Name: The Smothers Brothers On Getting Fired By CBS | Letterman
Uploaded: 2023-12-27T17:24:58.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The Smothers Brothers On Getting Fired By CBS | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2023-12-27. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The Smothers Brothers On Getting Fired By CBS | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2023-12-27. Transcript available.

Oh, the Smothers Brothers, I know.
The Smothers Brothers were two of the most popular and controversial television
performers of the 60s,
right up there with Ozzie and Harriet.
Their weekly series, which aired on CBS from 1966 through 1968,
was the launching ground for such talents as Pat Paulson, Glenn Campbell, and
Steve Martin,
and is still considered one of the most innovative comedy programs ever on
television.
Working as a duo, once again, it's a pleasure to welcome Tom and Dick Smothers.
Thank you very much.
My brother and I are very pleased to be on this show tonight,
and we'd like to do a song that is a type of song, music,
that's not sung very often on late-night television or nightclubs or concerts.
It's a form of music called Madrigal.
Madrigal songs have been around for over 600 years,
and it's a very interesting form of music, generally sung by small choirs,
very small choirs, 4'11", 5'0".
And we'll do it as a duet, and it's a love song, it's a ballad, it's a...
Are you...
It's my brother Tom.
And the song is entitled, over here, the song is entitled, this love song, the
Troubadour song.
Do you happen to know of a maiden in need of a sweetheart?
Here's one who is anxious to please, it's a shame that a handsome young fellow
like me should be left whilst the nightingale sings in the tree.
It's a shame that a handsome young fellow like me should be left whilst the
nightingale sings in the tree.
It's very difficult singing a duet by oneself.
Imagine, it puts a lot of pressure on your other voice.
I don't have another voice.
Then I suggest not trying to sing a duet by yourself.
I was not trying to sing a duet by myself.
That's just the way it turned out.
You see, you didn't sing, you didn't participate.
You didn't come in.
I don't...
I don't know the words.
If I don't know the words, I don't sing the song.
If I don't know the notes, I don't blow the tune.
If I don't know the steps, I don't do the dance.
And if I don't know the words, I don't sing the song.
That's the way I live my life.
I can't argue that.
I mean, that's a wonderful way to live your life.
But you don't have to know the words to sing the song.
Huh?
I said you don't have to know the words to sing to sing the song.
Then I was doing good.
No, you weren't.
Well, I don't know the words.
You were not singing.
I told you, you didn't have to know the words.
Listen to me.
Know the words to sing the song.
You weren't singing.
Well, I don't know the words.
How can you not know the words and sing the song if you don't know the words?
That's just what I said.
That's just what I told you.
You said what?
I said you don't have to know the words to sing the song.
Oh, but I misunderstood you correctly the first time.
You see, that's the magic.
That's the magic of a madrigal.
See, I mentioned madrigals were first created over 600 years ago.
Now, this was in Europe, and they didn't have any public education.
Most people were illiterate.
They couldn't read or write either.
And they wanted to sing these songs.
So what they did is when they came across...
When they came across these songs, they were trying to sing, and they couldn't
read the words.
They didn't know the words.
What they did is they made up their own words, their own lyrics.
These were called nonsense lyrics.
And after a few hundred years, they became standardized into the well-known madrigal
fa-la-las of today.
So, whenever you hear a musical phrase a little bit like this...
With a fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...
That's where it came from.
And that's how a person can sing the song without knowing the words.
I've heard of that.
That's like that Christmas carol.
Dig the balls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la.
Perfect example.
That's an example.
That was deck the halls.
I don't know the words.
Yeah, you did.
Anyway, what I mean is Tommy will now sing the fa-la-laws and I will sing the
lyrics.
Okay?
The fa-la-laws.
Second verse.
Second verse.
The time it is short, there is none I can spare.
The nightingale song soon will die in the air
Don't you think, dearest maiden, you'd better agree
To make love whilst the nightingale sings in the tree
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-fa-la-la-chirp-chirp
That was the sound of the nightingale
Big mother nightingale
Eats troubadours
I did not ask for a big mother nightingale
Did I? Did I ask for a big mother nightingale?
No, I threw in the sound of the nightingale
Because sometimes I heard you sing the lyrics about the nightingale
So I threw in the sound of the nightingale
Actually, nightingale doesn't go chirp, chirp, chirp
Okay, Tommy, Tommy
Hundreds of years ago, the nightingales were illiterate
And they couldn't leave
And so after hundreds of years
The chirp, chirp became a standardized sound for me
I get the point, it's not funny
I mean, I'm trying to help you, try to teach you something
You mock me
You're mocking my efforts
And what do you call it?
