He was an actual victim of cancel culture. RIP Tom Smothers.
December 27, 2023 1:35 PM Subscribe
Tom Smothers, Comedian, Musician and Scourge of CBS Censors, Dies at 86. [Hollywood Reporter] "He and his brother, Dick, "turned television upside down" on 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' before they were canned." Tom was actually the one that was pushing the envelope. He was deliriously funny and always confrontational and hated the term "cancelled", preferred to use "murdered" to what happened to them. Here is the documentary Smothered - The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (2002) [1h32m] from Internet Archive. Smothered from previously this year.
The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen.
QFT.
posted by chavenet at 1:48 PM on December 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
QFT.
posted by chavenet at 1:48 PM on December 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
Favorite clip - when The Who lip-synced 'My Generation' on The Smothers Brothers Show, late 1967. (More about this, at Groovy History.)
posted by Rash at 1:51 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Rash at 1:51 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
"The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen."
-Tom Smothers
posted by clavdivs at 1:53 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
-Tom Smothers
posted by clavdivs at 1:53 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen
I'm going to remember to post this the next time someone on MF has a post "cancelled" merely because it's the "wrong" opinion to have on here.
posted by drstrangelove at 2:04 PM on December 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
I'm going to remember to post this the next time someone on MF has a post "cancelled" merely because it's the "wrong" opinion to have on here.
posted by drstrangelove at 2:04 PM on December 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
My dad was and is a huge fan, so this was part of my childhood. "Streets of Laredo" is a favorite or mine. Rest in Peace, you magnificent rabble rouser.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:06 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 2:06 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
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posted by Inkslinger at 2:06 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by Inkslinger at 2:06 PM on December 27, 2023
Well, fuck. We'll miss you, Tommy, you were a pistol.
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posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 2:08 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
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posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 2:08 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'm going to remember to post this the next time someone on MF has a post "cancelled" merely because it's the "wrong" opinion to have on here.
Yes, remembering a post that has been rendered entirely invisible to casual internet viewing with the attitude that "yes, people could have not listened to this, but now they cannot even see it so they cannot exercise the choice not to listen" is a good exercise to take any time you encounter a deleted post here.
posted by hippybear at 2:15 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
Yes, remembering a post that has been rendered entirely invisible to casual internet viewing with the attitude that "yes, people could have not listened to this, but now they cannot even see it so they cannot exercise the choice not to listen" is a good exercise to take any time you encounter a deleted post here.
posted by hippybear at 2:15 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
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posted by jim in austin at 2:19 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by jim in austin at 2:19 PM on December 27, 2023
I heard Slithery Dee when it first came out and it still makes me laugh.
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posted by jabo at 2:33 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by jabo at 2:33 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
The US needs a first amendment carve out for hate speech. That shit should not be protected.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:33 PM on December 27, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:33 PM on December 27, 2023 [8 favorites]
Aw. I remember thinking not long ago that he was looking frail -- must have been an interview somewhere on YouTube.
posted by pracowity at 2:35 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by pracowity at 2:35 PM on December 27, 2023
Not sure how anyone in their eighties isn't looking somehow frail, to be honest. Both my parents are well into their eighties and every new time I see them is a bit of a shock.
posted by hippybear at 2:39 PM on December 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:39 PM on December 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
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I credit the Smothers Brothers with a major portion of my political education when I was in high school. I knew they were subversive and they were reflecting what was going on at college campuses at the time re: Nixon and the Viet Nam war. They were incredibly brave and they made choices that put their own careers at risk by speaking truth to power. So thank you Tommy.
posted by bluesky43 at 2:50 PM on December 27, 2023 [23 favorites]
I credit the Smothers Brothers with a major portion of my political education when I was in high school. I knew they were subversive and they were reflecting what was going on at college campuses at the time re: Nixon and the Viet Nam war. They were incredibly brave and they made choices that put their own careers at risk by speaking truth to power. So thank you Tommy.
posted by bluesky43 at 2:50 PM on December 27, 2023 [23 favorites]
"Dangerously Funny" is a great read, and there's quite a good Marc Maron interview with the Brothers some time in the last year. I was naively baffled to discover at some point that Tom was the brains of the outfit. But of COURSE he was.
