The Smothers Brothers Show
The Smothers Brothers Show is an American fantasy sitcom featuring the Smothers Brothers that aired on CBS on Friday nights at 9:30 p.m. ET from September 17, 1965, to April 22, 1966, co-sponsored by Alberto-Culver's VO5 hairdressing products and American Tobacco's Tareyton cigarettes. It was the first television show to feature the Smothers Brothers as regulars, following a series of night club and guest appearances.[2] It lasted one season, consisting of 32 episodes.
| The Smothers Brothers Show | |
|---|---|
 Tom and Dick Smothers, 1965 | |
| Genre | Fantasy sitcom |
| Created by | Aaron Spelling[1] Richard Newton |
| Written by | Dee Caruso Gerald Gardner Lila Garrett Alex Gottlieb Bernie Kahn Arnold Margolin Jim Parker Arthur Weingarten Allan Burns (uncredited) Chris Hayward (uncredited) |
| Directed by | Charles Barton Frederick De Cordova Sidney Miller H. Bruce Humberstone |
| Starring | Smothers Brothers |
| Theme music composer | Perry Botkin Jr. |
| Composer | Perry Botkin Jr. |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 32 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Aaron Spelling |
| Producers | Frederick De Cordova Phil Sharp (uncredited) |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company | Four Star-Knave |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | September 17, 1965 – April 22, 1966 |
It was the network's last situation comedy filmed in black-and-white; shortly after its final telecast, all CBS prime-time series were transmitted in color.[3] In 1986, two decades after cancellation, reruns were seen on Nick at Nite.[4]
Synopsis
Dick Smothers played himself as a rising young executive at Pandora Publications, working for publisher Leonard J. Costello (Roland Winters). Brother Tom had been lost at sea two years earlier and now shows up as an apprentice angel assigned to do good deeds on Earth to earn his wings and become a full-fledged angel. Of course, Tom's efforts to help people never seem to work as planned and Dick had to help him clean up the mess. Tom received his orders from Ralph, his unseen and unheard boss. The series also featured Harriet MacGibbon as Mrs. Costello, and on occasion, Ann Elder as Dick's co-worker and girl friend Janet (Eileen O'Neill) also appeared in several episodes as another of Dick's girl friends, Wanda. As was typical of the Smothers Brothers in The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Dick was typically the straight man to Tom's humorous antics.
Creative control struggles
The series was produced by Four Star Television in association with the brothers' Knave Productions (named for Tom's catchphrase "Curb Your Tongue, Knave!", and the title of their 1963 record album).
This series may have inspired the Brothers' more successful later series The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in that Tom Smothers had been critical of the series as not being compatible with the brothers' strengths (in fact, he fought with Four Star executives over more creative control of the series, earning an ulcer and irritating his marital relationship to the point of divorce at the end of the season).
For instance, neither brother played their instruments on the show (with one exception, at the beginning of "'Twas The Week Before Christmas" episode), and it was not until halfway through the season that they sang the theme song.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "There's Something About a Sailor" | September 17, 1965 |
| 2 | "Take a Tramp to Lunch This Week" | September 24, 1965 |
| 3 | "A Boarding House Is Not a Home" | October 1, 1965 |
| 4 | "Is Your Wig Wam?" | October 8, 1965 |
| 5 | "Pay the Man the $27.95" | October 15, 1965 |
| 6 | "Tear Out the Presses, Stop the Front Page" | October 22, 1965 |
| 7 | "You're Only Old Once" | October 29, 1965 |
| 8 | "I Wouldn't Miss My Own Funeral for Anything" | November 5, 1965 |
| 9 | "Halo in the Ring" | November 12, 1965 |
| 10 | "It Don't Mean a Dang if It Ain't Got That Twang" | November 19, 1965 |
| 11 | "Boys Will Be Playboys" | November 26, 1965 |
| 12 | "Immaterial Witness" | December 3, 1965 |
| 13 | "Here Comes the Bridegroom" | December 10, 1965 |
| 14 | "'Twas the Week Before Christmas" | December 17, 1965 |
| 15 | "Happiness Is a Guy Named Happy" | December 24, 1965 |
| 16 | "The Rise and Fall of the Wedding Cake" | December 31, 1965 |
| 17 | "Outside Inside Hollywood" | January 7, 1966 |
| 18 | "The Hawaiian Caper" | January 14, 1966 |
| 19 | "Never Trust a Naked Rembrandt" | January 21, 1966 |
| 20 | "Harried, Italian Style" | January 28, 1966 |
| 21 | "The Big Newsboy War" | February 4, 1966 |
| 22 | "We'd Rather Switch Than Fight" | February 11, 1966 |
| 23 | "The Ghost Is Clear" | February 18, 1966 |
| 24 | "Heaven Help the Dropout" | February 25, 1966 |
| 25 | "His Honor, the Crook" | March 4, 1966 |
| 26 | "Her Number Is 36-22-35" | March 11, 1966 |
| 27 | "The Girl from R.A.L.P.H." | March 18, 1966 |
| 28 | "The Boss Who Came to Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner" | March 25, 1966 |
| 29 | "How to Succeed in Business and Be Really Trying" | April 1, 1966 |
| 30 | "I'm in Love with a Mortal" | April 8, 1966 |
| 31 | "A Wolf in Sheik's Clothing" | April 15, 1966 |
| 32 | "Wash You Were Here" | April 22, 1966 |
References
- Spelling, Aaron; Graham, Jefferson (2002). Aaron Spelling: A Prime-Time Life. Macmillan p. 54. ISBN 978-0-3123-1344-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - McKairnes, Jim (January 31, 2017). "50-year flashback: The rebellious 'Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'". USA Today. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- Dalton, Mary M.; Linder, Laura R. (2016). The Sitcom Reader, Second Edition: America Re-viewed, Still Skewed. SUNY Press p. 81. ISBN 978-1-4384-6131-1.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Mendoza, N. F. (June 25, 1995). "Nick's Nites to Remember". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 9, 2019.