The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
| The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour | |
|---|---|
Tom and Dick as Romans in a 1967 skit
|
|
| Genre | Comedy-Variety |
| Directed by | Bill Davis Stan Harris Tim Kiley Marty Pasetta |
| Starring |
Dick Smothers Tom Smothers Pat Paulsen Peter Cullen |
| Narrated by | Roger Carroll (announcer) |
| Theme music composer |
Mason Williams Nancy Ames |
| Opening theme | "The Brothers Theme" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 71 (1 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ken Fritz |
| Producer(s) | Allan Blye Ernest Chambers Saul Ilson George Sunga |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 45– 50 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Comedic Productions, Inc. |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Picture format | Color |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | February 5, 1967 – June 8, 1969 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Smothers Brothers Show (1965–66) |
| Followed by | The Smothers Brothers Show (1970) |
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.
The series was a major success, especially considering it was scheduled against the major NBC television series, Bonanza, with content that appealed to contemporary youth viewership with daring political satire humor and major music acts like Buffalo Springfield, Pete Seeger and The Who. Despite this success, continual conflicts with network executives over content led to the show being abruptly pulled from the schedule in violation of the Smothers' contract in 1969.
The evolution of The Comedy Hour was unique to a medium that was fearful of change. The show debuted in the winter of 1967 as a slightly "hip" version of the typical comedy-variety show of its era. But within weeks it rapidly evolved into a program that extended the boundaries of what was considered permissible in television satire. While the brothers themselves were at the forefront of these efforts, credit also goes to the roster of writers and regular performers they brought to their many shows, including Hal Goldman and Al Gordon who wrote for The Jack Benny Program from 1950 to 1965, Jim Stafford (who served as head writer and producer of their 1975 NBC variety hour), Steve Martin, Don Novello ("Father Guido Sarducci"), Rob Reiner ("Mike 'Meathead' Stivic"), Lorenzo Music (Carlton The Door Man on Rhoda, Garfield on Garfield and Friends, Peter Venkman on The Real Ghostbusters), perennial Presidential candidate Pat Paulsen, Bob Einstein ("Super Dave Osborne", "Marty Funkhouser", and "Officer Judy"), Einstein's brother, Albert (who works professionally as Albert Brooks), and resident hippie Leigh French ("Share a Little Tea with Goldie"). The show also introduced audiences to pop singer Jennifer Warnes (originally billed as Jennifer Warren or simply Jennifer), who was a regular on the series. The television premiere of Mason Williams' hit record, Classical Gas, took place on the show, and Williams himself received an Emmy for his work as a staff writer.
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