My mom had a couple of the LPs and I listened to them religiously even though i understood about 10% of them, in the late 70s. for example "I would now like to introduce the entire ensemble! *beat* First off, on my extreme right *beat* is John Birch."
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posted by hearthpig at 3:03 PM on December 27, 2023 [13 favorites]
My mom had a couple of the LPs and I listened to them religiously even though i understood about 10% of them, in the late 70s. for example "I would now like to introduce the entire ensemble! *beat* First off, on my extreme right *beat* is John Birch."
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posted by hearthpig at 3:03 PM on December 27, 2023 [13 favorites]
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posted by pangolin party at 3:14 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by pangolin party at 3:14 PM on December 27, 2023
Never criticize the war machine, but freedom of speech! Phil Donahue knows too.
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posted by nofundy at 3:18 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
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posted by nofundy at 3:18 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
Not sure how anyone in their eighties isn't looking somehow frail
Frail compared to his brother.
posted by pracowity at 3:25 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
Frail compared to his brother.
posted by pracowity at 3:25 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
>The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen
I'm going to remember to post this the next time someone on MF has a post "cancelled" merely because it's the "wrong" opinion to have on here.
That would be hilarious as pretty much *by definition* anything posted here has already been published to the world, usually widely.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:35 PM on December 27, 2023
I'm going to remember to post this the next time someone on MF has a post "cancelled" merely because it's the "wrong" opinion to have on here.
That would be hilarious as pretty much *by definition* anything posted here has already been published to the world, usually widely.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:35 PM on December 27, 2023
AS a kid, I *loved* their TV show, our family watched it religiously every Sunday night (hmmm...). Anyway, it was a very big deal to us when they were cancelled.
RIP Tom.
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posted by maggiemaggie at 3:38 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
RIP Tom.
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posted by maggiemaggie at 3:38 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
I was born in 1963. And I'm pretty sure I watched lots of the Smothers' brothers in my formative years. Also, Laugh-In, and Sonny & Cher, and etc. But never knew any of the backstory. Just knew who was the fool, and who was the straight-man.
What a great dude.
"And on her knees was Greece...
Grease on the knees..."
posted by Windopaene at 3:40 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
What a great dude.
"And on her knees was Greece...
Grease on the knees..."
posted by Windopaene at 3:40 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
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posted by Silvery Fish at 3:42 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by Silvery Fish at 3:42 PM on December 27, 2023
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posted by dannyboybell at 3:45 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by dannyboybell at 3:45 PM on December 27, 2023
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You bet your sweet bippy Tom was cool!
posted by nofundy at 3:47 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
You bet your sweet bippy Tom was cool!
posted by nofundy at 3:47 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
The Smothers Brothers came to Ann Arbor, MI back in 1998, and my parents took us kids to see them. I was impressed by Tom's yo-yo act, and it was timely as back in that day, yo-yos were rising to become a fad coincident with Pokemon. Overall good act too.
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:55 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:55 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
I always liked their folk music background. Lovely. They came out of the late 1950s North Beach, Dan Francisco clubs...beatnik era. The Hungry I club especially...along with Phyllis Diller, Mort Saul. Later in NY Greenwich Village club scene along with Pat Carroll, Joan Rivers, and Woody Allen...and the various golk singers,Baez,Dylan,Peter,Paul and Mary.
posted by Czjewel at 4:11 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 4:11 PM on December 27, 2023 [4 favorites]
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The Smothers Brothers were and institution in my house growing up. And all of us kids wanted to be the Yo-Yo Man.
posted by UltraMorgnus at 4:12 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
The Smothers Brothers were and institution in my house growing up. And all of us kids wanted to be the Yo-Yo Man.
posted by UltraMorgnus at 4:12 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by gentlyepigrams at 4:20 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by gentlyepigrams at 4:20 PM on December 27, 2023
One thing I remember my parents agreeing on when I was a kid was their admiration for the Smothers Brothers.
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posted by doctornemo at 4:25 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
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posted by doctornemo at 4:25 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
Love that he's getting his just dues on departure but I mean, it's not like he's Lenny Bruce who was very literally cancelled as in convicted, only to be pardoned posthumously just shy of 40 years later.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:27 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:27 PM on December 27, 2023
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posted by apartment dweller at 4:31 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by apartment dweller at 4:31 PM on December 27, 2023
His appearance on “Green Room” was imo the highlight of the series.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 4:36 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by Mister Moofoo at 4:36 PM on December 27, 2023
I just realized that I always conflated the Smothers Brothers and Laugh In, possibly a regrettable thing for me to do. I excuse myself by the fact that I wasn’t alive yet at the time.
posted by Whale Oil at 4:52 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Whale Oil at 4:52 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
He was an actual victim of cancel culture.
