no politics allowed
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was a popular television variety show on the CBS network in the late 1960s.
The program featured political satire and musical performances geared toward a young, progressive audience.
The program was controversial and there were continual conflicts with CBS executives over the show’s content.
Racial tensions and religion were frequent topics, and President Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam War policies received especially harsh treatment.
Many of the show’s guest performers were well-known antiwar activists.
The Smothers Brothers’ public antiwar stance may have arisen from their father’s experience in World War II, when the Smothers Brothers were little boys.
He was an Army Major who had served in the Philippines.
He survived the Bataan Death March but died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp after three years of captivity.
After President Johnson made his surprise announcement that he would not seek reelection, Tom and Dick Smothers wrote to him.
They said that, although they disagreed with his Vietnam War policy, they regretted targeting him with so much mean-spiritedness.
From their letter:
“We disregarded the respect due to the office and the tremendous burden of running the country.
“Please know that we do admire what you have done for the country and particularly your dignity in accepting the abuses of so many people.”
Days after Richard Nixon defeated Vice President Hubert Humphrey in the November presidential election, Johnson sent the Smothers Brothers this reply:
“I am very grateful for your kind and thoughtful letter.
“To be genuinely funny at a time when the world is in crisis is a task that would tax the talents of a genius;
“to be consistently fair when standards of fair play are constantly questioned demands the wisdom of a saint.
“It is part of the price of leadership of this great and free nation to be the target of clever satirists.
“May we never grow so somber or self-important that we fail to appreciate the humor in our lives.”
But controversy engulfed the Smothers Brothers’ television program, and it was canceled three months after Nixon’s inauguration.
The cancellation violated the Smothers Brothers’ contract, and it was blamed on Nixon’s dislike of the program’s antiwar stance.
But the Smothers Brothers got the last word.
On the program’s final episode, Dick read Johnson’s letter.
The implied contrast between Johnson’s grace and Nixon’s petulance was profound.
And Tom and Dick’s efforts weren’t for nothing.
Their show is now credited with loosening the norms of acceptable television content, paving the way for politically based programs such as Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show.
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I’ll see you on Monday.
— Brenda
Banner image: Tom Smothers, George Harrison and Dick Smothers, 1967 [IMDB]
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