Customer Reviews

Dangerously Funny

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I think I must have seen every episode of that show as a kid growing up and this behind the scenes look is fascinating. The author covers pretty much every episode their creation and evolution, and interviews many of the participants, many of whom went on to famous careers themselves. Steve Martin. Rob Reiner. And of course Pat Paulsen. I had never realized that the Bob Einstein who played "Officer Judy" and now haunts "Curb Your Enthusiam" is Albert Brooks' brother. Tommy Smothers is particularly fascinating when you see how he was the driving force behind the show and realize just how sharp he is compared to the character he played. Even if you weren't a big fan, this book also takes a look at a key transition in American culture as the show manages to straddle the traditional while making way for a new era. So many famous bands had their beginnings there. The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield. By the end, even the Beatles were guests. It made me miss the days of one television, 3 channels, and the whole family having to watch the same thing, especially when I got to snicker at the jokes that were targeted at my generation and going over the head of my parents. What's sad is when you pull your head out of this book and look at the endless prattle of today's reality television and realize we can never return to this level of creativity just because of the economics of television. Great stuff.

Although the biography primarily focuses on the famous TV show that nuked the then boundaries of television, there is more to this solid look at this groundbreaking show. David Bianculli opens with a section on the childhood and early steps of the brothers entering the entertainment world until their key appearance on the Jack Paar show. However, it is the deep look into each show and the battles with CBS and with other members of the show over what can be said or used on the air that makes this a fascinating biography. Finally the ultimate tribute to Tom and Dick Smothers besides bios like this one is how far they opened TV with current satire that tore into the establishment. The show was killed in its third season in 1969, but Mr. Bianculli makes a strong case that its influence remains stratospheric today in Stewart, Colbert and Maher.

Harriet Klausner

The Smother's Brothers were what the country needed and the types that are still vital to our lives. It's called honesty. The network executives without the back bones or balls to weather the storm are the ones to blame for removing them from the airwaves.

Anytime you have networks who live for the perks from the politicians who live for the perks from the lobbyists....well, you know the drill.

The Story is good and honest, thank you for letting me grow up being forced to think, not follow like a sheep.

"Mom always liked you best!" Tom Smothers would whine to his brother Dick, onstage during their late `60s variety show, never failing to get a laugh. Playing idiot to his brother's suave persona, "Tommy" Smothers came off as a bumbling comedian who held a lifelong grudge.
David Bianculli reveals the truth behind the jokes in chronicling the rise and demise of one of the most innovative and independent television series in American history in Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Those of us who watched the show in the late 60's will appreciate the stroll down memory lane in the litany of guest stars and bits that the brothers aired. Tom Smothers' slow-minded stage persona disguised a savvy, cutting-edge talent scout who could seamlessly blend aging vaudeville stars such as Jimmy Durante, George Burns, Jack Benny and the like with up-and-coming acts including Sonny and Cher, The Turtles, and a lesser-known British Invasion band simply entitled The Who.
Music/entertainment buffs will love this episode-by-episode narrative, drawing the reader into television history as the Comedy Hour knocked the epic "Bonanza" out of the reigning #1 viewing slot, as well as defining moments in music - such as the time The Who blew up Keith Moon's drum kit onstage and gave Bette Davis such a fright that she fainted offstage.
Bianculli zeros in on the memos and discussions furiously exchanged as Tom Smothers engaged in a long-running feud with the CBS censors over content. Ever critical of the Vietnam war, the brothers used their Sunday night show as a forum for their beliefs and those of their generation. Many guest stars on the Comedy Hour had been blacklisted for political posturing, but Tom Smothers wrangled them onstage anyway. Celebrities such as Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, and Joan Baez were carefully monitored by the censors on both coasts - even to the point of some of their dialogue being cut just before airtime. President Lyndon Johnson took the brothers' political jabs with a grain of salt, personally congratulating them for their forays into the contemporary, but the Nixon White House did not. Bianculli details the breadth and length of Nixon's hard-line stance - "possibly" influencing the show getting cancelled in 1969.
Nostalgic, revealing, topically relevant in today's similar political climate of unpopular wars and rumored clandestine government, Dangerously Funny makes for a riveting revisit to 40 years ago.