No he wasn't. "Cancel culture" is a new thing. That phrase was recently coined by some reactionary MAGA dickheads. "Cancel culture" did not exist at the time CBS (not known as a standard bearer for cancel culture) cancelled The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. That show was actually cancelled in the original sense of the word that the new sense of "cancelled" is riffing on. Tommy Smothers's show was cancelled because it challenged the status quo and assisted the effort to throw a wrench in the war machine and pissed off Nixon. The new sense of the word "cancelled" means exactly the single form of censorship Tommy Smothers endorsed, namely people invoking their right not to listen.
"Cancelled" in the sense whined about by Trumpian reactionaries shrieking that "cancel culture" may one day somehow succeed in depriving them of a microscopic fleck of their unearned privilege is a darkly comedic term. It points out the relative powerlessness of the person using it to cancel anything for anyone other than their single self. Cancel culture does not have the power to make cancellations in the wider culture. That's CBS that can do that. That is why Tommy Smothers, try though he bravely did, lost his platform but JK Rowling, quintessential example of somebody "cancelled by cancel culture" is nevertheless a kathriillionaire and free to go on creating TERFy content and plastering it all over the globe. A brief glance at Netflix with its cornucopia of "hawhaw pronouns haw" comedians should show you the difference between getting cancelled by the cancel culture because your comedy is all punching down and getting cancelled by CBS because you keep having people like Joan Baez on your show instead of Bob Hope and you're freaking out the straights. Tommy Smothers and Lenny Bruce should not be equated with the exact type of tiresome reactionary bunkmongers they were courageously and tirelessly trying to give us a moment's relief from.
posted by Don Pepino at 5:08 PM on December 27, 2023 [71 favorites]
No he wasn't. "Cancel culture" is a new thing. That phrase was recently coined by some reactionary MAGA dickheads. "Cancel culture" did not exist at the time CBS (not known as a standard bearer for cancel culture) cancelled The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. That show was actually cancelled in the original sense of the word that the new sense of "cancelled" is riffing on. Tommy Smothers's show was cancelled because it challenged the status quo and assisted the effort to throw a wrench in the war machine and pissed off Nixon. The new sense of the word "cancelled" means exactly the single form of censorship Tommy Smothers endorsed, namely people invoking their right not to listen.
"Cancelled" in the sense whined about by Trumpian reactionaries shrieking that "cancel culture" may one day somehow succeed in depriving them of a microscopic fleck of their unearned privilege is a darkly comedic term. It points out the relative powerlessness of the person using it to cancel anything for anyone other than their single self. Cancel culture does not have the power to make cancellations in the wider culture. That's CBS that can do that. That is why Tommy Smothers, try though he bravely did, lost his platform but JK Rowling, quintessential example of somebody "cancelled by cancel culture" is nevertheless a kathriillionaire and free to go on creating TERFy content and plastering it all over the globe. A brief glance at Netflix with its cornucopia of "hawhaw pronouns haw" comedians should show you the difference between getting cancelled by the cancel culture because your comedy is all punching down and getting cancelled by CBS because you keep having people like Joan Baez on your show instead of Bob Hope and you're freaking out the straights. Tommy Smothers and Lenny Bruce should not be equated with the exact type of tiresome reactionary bunkmongers they were courageously and tirelessly trying to give us a moment's relief from.
posted by Don Pepino at 5:08 PM on December 27, 2023 [71 favorites]
That would be hilarious as pretty much *by definition* anything posted here has already been published to the world, usually widely.
