When Comedy Cuts Too Close

Comedy is never safe from silencing — not for being politically incorrect or too left-leaning, but simply because it still can be a powerful tool against signs of tyranny.

- SCOTT GARCEAU

Imagine this: a TV show host on CBS is suddenly cancelled by the network and told his time is up — that for strictly business reasons, he's got to go. No, it's not Stephen Colbert. This happened in 1969, when the CBS network cancelled The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, citing a legal excuse in pulling the plug on the highly rated show with its skits and political satire.

While Colbert seems determined to go down fighting, middle finger upraised, until the whole "Late Night" franchise is unplugged by the network — citing "business reasons" — the phenomena is not exactly new to the entertainment industry, which of course has always relied on advertisers, happy affiliates, and the fickle finger of viewing choices.

In the case of the Smothers Brothers, the controversy that led to their removal from CBS began gradually. The network hired the folk duo, known for their comic interludes between songs, to host an innocuous primetime variety show. Onstage, younger brother Tom played the fool to older Dick's more pragmatic arguments; but offstage, Tom was itching to use their network platform to address the Vietnam War, talk about race relations and other current topics. You know, adult stuff. They hired new writers like Steve Martin and David Steinberg and brought on hippie bands like Jefferson Airplane and left-leaning folkies like Joan Baez and Peter Seeger to do edgier bits. When the Southern affiliates started sending hate mail to CBS, the network began to sweat.