Julia Brantley
A Score of Intervals: Sharps & Flats on Brusca

It's now the stuff of Baby Boomer legend. Once upon a time -- specifically, 1967 -- Tom and Dick Smothers, a rising brother comedy team folks singing parody nightclub act, a big hit on Jack Paar's Tonight show, and The Jack Benny Show, were given their own TV show on Sunday nights almost as sacrificial lambs to try an take on the NBC powerhouse competition killer "Bonanza." Few expected the show to last.

They surprised everyone: their show became a huge hit. The combination of dumb brother Tom and smarter Brother Dick seemingly updated the comedy team vacuum in a mid-20th century America where teams were popular in vaudeville, in movies, on radio and early 1950s TV. And the show was smart comedy: great writing, music, comedy, high production values -- even in color. But then something happened: with the growing unpopularity of the Vietman War, the country became polarized and younger comedians wanted to have their comedy reflect their different political, cultural and even musical values.

Enter the Smothers Brothers. According to the accuate lengend, they went to war with the CBS censors, constantly pushing the envelope in terms of comedy, music, topical political references and American culture in general. CBS wanted to keep things as they were: with shows that appealed to The Greatest Generation's tastes, style and values. The Smothers Brothers wanted the show to have content that some of the baby boomers then changing comedy and demonstrating in the streets enjoyed. They courted battles with censors, lost some and won some. The Smothers Brothers Hour shifted from being a younger-skewered comedy show to a kind of counter culture icon and comedic ancestor of Saturday Night live. Finally, after a string of confrontations over censorship internally and in the press, the Smothers Brothers were abruptly fired by CBS on the prextext of not deliving a tape to the network on time. Ratings, shmatings...they had to go.

David Bianculli's superb and compelling Dangerously Funny The Uncensored Story of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour has it ALL. It paints a portrait of an entire era: it's context, entertainment values, political upheavals and generational attitudinal shifts. It is THE definitive work on the brothers' television and performing careers, the internal battles, the show itself (there are detailed descriptions of key episodes), behind the scenes stories -- and most importantly of the battle that not just led to their firing but essentially ended their role a top national comedy act. It details many of the show's performers who became famous: Steve Martin. Rob Reiner and Pat Paulsen (who launched a comic run for President) Bianculli correctly notes the show's huge impact on today's topical TV comics such as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and and Bill Maher .

Most importantly, Dangerously Funny is must reading for those interested in broadcasting, free speech, comedy and entertainment. And for the Brothers' critics, too, and here is why:

I was in high school when the Smothers Brothers were cancelled. As their show became more political and they battled over material they seemed less funny. It was like what happened to Jerry Lewis who was beloved until in interviews the public got a sense of huge disconnect between the lovable clown on the screen and the "real" Lewis. The Smothers Brothers became one more example of polarization in a generation-polarized country. It was the establishment (CBS instead of LBJ) against the younger people (demanding TV shift from being vaudeville and radio derived to something more relevant).

Several other things are true (1)they never regained their popularity in other incarnations on TV after CBS fired them although Tom Smothers won his legal battle with CBS, (2)they were still stellar performers, but their moment at the top of the national comedy totem pole was over. Bianculli painstakingly documents how Tom Smothers gleefully challenged and battled the network, almost daring them to do something since they had a contract. In the end, CBS argued that a provision was violated. It became a matter of corporate management principle: CBS could not let an employee artist dictate how they ran their network or its content. .

I was a big fan of the Smothers Brothers and I loved their show. This book was a great look back at some fun times, but also some gut-wrenching times for Americans. The Smothers Brothers were courageous for taking a stand. They paid a big price for that stand. A more recent incident of this was the Dixie Chicks who also spoke their mind and paid the price. Sad to say America seemed to be more tolerant in the 60s than today. Recommend this work highly.

