Olivia Sutton's Fanfic Journal

Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour -- Best of Season 3 DVD set

Review by Olivia Sutton

I had first heard of  The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour because of my interest in television (and film).  The show was legendary for it's political and social comment -- and the censorship battles with CBS, cumulating in the firing (yes, firing -- not cancellation) of the brothers' show in April 1969.  However, for a long time, though I kept running into references to the program I hadn't seen it.  (Hey -- variety show from the late 60s, you know, Where was I going to see it?)  Then E! Entertainment Television decided to air the show.  Now, what E! did to air the show was very astute.  Each episode was opened and closed with a brief interview with Tom and Dick Smothers, talking about that episode in particular (including explaining political/social things going on at the time that the audience of the early 90s might not get) and also making a few comments about the show in general.  E! also interviewed prominent guest stars and contributors to the show.  This format worked well.  I ended-up videotaping all the episodes.

I really enjoyed the show on E! -- and I was amazed at all the really, really major musical guests on the show.  The comedy and political/social comment I was prepared for -- but the musical guests -- The Who, The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, The Association, Buffalo Springfield, Kenny Rogers, Sonny and Cher, The Buckinghams, Mama Cass, and many more.  It was a major hit list of the 60s -- and artists who would live on in the 70s (such as Kenny Rogers or Crosby, Stills, Nash and sometimes Young), really, really surprised me.

I also enjoyed the Smothers brothers comedy.  They sing well together (being brothers).  And their act is genuinely funny -- it's warm, yet also hits precisely on those "you drive me nuts" moments between siblings.  I even have a collection of Smothers Brothers comedy bits on CD (a Rhino Records collection consisting of bits from the comedy records released on vinyl).

So, all in all, the series is good, the way E! presented it was really good.  So what's the issue?

Well -- this DVD set is called "The Best of Season 3" and therein lies the problem.  Only a handful of episodes are included, and even the ones included are way cut down from the 50 minutes (or so) of original airtime to usually around half an hour.  I was disappointed.  And it seems like both musical and comedy acts were cut .  The musical acts I can understand, what with DRM and music clearance (which is a whole 'nother issue).  And although I don't agree with cutting musical acts, I can understand it.  What I don't understand is cutting the comedy acts.  I like the Smothers Brothers a lot -- and I would like to see entire episodes, eventually the entire series.  One of the benefits of DVD is the opportunity to encapsulate historic shows, especially something like The Smother Brothers Comedy Hour, into a complete package -- the intros and exits as well as accompanying interviews could easily explain both the social climate that's changed today (especially references to drug use -- Something Laugh-In also excelled at).  Most viewers are intelligent enough to realise that changes have occurred and to not get offended by such content.  I'm admittedly a bit of a completist when it comes to collecting DVDs - and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is something that I would still like to have a complete set of on DVD.  this set was a nice start, but something more complete -- especially if the Smothers Brothers or the show or CBS or whoever needs to do the "getting" could get music clearance for all the acts that appeared on the show.  That would be awesome in a word.

The extra features -- such as intros and exits to the shows, and interviews with guests, are mostly from when The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour aired on E! Entertainment Television, though' full versions of the interviews are also included which is nice.  There's also "A Fable for Our Time" a look back at the 60s and the show narrated by Tom Smothers.  Also, included is Tom's reflections on the show and the DVD set.  This is something interesting, because it explains the cutting of the show, and why it's only a "best of" set.  Tom Smothers explains he feels the shows aren't as great, looking at them now, as they seemed to be then.  However, I do think the show is really good, and especially I'd like to see at least what was shown on E! in the early 90s.  And, if we (the DVD-buying public) could get things not even shown on E! -- such as the appearance of the Beatles, somehow.  Like bonus!  Again, I really enjoyed the show, all three seasons, which I taped off E! -- and using the bonus footage from when it aired on E! was a great approach to doing the DVD (it provides needed context).  The only problem with the DVD set is that there isn't enough.  I would like to see all three seasons, with the episodes in order, and with the context provided by the intros and exits by Tom and Dick Smothers.

Finally, included in the Best of Season 3 set is the Pat Paulson for President special from 1968.  This is quite funny.  Paulson's dead-pan political humor is still funny, and surprisingly relevant today.  Included on the "presidential" disc is one of  Paulson's nightclub appearance's from Anchorage, Alaska -- which is hit or miss, including jokes from his appearances on the Smothers Brothers' show, his perpetual candidate status, and newer material some of which doesn't work at all.  There are some nice extras on this disc as well, including out-takes of an interview with Bobby Kennedy about Paulson's "candidacy" in 1968.

Overall -- The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour Best of Season 3 is hit or miss.  What's included, especially the intro and exits by the brothers and interviews from when the show aired on E! are great.  However, the set is a little light on new extras (though' the ones included are pretty good!) and I just wish it was more complete, with more episodes.