Comments/Posts on MeFi sometimes get deleted. Usually it's an opportunity for reflection on context and intention. I've been deleted several times, mostly for good reasons.
posted by ovvl at 5:18 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
Comments/Posts on MeFi sometimes get deleted. Usually it's an opportunity for reflection on context and intention. I've been deleted several times, mostly for good reasons.
posted by ovvl at 5:18 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
Aw Don Pepino, I am certain that you and hippybear are actually in agreement.
posted by JHarris at 5:20 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 5:20 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
He doesn't have to worry about pumas in the crevasses anymore.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:35 PM on December 27, 2023 [17 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:35 PM on December 27, 2023 [17 favorites]
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posted by MonsieurPEB at 5:46 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by MonsieurPEB at 5:46 PM on December 27, 2023
A lot of those folk singer heroes look a lot worse looking back, like Pete Seeger taking credit for other people's work, or Peter Yarrow molesting a child. But Tom Smothers was one of the real ones, one of the few. And he was hilarious while working for real change.
posted by rikschell at 6:49 PM on December 27, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 6:49 PM on December 27, 2023 [7 favorites]
As a teenager watching the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, I gotta say: this was my favorite TV show. Funny. Hip.
Tommy was hilarious. Mom actually liked him best, secretly.
posted by kozad at 6:57 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
Tommy was hilarious. Mom actually liked him best, secretly.
posted by kozad at 6:57 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
That phrase was recently coined by some reactionary MAGA dickheads.
No, "cancel culture" was coined by people on the left to indicate those they were withdrawing public support for in various ways. It was co-opted by the right for the meaning you and I have used it for in this post.
You are correct that the term very much postdates the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and it's problems with CBS and its censors. I'm not certain you are correct that the term as coined today would not apply to them were it to have been known back then.
posted by hippybear at 7:01 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
No, "cancel culture" was coined by people on the left to indicate those they were withdrawing public support for in various ways. It was co-opted by the right for the meaning you and I have used it for in this post.
You are correct that the term very much postdates the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and it's problems with CBS and its censors. I'm not certain you are correct that the term as coined today would not apply to them were it to have been known back then.
posted by hippybear at 7:01 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
Are people here maybe conflating "canceling" with "cancel culture"?
Canceling was figurative language from Black Twitter synonymous with withdrawing support/interest: "I am canceling my subscription to JKR."
"Cancel culture" tends to be people whining about that, much like how "woke" was a useful word in 2016 or so but is now often a dog-whistle and has strayed a lot from its original meaning into "anything a reactionary doesn't like."
posted by verbminx at 7:25 PM on December 27, 2023 [16 favorites]
Canceling was figurative language from Black Twitter synonymous with withdrawing support/interest: "I am canceling my subscription to JKR."
"Cancel culture" tends to be people whining about that, much like how "woke" was a useful word in 2016 or so but is now often a dog-whistle and has strayed a lot from its original meaning into "anything a reactionary doesn't like."
posted by verbminx at 7:25 PM on December 27, 2023 [16 favorites]
It might be nice to refocus on the man who just died who had a career sacrificed to his unwilingness to buckle to network pressure to change what he wanted to say on air about race and war and culture issues 50 years ago. I celebrate who he was. Watch the documentary linked in the FPP if you want all the context.
The exact verbiage about what he experienced is less important than who he was in our culture across the past couple of generations.
posted by hippybear at 7:32 PM on December 27, 2023 [25 favorites]
The exact verbiage about what he experienced is less important than who he was in our culture across the past couple of generations.
posted by hippybear at 7:32 PM on December 27, 2023 [25 favorites]
. aww, Tom
posted by winesong at 7:49 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by winesong at 7:49 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
I had the great pleasure of meeting the man many years ago. He was a sweet, unassuming fellow, and funny as hell. And, man, the yoyo tricks!
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posted by Thorzdad at 7:53 PM on December 27, 2023 [8 favorites]
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posted by Thorzdad at 7:53 PM on December 27, 2023 [8 favorites]
Wow... I actually never have heard of anything from them, other than the name "Smothers Brothers". I guess I have something to catch up on now!
posted by The otter lady at 7:59 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by The otter lady at 7:59 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
If our focus of conversation was supposed to remain Tom Smothers (may he rest in peace), then the headline pointedly identifying him as "actual" example of cancel culture was self-defeating, as this immediately and inevitably suggests the follow-up question: "Actual compared to what and according to whom?"
posted by Earthtopus at 8:08 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Earthtopus at 8:08 PM on December 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
Jeebus fuck.
We're going to debate cancel culture and its specifics when it's an obituary thread?
Never stop being MetaFilter, MetaFilter.
Tommy would be writing a smug song about you.
posted by hippybear at 8:11 PM on December 27, 2023 [17 favorites]
We're going to debate cancel culture and its specifics when it's an obituary thread?
