Smothered - The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Smothered - The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour | David Steinberg, David Halberstam | Excellent!

DVDs:

Smothered - The Ce...

	Smothered - The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour David Steinberg, David Halberstam New Video Group, 2003 average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An incredible slice of America?s media and pop-culture history, SMOTHERED tells the story of the censorship struggles of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, the Emmy Award winning television program, broadcast on CBS from 1967 until it was prematurely stru

Innocence in the guise of two comic singing brothers

I watched THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR every Sunday night of my young teenage years;the finest singers of the day,comedians (Pat Paulson) and young artists appeared in this hour variety show. Tom and Dickie Smothers were the All-American collegiate folk singers with their guitar and bass and homey,folksy way!.Their show was a smash....and then CBS canceled it, and none of us knew why!.Well,here it is now for all to see and hear,and if we can just think back three years when NBC bowed to political whim and shelved THE BOOK OF DANIEL then "Smothered" will help us to see that nothing has changed when a network has BIG fears and collapses under certain pressure.Tom Smothers,who actually always appeared as the shy,stupid brother was actually the loose cannon that CBS feared.There is no apology about this documentary.It is an amazing commentary on what the political and social climate was in the 1960's as the country was engaged in the Viet Nam War.It was an Era that I am proud to have influenced me, and I highly suggest this documentary for those who loved the recent film Across the Universe (Two-Disc Special Edition).There is loads of great archival footage from the show.What an Era to have lived.As the song says,"Those were the days my friend,we thought they'd never end." This is a real important piece of '60's Pop Culture that I encourage all to see.

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Excellent!

I bought this as a gift and the recipient absolutely loves it. It's a great buy for that Smothers Brothers fan in your life.

American Originals

In my own time, I've seen lots of sociopolitical satire, including of candidates, public figures and ideas that I like. Some of it's quite creative.

But the Smothers Brothers did their work and blatantly in an era with much tighter controls on the First Amendment. Watching this documentary--with actual performance clips spliced in--gives you an appreciation of freedom.

These guys were fighting for the Constitution in a time when people were eager to talk about, but not extend freedom. Even in the swinging sixties, a more 'conservative' generation was still in charge of running the networks.

It also makes me ache that my generation and today has grown up without an equivalent act on television. Everything we've had seems so 'nice' and tame--even when discussing 'controversial' issues, of which there remains no shortage of. And it's not just because it was already attempted once either, our society seems to have grown more timid in so many more respects.

I wish there was a way of bringing an act like this back on to television and during prime time. It's badly needed!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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