
‘Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour’: Rise and Fall of a Groundbreaking Show (2017) - smacktoward
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/smothers-brothers-comedy-hour-oral-history-1060153
======
UI_at_80x24
I was rather young at the time this was on, but I have very fond memories of
this show. Even then I realized the distinction between "wholesome" and
"risque" humour based on this show. It's rare and treasured for a punchline to
serve both simultaneously. Adult innuendo for the adults watching and innocent
jokes for tender-young ears.

I also learned the comedic value of sarcasm.

I don't know how well this show would work for an audience today, but it does
hold a warm place in my heart for a good time in my life.

Thanks for the reminder SmackToward. I'm going to go get a tissue while I miss
my father.

~~~
bitwize
The Smothers Brothers were one of the few "adult" comedy shows my parents let
me watch in my preteen years (it was the 1988-1989 revival). Some of the jokes
flew right over my head, but there was enough funny stuff in there that I did
get that it left an impression.

------
dang
Here is the segment they talk about, in which Keith Moon blows up his drum kit
with too much gunpowder, supposedly leaving Pete Townshend permanently deaf in
one ear:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiSKu7SbGNQ#t=20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiSKu7SbGNQ#t=20)

It's worth watching the whole thing because the intro shows how subtle Tommy
Smothers was with his deadpan, neurotic character.

------
RickJWagner
That was a nice read, and I'm especially pleased to read Steve Martin's
comments.

Martin is awesome-- besides being a great writer, actor, and comedian he's
also a world-class banjo player. Amazingly accomplished.

~~~
mark-r
I would love to hear the album he did with Edie Brickell.

------
mark-r
I'm really surprised to see this here, I wouldn't think the typical HNer would
be old enough to remember the show. Those guys were brilliant.

~~~
pstuart
Plenty of us old farts here.

------
ranger207
I came along well after this show ended, but my dad had a CD of them that we
listened to as he took me with him on computer repair service calls. Those
trips were why I'm in CS now, so this brings back fond memories. Thanks for
sharing!

------
QuercusMax
My parents had an LP of Mom Always Liked You Best, and we listened to it
countless times when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. I just played it for
my 13-year-old, who found it exactly as hilarious and relatable as I did.
(Even when I was a kid I had no idea who Frank Gorshin was; the pop cultural
references were old back then when I listened to it!)

Highly recommend listening to them.

------
neonate
This is a good article too (2010):
[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130569...](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130569467)

~~~
smacktoward
Thanks for this -- I've added the _Dangerously Funny_ book to my to-read list!

------
smacktoward
Dear HN: I see you have changed the title of this submission from the
article's actual title, "'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' at 50: The Rise
and Fall of a Groundbreaking Variety Show."

I would argue that this changes it for the worse. The _Smothers Brothers
Comedy Hour_ really was a groundbreaking show; it was a significant part of
the revolution in comedy and culture that was happening in the late '60s. But
if you aren't old enough to know that from experience, the name of the show
itself won't tell you that; it'll just sound like one more old TV show. You
won't have any idea why you should bother clicking through to read the
article.

I understand the desire to de-linkbaitify headlines, but the way that's done
currently ends up doing lots of submissions a disservice. It completely
removes any indication of why the submission is actually interesting.

~~~
dang
I'm not old enough to have watched it, but know it was a groundbreaking show.
No doubt that's true of many readers here. I think it's good for HN to err on
the side of assuming literacy.

Not every title should explain itself. It's good for curiosity if readers have
to work a little
([https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...](https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20%22work%20a%20little%22&sort=byDate&type=comment)).
Being on HN's front page, given the unusual topic, indicates something that
might be worth clicking on. By the way, the article is on the front page
because moderators saw that it had been overlooked and put it in the second-
chance pool (described at
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380)).

I don't think we changed this title because the submitted title was linkbaity.
It was because we needed to squeeze in "(2017)". That requires 7 chars and the
submitted title was already running up against the 80 char limit. I'll take
another crack at it above.

