Comedian Tom Smothers dies

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"Comedian Tom Smothers, one-half of the Smothers Brothers, dies at 86"

The Smothers Brothers were very, very good.

They were awesome.

They evolved out of the early Sixties folk music scene. Combined folk music with stand up comedy act. One TV producer shook his head and said "whatever you guys got...NO body is gonna steal it". Thats how offbeat their act was, and still is.

A lot of faux sibling rivalry was in the routine.

But most important they were a forerunner of Stephen Colbert ...by hosting a variety TV show on prime time national TV that had a lot of irreverent political commentary in it.

Unusual.

The show thrived, but then got canceled- not necessarily NOT because of political pressure. But years later a second Smoothers Brothers Show came to the airways. Thrived for another couple or three years.

Tommy came on screen of the first episode of the revived SB show...and sternly told his largely counter culture audience that ..."if any of you out there think that we have...sold out...kowtowed to the Man...and have surrendered our integrity...I am gonna tell you right now that absolutely NOTHING could be CLOSER to the truth!"



What can I say? It was unforgettable moment in TV.
Sometimes ya gotta do what you gotta do to stay on TV.

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I still thank him ... for the decades of laughs he gave us. And for teaching us late bloomers how to use a yo-yo.

i admire how he pushed boundaries. his top writer [composer] mason williams composed a little ditty in tom's honor-

The Censor sits
Somewhere between
The scenes to be seen
And the television sets
With his scissor purpose poised
Watching the human stuff
That will sizzle through
The magic wires
And light up
Like welding shops
The ho-hum rooms of America
And with a kindergarten
Arts and crafts concept
Of moral responsibility
Snips out
The rough talk
The unpopular opinion
Or anything with teeth
And renders
A pattern of ideas
Full of holes
A doily
For your mind