Tommy Smothers passes away

[Dan Murphy]

Tommy Smothers, one half of the very creative Smothers Brothers, passed away yesterday, age 86. Along with the other half, his brother, Dick, they had one of the most creative, socially conscious and groundbreaking shows of the mid/late 60's, over 50 years ago, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Both a musician (mostly folk) and comedian, with his brother, they made for some interesting years back then. With their political consciousness (Vietnam was at its peak time then), they often found themselves at odds with the station's (NBC I think) censors. The show ran concurrently with another somewhat similar, creative show, Rowan & Martin's Laugh In. Both shows were great, IMO.

RIP, Tommy, thanks for all your years of smiles and laughs you and your brother provided to the public.

Tom, on the right, back in his heyday. Dick on the left



On the left here



And a few years ago

 

[leebee]

Ah, the Smothers Brothers. Thanks for all the laughs, Tommy, and rest easy.

 

[Micca]

They were great and the tv show was cutting edge and controversial for its time. Fun trivia: Tommy plays guitar on John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance."

 

[disney4us2002]

DH & I saw the Smothers Brothers at the Kennedy Center with a Philharmonic orchestra maybe 15 years ago. They were awesome, silly, funny, and so talented. Tommy Smothers will always be "yo-yo man" to me. Rest in Peace Tommy.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Intersting, poignant short video. Give it a 3 minute look if you have the time.

 

[lucas]

Awwww. Sorry to hear that. I always enjoyed them.

 

[Tiggerish]

That was my father's favorite show during my high school years.

Growing up, our entire extended family (both sides) were staunch deeply rooted, republicans. I always suspected that my father was a closet democrat and this was one of the clues.

 

[lynxstch]

RIP Mr Smothers

 

[RedAngie]

I once read that the network was looking for an excuse to cancel their show, despite good ratings, due to many complaints by viewers with sticks up their rears.

Supposedly they turned in a script too late for the censors to review, and that was the reason.

I do remember watching a few times, but I was too young to understand and most of the material went over my head.

 

[Kim&Chris]

He did a spot-on, perfect impression of Johnny Carson that I still laugh at! RIP, another great talent gone :-(

 

[OKW Lover]

Loved watching the Smothers Brothers. I particularly enjoyed their sometimes not so subtle tweaking of authority figures. Thanks for the laughs Tommy.

 

[barkley]

i love him in the movie 'serial' as rev. spike

 

[tvguy]

Sadly it didn't make the news at my old TV station or my wife's station. Nobody there knew who he was I suspect. On the flip side, Lee Sun-kyun 's death did make those newscasts, and we had never heard of him.

 

[NotUrsula]

Contrary to his on-stage schtick, Tom (the older brother) was a brilliant man and the leader of the act. He wrote the material, managed the business side, hired the writers, etc., and also fought the battles. After CBS fired them they sued for breach of contract, and they won. Though the court could not require the network to re-instate the show, at least the network (and Bill Paley) got a punishment for pandering to political interests.

RIP, Tommy.