Never stop being MetaFilter, MetaFilter.
Tommy would be writing a smug song about you.
posted by hippybear at 8:11 PM on December 27, 2023 [17 favorites]
It's a shame the "Mom always liked you better anyway" line has already been done, alas, I'd have really liked to use it here.
posted by Earthtopus at 8:18 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by Earthtopus at 8:18 PM on December 27, 2023
We're going to debate cancel culture and its specifics when it's an obituary thread?
It's literally in the FPP.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:42 PM on December 27, 2023 [7 favorites]
It's literally in the FPP.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:42 PM on December 27, 2023 [7 favorites]
hippybear, you’re aware that you were the one “well, actually”-ing the thread, right?? Glass houses and all that… go ahead and be the non-derailer you want in this thread.
posted by not just everyday big moggies at 9:15 PM on December 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by not just everyday big moggies at 9:15 PM on December 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
Not one of their political bits, but this performance of Dance, Boatman, Dance cracks me up every time I watch it. Tommy's facial expressions and gestures and the delicious, seemingly dull witted delivery he gives just kill me. Dick being the perfect pompous straight man foil is great too.
posted by Reverend John at 10:00 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Reverend John at 10:00 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
One of the biggest laughs of my life was listening to their album Think Ethnic when they recounted the story of John Henry.
“And John Henry spit on his hands…”
“Then he spit on the steam engine!!”
Young fifteen schnitzengruben had never heard such a thing. Been a fan ever since. Their revived show in the 80s was really great, too.
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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:02 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
“And John Henry spit on his hands…”
“Then he spit on the steam engine!!”
Young fifteen schnitzengruben had never heard such a thing. Been a fan ever since. Their revived show in the 80s was really great, too.
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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:02 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by kensington314 at 10:17 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by kensington314 at 10:17 PM on December 27, 2023
Tommy was the brains of that act. Cognicant observers grasped this. Just as they recognized that DeanO wasn't actually a drunk. And that Marilyn was whip-smart.
We are all now diminished by the loss of his unique perspective. He'd definitely find the material in this syntactic bean-plating thread hilarious.
Mom always liked you best.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 10:30 PM on December 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
We are all now diminished by the loss of his unique perspective. He'd definitely find the material in this syntactic bean-plating thread hilarious.
Mom always liked you best.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 10:30 PM on December 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
We're going to debate cancel culture and its specifics when it's an obituary thread?
I think Tom Smothers would have had a good laugh over it.
posted by pracowity at 10:53 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
I think Tom Smothers would have had a good laugh over it.
posted by pracowity at 10:53 PM on December 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
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Tommy at his best: Mediocre Fred
One of several Smothers Brothers things that has lived in my head rent-free for 50 years.
posted by mmoncur at 11:58 PM on December 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
Tommy at his best: Mediocre Fred
One of several Smothers Brothers things that has lived in my head rent-free for 50 years.
posted by mmoncur at 11:58 PM on December 27, 2023 [10 favorites]
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posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:33 AM on December 28, 2023
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:33 AM on December 28, 2023
Wow... I actually never have heard of anything from them, other than the name "Smothers Brothers". I guess I have something to catch up on now!
With a name like Smothers, they have to be good
posted by chavenet at 12:48 AM on December 28, 2023 [16 favorites]
With a name like Smothers, they have to be good
posted by chavenet at 12:48 AM on December 28, 2023 [16 favorites]
The Smothers Brothers said what was serious through humor. We watched their show regularly. RIP Tom Smothers
posted by DJZouke at 5:14 AM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by DJZouke at 5:14 AM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
The Who on The Smothers Brothers 1967
posted by DJZouke at 5:22 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by DJZouke at 5:22 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
The Doors on the Smothers Brothers show. Lenny Kravitz did a shot-for-shot remake for his own music video.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:28 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:28 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I recently tried listening to some of their routines while exercising, and had to stop (the exercising, not the listening) because I was laughing too hard to continue. Their humor feels so simple and effortless.
maybe some pumas came over to visit
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:21 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
maybe some pumas came over to visit
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:21 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
"Who's been sleeping in my crevasse?"
posted by grubi at 7:52 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by grubi at 7:52 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
They (Tommy and Dick) were so funny! Seriously, if you were at all hip in the 1960's, you watched them every week, as we did at our house, although it cracks me up to think of my parents as "hip" back then. The first time I ever saw Sonny and Cher (instead of just hearing them on the radio) was on the Smothers Brothers Hour. So long, Tommy and thanks for all the laughs.
