Of course Colbert's had a long career here and there but Stephen's claim to fame really comes from the huge impact of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart . The Daily Show can impact the career of politicians with young people and the ability to sell books to the younger generation whom otherwise would have never crossed paths with these political authors. Jon Stewart for his own part is breaking ground as a genius in making it hip to drink beer (AND) know what the hell's going on in Washington.
Articles and books could be written in depth on the impact Jon as made and the ground breaking path he's taken. But we can't forget those who were here first, 30 yrs ahead of their time, that pushed the limits of tv programing and what the censors sweat over every week. I'm talking of course about The Smothers Brothers and their liberal views which they always expressed on their hourly comedy show back in the late 60's then early 70's (on dif networks), and their opposition to the Vietnam War. Wiki has some basics about these 2 entertaining, comedy/musical brothers, but you can google them further, although I'm not sure even that will show someone who's young today, the impact these guys played back before cable televsion and we all listened to AM radio for our music.
One of the regulars on their show was a comedian named Pat Paulsen who in his own comedic-but-sorta-real way ran for president with a good portion of the country laughing and supporting his campaign, long before anyone ever heard of Stephen Colbert. Pat Paulsen being his own kind of genius was famous, if not infamous for his great quotes which were hysterical if you were deep enough a thinker to figure them out. He even had a stint on his own tv show called "The half hour comedy hour". Thanks to this great blog we see some remembrances of a time past, when comedians were FUNNY..the 60's then 70's were the time of great humor, they were the birth of SNL and it's brilliant original cast.
Clips saved to youtube. The first is Pat Paulsen on the famous Merv Griffin show which never aired for obvious reasons, but take the ole chip off your shoulder and you'll see the guy is funny as hell. Next is a partial clip from an interview on the David Letterman show back when Dave had hair. The next clip from the Glen Campbell Show, he does a skit with Bill Morrison. This clip shows off more the dry personality that was Pat Paulsen and the guy who ran for president. After that is a piece of his presidential campaign.
"If elected, I will win"
"Mom always liked you best!"
Smothers Brothers controversy
Long before cable tv and tv remotes we had the politically outspoken (liberal) Smothers Brothers whose opposition to the Vietnam War in their occasionally comedic jabs was unprecedented in those days. Here are some great clips for those of us who looked forward to their show every week. Also included a great clip when they joined the Boston Pops.
Before color television! Then medley with Peter,Paul, and Mary, and Donovan. Further down we see Tommy's many talents included being the "Yo-Yo Man". You may also recognize some other huge stars in one video skit.
More of their Boston Pops appearance
Tommy introducing the Beatles-intro only. visit this Beatles Channel on youtube for more Beatles memories.
The "Gayest" man in America back when people didn't know what "Gay" (or homosexual) meant, Liberace, a true concert pianist. The cop was a regular on the show, (also a writer for the program), you may know him as "Super Dave" Osborne. His real name is Bob Einstein and he's the brother of comedic writer/actor Albert Brooks. Plenty more great clips on youtube but I'll end this with the 1988 reunion of the fantastic Smothers Brothers!
Did you know you can double click a youtube video anywhere on the web and it will open up the original youtube page that video was downloaded on? This way you can see it full size and thank the original poster of that video. The user's name is up on the right of the video in bold blue print. You can click their user name and go to their main page and visit all their videos.
Tommy Smothers on Political Satire
This interview done in 2001, was before Jon Stewart became a national icon of political satire. I would love to see Jon invite Tommy on his show for an interview. Also you may want to check Google or Amazon for old comedy albums of the brothers. I recall I had one with Tommy and a chicken on the front cover and it was just hysterical (to me). I listened to it for years..no clue what happened to all my albums!
Tommy interview on free speech
The Smothers Brothers was the first television show to have Pete Seeger on after he was blacklisted. His performance of "Waist Deep in the Bug Muddy" was censored by CBS due to it's implicit condemnation of the Vietnam War.
Interview with Dick Smothers there is no date (year) on this interview unfortunately.
MySpace tribute to the Smothers Brothers
Article of Interest
Article of Interest
SmothersBrothers.Com includes their public appearance schedule.
