Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 187, Greencastle, Putnam County, 15 April 1988 — Page 28

Page 16

Brothers smothered bv CBS censors no more

By JERRY BUCK AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) Tom Smothers, in his familiar deadpan delivery, says his new show with his brother Dick is just like old times, “except that CBS doesn’t have a censorship department any more.” Tom is exaggerating, but his point is that much has changed in the nearly 20 years since CBS fired the Smothers Brothers for their political impudence. THEY’RE NOW BACK ON the air with “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” for a spring tryout run on CBS. Comedian Pat Paulsen is back with them, heaping satiric abuse on his rivals. The original Smothers Brothers show in the late 1960 s became a rally against the Vietnam War, where the brothers and their guests attacked the war in song and satire. It soon turned into open warfare between the Smothers and CBS, which began censoring entire segments of the show. They were finally fired on April 3,1969. Although Tom says CBS still has some qualms about “politicalization,” apparently few eyebrows are being raised. THE BROTHERS KID THAT they could take some of their old anti-Vietnam routine;, write in Nicaragua, and they would still be relevant “Nicaragua is just like Vietnam,” Tom says. “Big people beating up on little people.” “The government still doesn’t listen to its citizens,” adds Dick. Although the Smothers Brothers were the darlings of the under-30 set in the 19605, without their television platform they quickly faded from sight ABC gave them a brief summer outing in 1970 and NBC gave them a try in 1975. But the old sass was gone and there were few targets for their satire. THE CURRENT YOUNG generation hardly knows them, but CBS hopes this exposure will find them a new audience among the young. Their appearance last year on ‘Hollywood Squares” and commercials for Magnovox helped keep their faces before the public. Tom says their act has changed over the past 20 years. “We can’t do what we did 20 years ago,” says Tom. “I’m 51, Dick’s 49. We’re too old to do the old routine. We can’t do the ‘Mom liked you best’ stuff any more.” Dick adds, “George Bums told us that when he and Gracie Allen were on radio they were having trouble. Suddenly, George realized they were doing jokes that were for younger people. They had matured and they had to do material that was appropriate for their ages.” “We’re in a renaissance right now,” says Tom.

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Dick (left) and Tom Smothers (right) are joined by old friend Pat Paulsen for the 1988 version of the “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” airing “The big change in our act is that we switched the focus to Dick. For the first 10 or 12 years the focus of the act was on Tom. The quality of a comedy team really depends on the straight man. Look at Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Rowan and Martin. Dick carries the weight onstage. I carry the weight offstage.” DICK IS THE STRAIGHT man in the act. Tom is the cutup comic, who usually plays dumb. But away from the stage Tom is the act’s mover and shaker. Dick usually left the business side to him while he raced automobiles. He says now he’s given up racing be-

rv channels on Greencastle cable

2 CNN (Cable News Network) 3 USA Network (Family Appeal) 4 CBN Cable Network 5 American Movie Classics 6 WRTV-TV (ABC/6) 7 Showtime 8 ESPN (Sports) 9 Lifetime 10 WTHI-TV (CBS/10) 11 Nickelodeon

JQ 2 WTWO, Terre Haute, NBC a 4 WTTV, Indianapolis, Indp. Q 6 WRTV, Indianapolis, ABC Q 8 WISH, Indianapolis, CBS |Q 10 WTHI, Terre Haute, CBS E 13WTHR, Indianapolis 0 20 WFYI, Indianapolis, PBS .

weekly on CBS. The weekly show has developed following the success of the comedy team’s 20th reunion special Feb. 3. cause of his eyesight. “I ride horses now,” he explains. “The horse has better eyes.” For the first time, too, the brothers live apart. When he remarried, Dick moved to Virginia’s horse country. Tom has a place in Sonoma County, Calif., where the brothers own a winery. He also has an apartment in Los Angeles. Dick met his new wife, Lorraine, while performing in Richmond. They have a nine-month-old daughter, Sarah. Dick also has three older children. Tom, who is now single, has a son in college.

12 The Discovery Channel 13 WTHR-TV (NBC/13) 14 Cable Value Network 15 The Nashville Network 16VH-1 (Video Hits) 17 Arts & Entertainment 18 MTV (Music Television) 19 Local Programming 20 The Disney Channel 21 Headline News

Off-air channels available in area

22 HBO (Home Box Office) 23 C-Span (U.S. Congress) 24 WTBS-TV (Atlanta) 25 WGN-TV (Chicago) 26 WTTV-TV (lnd./4) 27 WHMB-TV (lnd./40) 28 WISH-TV (CBS/8) 29 WTIU-TV (PBS/30) 30 WXIN-TV (lnd./59)

E 9 30 WTIU, Bloomington, PBS □ 38 WBAK, Terre Haute, ABC E 3 40WHBM, Indianapolis, Indp. E 3 59 WXIN, Indianapolis, Indp. Also available in some areas: Channel 15, Champaign, III.; Channel 18, Lafayette; Channel 23, WMCC, Noblesville; Channel 42, WCLJ, Indianapolis