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posted by Lynsey at 8:19 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by Lynsey at 8:19 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Tommy delivers a pretty good joke about dying in his sleep in this clip from a 2022 CBS Sunday Morning feature. As always, his timing was perfect.
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posted by Bron at 9:16 AM on December 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
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posted by Bron at 9:16 AM on December 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
"I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy;
I see by your outfit you are a cowboy, too;
We see by our outfits that we are both cowboys.
If you get an outfit, you can be a cowboy, too."
RIP, and Thank you Tommy.
posted by cmdnc0 at 10:23 AM on December 28, 2023 [11 favorites]
I see by your outfit you are a cowboy, too;
We see by our outfits that we are both cowboys.
If you get an outfit, you can be a cowboy, too."
RIP, and Thank you Tommy.
posted by cmdnc0 at 10:23 AM on December 28, 2023 [11 favorites]
I fell into a vat of chocolate…
posted by nat at 10:25 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by nat at 10:25 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
The Smothers Brothers had a huge impact on me as a child. I spent many hours listening to and memorizing my father's Smothers Brothers albums. I copied them to cassettes so I could listen to them elsewhere, constantly. I learned some yo-yo techniques from Tommy's Yo-Yo Man instructional video -- if I recall correctly, it came with a wooden yo-yo (it seems I do, in fact, recall correctly).
Anyway, here's one of my favorites -- Tommy's song about his search for meaning and purpose: Tommy's Song
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posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:35 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Anyway, here's one of my favorites -- Tommy's song about his search for meaning and purpose: Tommy's Song
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posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:35 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I fell into a vat of chocolate…
Why'd you yell "Fire!" when you fell into the chocolate?
posted by grubi at 11:08 AM on December 28, 2023
Why'd you yell "Fire!" when you fell into the chocolate?
posted by grubi at 11:08 AM on December 28, 2023
TBH I think a lot of people would've come running if he'd yelled "Chocolate!!"
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:12 AM on December 28, 2023
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:12 AM on December 28, 2023
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posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 11:23 AM on December 28, 2023
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 11:23 AM on December 28, 2023
My parents were conservative with a socially progressive bent, and while they weren’t exactly in love with popular culture that smacked of anything even slightly counterculture, they loved them some Smothers Brothers. I could never figure it out but I was glad because that was one of my favorite shows. And Mom always liked Tom best.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 11:47 AM on December 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by kitten kaboodle at 11:47 AM on December 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
This is so sad. They were so funny, silly, talented, political, real. Thanks for all the laughs, Tommy.
.
posted by theora55 at 11:49 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by theora55 at 11:49 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
When someone says to take it, you take it.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 3:09 PM on December 28, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 3:09 PM on December 28, 2023 [7 favorites]
I was born after their show went off the air, but my parents were fans, so I grew up on pumas in cravisses, vats of chocolate, and "some kind of help"
When Colbert & Stewart held their DC rally, I showed up with a Pat Paulsen sign.
BTW, the Johnny Carson Youtube channel posted a lengthy clip from 1992. Tommy does his Carson impersonation, followed by the pair utterly failing to deliver a "classic" joke. I wish I could understand how they did it, because it's a comedy masterclass.
posted by cheshyre at 3:47 PM on December 28, 2023 [14 favorites]
When Colbert & Stewart held their DC rally, I showed up with a Pat Paulsen sign.
BTW, the Johnny Carson Youtube channel posted a lengthy clip from 1992. Tommy does his Carson impersonation, followed by the pair utterly failing to deliver a "classic" joke. I wish I could understand how they did it, because it's a comedy masterclass.
posted by cheshyre at 3:47 PM on December 28, 2023 [14 favorites]
I see a lot of inspiration for PeeWee Herman in Tommy Smothers. This clip from The Judy Garland Show especially.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:10 PM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by oneirodynia at 5:10 PM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
When someone says to take it, you take it.
