RIP Tom Smothers

[Neutral Corner]

The impish little grin that Townsend shoots Tommy after smashing his guitar is priceless.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

My parents were huge fans. I have some early childhood memories of some Smothers Brothers stuff. And have caught larger portions on specials and retrospectives.

Both of them hugely talented. RIP Tommy.

 

[maumann]

I interviewed the fantastically eccentric Mel Larson on one trip to Las Vegas for a NASCAR.com feature. I expected 15 minutes of his time at most. He spent the entire day showing me every room in his house, his collection of cars and planes, and the helicopter pad on the roof of his garage. I finally had to beg to leave because I was due back at the hotel.

In one room, he opened the closet to show me a huge case for a double bash. "That's deckie Smothers' bash," he said with complete nonchalance. "He stores it here when he's not touring. Usually Ernie Borgnine sleeps here when he's in town, so deckie has to move it somewhere else."

I would not have been a bit surprised if Larson had opened a dresser drawer and showed me where Tommy's yo-yos were stored.

RIP to a brilliant entertainer who played stupid for laughs.

 

[garrow]

RIP to a great American.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Things I did not know about Tom Smothers:

He is actually older than deck, although the roles they played made him seem like the younger brother.

He was the son of an Army officer who died in captivity in Japan in WWII.

He was a state-champion gymnast at Redondo Beach HS in California and later was a gymnast and pole vaulter at San Jose State.

He was a competitive unicyclist.

He played acoustic guitar on John Lennon's recording of "Give Peace a Chance."

He was in the room for John and Yoko's "bed-in" in Montreal.

He and Bill Cosby got into a fistfight at the Playboy Mansion in 1976 after Smothers chided Cosby for not being more politically active.

 

[Starman]

No better place than the Playboy Mansion for a fistfight over whose public conduct is more socially responsible.

 

[Slacker]

Tom Smothers also made a second fortune with smart investments, if I recall correctly. He had a great business mind, too.

He was a really sharp guy all around, and you could see that in his eyes even when he was playing the simple-minded guy. His stammering word structures and comedic timing were always right on the mark, and that ain't easy. But watch his eyes while he works: He's always tightly focused on whatever he's doing (as the dummy) and where he's going next while playing off deck's lines.

I was a big fan, obviously. I would stop and watch the Smothers Brothers – but especially Tom – any time they were on TV.

 

[HanSenSE]

Micro beat me to the San Jose State angle. I've seen pictures of him participating in both sports in my mom's yearbooks from the late 50s. The legendary Bud Winter was head track coach then. Peter Ueberroth was on the water pole team during that time.

 

[Slacker]

He and Bill Cosby got into a fistfight at the Playboy Mansion in 1976 after Smothers chided Cosby for not being more politically active.

Had to look that one up! Was hoping he kicked Cosby's ash, but Cosby took the low road ...

As recounted in Gerald Nachman's sensational and well researched treatise Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s (2003, Pantheon Books) Tommy's public chiding of Bill Cosby for not being more outspoken on civil rights issues eventually led to fisticuffs between the two iconic comedy figures - with Hugh Hefner trapped in the middle(!). "At the time I was very volatile, and thought everyone should take a stand. I guess I said something that really Pished him [off]. For a couple years after that, I'd say, 'Hiya Bill, how ya doing?' and he wouldn't shake hands with me - you know, like, 'fork off."

In October of 1976, Cosby and Smothers were attending the same party at The Playboy Mansion. Hoping to ease some of the tension, Tom congratulated Bill on his latest television series. What Smothers did not realize was that the show in question had been cancelled the day before. "I liked your show," said Tom, "it was a really good effort." Cosby didn't respond. "He just looked at me [as if to say] 'fork you,' and I said, ' Well, fork you.' ... and walked away. I'd been getting this kind of thing from him for a long time. It started when he was hosting The Tonight Show. He had this kind of dismissive way of introducing people ... and I nailed him - you know, comedic oneupmanship---and I remember he said, 'Maybe sometime I'll knock you upside the head one of these days,' and I said, 'Yeah, go ahead and try.' A couple months later ... boom ... there it was. I should never have turned my back on him. He didn't have the balls to do it when I was looking. He slipped behind Hefner and sucker-punched me. He hit me right in the head with his fist - knocked me down ... and I was down there a minute or two and he was standing over me screaming at me, 'C'mon, I'll kick your ash,' stuff like that. I've never seen him since then. I always thought, maybe if he turns around sometime I might give him a shot."

https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/11/the_case_of_bil.html

 

[OscarMadison]

A couple of book recommendations:

Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour by David Bianculli is a good history of the show. It's thoroughly researched and very well written.

Thanks A Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story is Roger Daltrey's autobiography. He comes off as sharp, funny, and thoughtful. This fan of The Who enjoyed it.

 

[Songbird]

They didn't make shows like The Smothers Brothers before The Smothers Brothers, and that says a hell of a lot.

TV had only been around for 15 or so years.

 

[BTExpress]

Sounds like CBS didn't know WHAT it had made at first and tried hard to keep a lid on it once it did realize.