In 1967 the CBS network had a problem on its hands. What could they schedule against the NBC ratings juggernaut, "Bonanza" that dominated the TV landscape? It was like the 800 pound gorilla (in a cowboy hat) that wouldn't leave the room. After a few tries the answer to this problem came in the form of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". This was a comedy-variety show hosted by folk musicians/comedians, Tommy & Dick Smothers.

At first CBS was delighted, that they had a hit show on their hands, that appealed to the ever so important baby boom youth demographic. But soon, that delight turned sour, when they found that Producer/Performer, Tommy Smothers wanted something more than a good old fashion variety show. His vision was about breaking boundaries and creating controversy. This all took place during the heady days of the Vietnam War and the counter culture. Tommy Smothers wanted to create a show that reflected this. What started out as some minor disagreements with CBS Standards & Practices soon escalted into an all out war between Tommy Smothers and his CBS Bosses.

In the book "Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour", writer David Bianculli lays out this scenario. In minute detail he guides the reader through the three short seasons of a show, that would basically change television content forever. He takes us through all the byzantine backstage politics, that created these controversies. He suggests that if both sides (especially Tommy Smothers) had been a bit more accomadating, than the show might have lasted a bit longer.

Finally, Bianculli shows us the lasting impact, that " The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" had on the television medium. The book is well written, but a little repetitive. A good read for anyone who has an interest in the history of TV, backstage TV politics or the issue of freedom of speech. Very interesting. Give it a try!

It's hard to imagine that a television program that ran for less than three years can be recalled with such intense feeling as was "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". Reading David Bianculli's excellent new book about the brothers and their show reminds me of the "fluff of fuss" that occurred at CBS more than forty years ago. American society was changing at a rapid clip and the Smothers Brothers were right in the middle of it.

While the book focuses on the show and the professional and personal relationships of the brothers, the main concentration is on Tom Smothers. Unlike his more laid back brother Dick, Tom was the driving force behind the show and the one who took enormous risks in attempting to get parts of the show past the censors. Successful as he often was, it's almost as if Tom was doomed to failure, screaming all the way. The book contains a photo of a fit and trim Tom Smothers in a pair of boxing trunks...the look on his face describes the intensity with which he approached his work...it is an apt a reflection as you will find in any of the prose.

Bianculli delivers a judicious commentary on why "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" was ahead of its time. Just two years after CBS fired the Smothers Brothers, the network was launching "All in the Family". The irony couldn't have been clearer. I highly recommend this terrific book.

This book can be likened to the old wayback machine on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. It seems a little hard to fathom that the network censors went crazy over the Smother Brothers Comedy Hour 40 years ago. What now seems quaint and even a tad benign caused an absolute uproar in the late '60's when kids were burning flags and protesting the Viet Nam War. However, the Smothers show was the thing to watch because at the time it was so cutting edge that you were never quite sure what would make the cut for show inclusion or if even there would be a show.
This book chronicles the goings on at CBS and the many problems encountered producing a show deemed possibly too radical for the times. It is a fascinating read given the current atmosphere of television and media today and is not without a few good laughs. Def. good for those who remember the show or those who don't but are curious re: the good old days.

Running a mere three seasons before CBS (with a little help from the Nixon Administration) ingloriously pulled the plug, "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" was a television landmark in its groundbreaking political satire, countercultural attitude and eclectic guests ranging from Kate Smith to Pete Seeger. TV critic David Bianculli's "Dangerously Funny" not only offers a detailed overview of the provocative 1967-69 variety show, but also serves as an insightful portrait of Tom and Dick Smothers, whose comedic sibling rivalry has spanned a half-century. As Bianculli tellingly points out, the Smothers' prime-time sacrifice helped pave the way for Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert - among other artists who benefited from Tom and Dick's rebellious nonconformity. Reading this valuable book encourages you to watch the original "Comedy Hour" broadcasts in chronological order, thus charting the brothers' triumphant rise and devastating fall. If the networks had any imagination to spare, they would give the Smothers one final shot at television glory.