Why don't you "take it" yourself?
posted by hearthpig at 6:38 PM on December 28, 2023
Why don't you "take it" yourself?
posted by hearthpig at 6:38 PM on December 28, 2023
.
posted by trip and a half at 2:25 AM on December 29, 2023
posted by trip and a half at 2:25 AM on December 29, 2023
When someone says to take it, you take it.
I'm an American! I don't have to take it.
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posted by Devoidoid at 1:35 PM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm an American! I don't have to take it.
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posted by Devoidoid at 1:35 PM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
"No" is just a great line...
posted by Windopaene at 8:53 PM on December 29, 2023
posted by Windopaene at 8:53 PM on December 29, 2023
Are people here maybe conflating "canceling" with "cancel culture"?
Canceling was figurative language from Black Twitter synonymous with withdrawing support/interest: "I am canceling my subscription to JKR."
"Cancel culture" tends to be people whining about that, much like how "woke" was a useful word in 2016 or so but is now often a dog-whistle and has strayed a lot from its original meaning into "anything a reactionary doesn't like."
I decided to wait until the bodies had gone stiff, er, I mean until a respectful amount of time had passed, before commenting.
Smothers uses the word "cancelled" in its absolutely correct context regarding TV shows. "We were cancelled" means that the TV show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, was taken off the air. Smothers explains that they didn't like the term and preferred "murdered" in the context of the other term used to describe the same situation, "killed". He is making it clear that the show was not taken off the air because of falling ratings, but because a few (conservative) executives didn't like the content.
There was nothing going on here which has anything to do with right-wing people bleating that their career has been crippled by being rightfully called out for doing or saying something which is unacceptable.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:57 AM on December 30, 2023 [5 favorites]
Canceling was figurative language from Black Twitter synonymous with withdrawing support/interest: "I am canceling my subscription to JKR."
"Cancel culture" tends to be people whining about that, much like how "woke" was a useful word in 2016 or so but is now often a dog-whistle and has strayed a lot from its original meaning into "anything a reactionary doesn't like."
I decided to wait until the bodies had gone stiff, er, I mean until a respectful amount of time had passed, before commenting.
Smothers uses the word "cancelled" in its absolutely correct context regarding TV shows. "We were cancelled" means that the TV show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, was taken off the air. Smothers explains that they didn't like the term and preferred "murdered" in the context of the other term used to describe the same situation, "killed". He is making it clear that the show was not taken off the air because of falling ratings, but because a few (conservative) executives didn't like the content.
There was nothing going on here which has anything to do with right-wing people bleating that their career has been crippled by being rightfully called out for doing or saying something which is unacceptable.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:57 AM on December 30, 2023 [5 favorites]
"Cabbage" (the extra-long version, of course) is my very favorite. It's the one with "take it" and pumas in "cravisses".
"Are you a folk singer?"
"Yes, I are."
---
"There are no pumas in America!"
(pause)
"We accept everyone in America, Dickie."
---
"It took a Herla-culean effort..."
---
"'Raging deserts and blazing rivers'?"
"Ya had to be *tough* in those days!"
posted by grubi at 5:15 AM on January 3 [1 favorite]
"Are you a folk singer?"
"Yes, I are."
---
"There are no pumas in America!"
(pause)
"We accept everyone in America, Dickie."
---
"It took a Herla-culean effort..."
---
"'Raging deserts and blazing rivers'?"
"Ya had to be *tough* in those days!"
posted by grubi at 5:15 AM on January 3 [1 favorite]
Cardinal Fang: Since you quoted me, and I only just saw it, I don't think that anyone was arguing about the actual use of "canceled" regarding a television show, which is something worthy of condemnation that happened because of Smothers' left-leaning humor in the 1960s, nor did I think that needed to be explained to anyone. I think you just misunderstood my comment and what motivated it.
It was "victim of cancel culture" that people were ruffled about, circling around, and debating. "Canceled" in the usage that is connected to the entire concept of "cancel culture" is as I explained and has nothing to do with canceling a television show. An attempt was made to connect the two, and the debate seems to have arisen from that.
posted by verbminx at 4:38 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]
It was "victim of cancel culture" that people were ruffled about, circling around, and debating. "Canceled" in the usage that is connected to the entire concept of "cancel culture" is as I explained and has nothing to do with canceling a television show. An attempt was made to connect the two, and the debate seems to have arisen from that.
posted by verbminx at 4:38 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]
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posted by humbug at 1:39 PM on December 27, 2023