How did you become a fan? – Day 1 – 30 Day Smothers Brothers Challenge

So there I was in 1986, a 13 year old kid, flipping TV channels on our TV in our family room looking for something to watch. And then I see them. It was on the Nickelodeon channel during a block of shows called Camp Nickelodeon (shortly later to be renamed Nick at Night). It was a black and white sitcom that I had never seen before – “The Smothers Brothers Show”. And two guys who (I thought) I had never seen before , the blond haired one telling his dark haired brother that he was an angel.

I was familiar with 50s and 60s sitcoms such as I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, I Dream of Jeanie, and my absolute all-time favorite: The Dick Van Dyke Show. But this one I had never seen before. Who were these guys?

I decided to keep watching to find out. Fate, or destiny, or something, had blindsided me without me knowing it.

The Smothers Brothers Show. A sitcom where the blond-haired Tom arrives on Earth as an angel (after drowning at sea) and comes to ask his dark-haired brother Dick for help in earning his angel wings.

There’s only one complete episode I can find online: ” ‘Twas The Week Before Christmas”

I found out years later that they hated making the show, especially Tom since he had so many lines and, without him knowing at the time, was dyslexic, and had trouble. And they had little input into the creative process. And for the first few episodes they did not sing their theme song (that later changed. See – or hear – above). That would change when they were offered “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” after the angel show was canceled.

But for 1986 me, 13 years old, I guess I was the right demographic for this show. I loved it and watched it every Sunday evening. And my parents took notice.

One night my dad mentions that he went to see Tom and Dick in concert back in the 60s.

“Really? So did I!” my mom replies.

“Where?”

Mom says where (some college campus somewhere)

“That’s where I saw them!” dad says and they laugh.

And we laughed at the possibility of if they had met there rather than how they actually met (at a wedding where each of their best friends were getting married).

Censorship? Really?

And then I began to hear murmurs about how they had censorship battles. This totally baffled me: “What’s so controversial about the sitcom?” I had no idea about the Comedy Hour….yet.

In the summer of 1987, I was once again flipping tv channels (we did that a lot back then), and stopped on VH1. It was in the middle of the music video “Meet Me Half Way” by Kenny Loggins. I watched the rest, and when the VJ, Bobby Rivers came on, he introduced a couple of guests in the studio: Tom and Dick. And my jaw just dropped. VH1 was doing a week (or weekend, I forget) long spotlight on comedy, and for some reason, had the guys on. They talked about their comedy and the Comedy Hour. And then I saw my first clips of this controversial show I had heard about before but never saw.

The only clip I really remember is an opening where Tom is trying to put on police riot gear. Dick asks him what he is doing when they should be starting a show. Tom says that he’s getting ready for college. I laughed even though I didn’t get the real meaning. I later found out they were referring to the riots on college campuses between students and police over Vietnam protests.

Then the Reunion show…

A few months later I hear that they were coming back to tv for a Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 20th Reunion show! I was excited to see it, but I wasn’t able to watch it during the broadcast, so I recorded it. (That poor VHS tape had no idea what it was in for!). It had all the regulars on from two decades earlier: Pat Paulsen, John Hartford, Leigh French, Mason Williams, Glen Campbell, Jennifer Warnes; a couple writers who went on the bigger careers after the 60s series: Bob Einstein and Steve Martin.

I only caught their closing routine during the original broadcast:

I loved it! I sat there and laughed until i cried. It was fantastic. So I watched from the beginning all the way through. Absolutely fabulous!

Also, they sang and played their instruments well too (which I was not yet really used to)

I would watch a segment before going to junior high as a boost for my day (alas, was too young for coffee). And it continued when they returned with a short season and specials of the new Comedy Hour later in 1988 and 1989 (which I recorded and wore out the tape).

Why a fan?

I was not (well, still not, lol) the typical age for being a fan of theirs, so what was it that got me hooked? First they were funny. When I first caught them was when I was just beginning to stop judging what I liked/didn’t like based on how old it was. And what I saw, I really liked.

When I was little, my parents had an 8-track player and I listened to a lot of the musical artists that I later discovered had appeared on the Comedy Hour (Peter, Paul, and Mary; Simon and Garfunkel; The Beatles; Glen Campbell; Joan Baez; Judy Collins). So there was a sense of familiarity and nostalgia with a show that was thrown off the air before I was born. Also I recognized some of the songs the brothers sang like “Slithery Dee“, “Michael Row the Boat Ashore“, “Down in the Valley“, “The Impossible Dream“. All these musical familiarities.

The sibling bickering. Being the oldest of 4, that was hilarious (also seeing my grandmother argue with her two brothers).

It was a great way for my to learn about history, particularly the 60s as it was happening.

Also being inspired by their fight with CBS about freedom of speech.

And that’s how it started and has happily kept on going since then 🙂 …