rowen and the pies really wasn't funny. Both sketches were kind of sad.