By ridiculing you
Okay, I'll give you one more shot, Tommy
You had your little funny joke
Now, what did I ask for?
Wipe that smirk off your face right now
What did I ask for?
Concentrate, now, what did I ask for?
You asked, when?
Just a few minutes ago
You didn't know the words, remember?
You didn't know the words?
Uh-huh
Uh-huh
And I asked for something?
Yeah
What did Dickie ask for?
You asked, you asked, you asked for me to do, you asked for me to do follow
laws
Uh-huh
That's what you asked, you said do follow laws
That's right, follow laws
You said, Tom, do follow laws
Uh-huh
And what did you give me?
Give you a bonus
I did not ask for a bonus
You don't ask for a bonus, it's a gift, it's a surprise
The surprise?
Well, surprise me with the follow laws
Just do the follow laws
Well, you didn't give me a chance to come in with the follow laws
Not supposed to
But you could
I can't sing the follow laws
How could
Just sing the follow laws
But then you won't hear the lyrics
Sing them softly then
Well, you didn't tell me what kind of follow laws
I'm not supposed to have to do that
You should know the song's a love song
My words are important, your follow laws are not
They're for texture
They're for color
Just light, delicate follow laws while I'm singing the words
Okay
You understand?
Okay
Loving follow laws
You didn't specify what kind of follow laws
I did now
I just get off
What kind of follow laws?
Loving follow laws
Sissy follow laws
Third verse
In the woods and the meadow
Beneath the pale moon
Every lad and his lad
Make the most of the Jews
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
To make love once a night
And get all things in the tree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
When there's two in the bush
There's a bird up your tree
Burn up your tree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
Well, we're back for the Smothers Brothers
Welcome back to the show
The Smothers Brothers are here
Tommy and Dickey
The stuff
Your material has always been great
And this, of course, was no exception
Wonderful stuff
And it's nice to see you
You're pretty much back in the uniform of
When you started, right?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
But you've got your sort of burgundy blazers on again
Yeah, we thought we'd do it
If we're going to do it, we should do it
We feel better wearing the red blazers
I'd prefer the tux, actually
But I like the blazers a lot
I like the red blazers a lot more than I do the tux
Yeah, but you know, 1961, June 26th
Right across the hall with Jack Parr show
The first late night show we did
That was the first one for you, right?
And in all those years, we've traveled 150 feet
That's right, right across the hall
We only have just a second or two here
But we will
How much time have we?
Oh, we've got to go right now
We'll be right back to discuss this
And many other things with the Smothers Brothers
Thank you
Thank you very much
Welcome back to the show
The Smothers Brothers are here, of course
A little bit later
And I guess this is why you're here
Ronald Reagan's barber will be joining us
When your program was on CBS
What was the first year it was on CBS?
Your variety show
67
66, 67
And it went off in June
No, April
It went on in February
February of 67
I thought it went on
68
And got fired in 69
Yeah
Now you want to explain that?
You were not canceled
As has become the trend
You were actually
No, we were fired
Yeah
I mean, we left under duress
Yeah
No, I don't think it shows up
We're not f***ed now
But we knew that
We're more mature about it
So you're handling it pretty well then
Oh yeah
Yeah, that's good
It's been over 13 years now
Yeah, really
It's been a long time
But you're legends now
As a result of that effort
Don't you think?
I don't know
I don't get any respect
Around where I live
No, I think it's been
Kind of a
In retrospect
It's been a blessing in disguise
Because it did
It was a major
Point in our lives
And other people's lives
And ten years later
We get this
Residual respect
From us
It was thought to be
A very controversial show
At the time
Did you consider it
Laden with controversy?
No, no, no
We didn't
See, they didn't believe us
CBS when they hired us
See
We were replacing Gary Moore
It was the last rated show
On television
We're going against Bonanza
And everybody got killed
Against Bonanza
So we said
We want to be
Socially relevant
And they said
Okay, anything you want
Anything you want
Because we'd be
In and out in 13
Yeah
At 13 shows
Which is now a big season
And so once we did it
And did the show
They started complaining
About the type of material
We were doing
And there was no controversy
Except what they created
In fact, we look back
And now it's changed a lot
We were going to
It's changed a whole lot
We were going to
Things have changed
A whole lot
Like
Things have loosened up
Like Lou Grant
You know, Lou Grant
Lou Grant show
He just got it
Rid of him real quick
Yeah
It's amazing
Because we were
Saying things on our show
He didn't
He's not making a statement
On the show
He's making it
Off the back
Isn't that weird?
He gets canned
For saying things off the air
And we got
For saying on the air
He's very righteous
What did that do
To your
At what point
Did you realize
You had an uphill battle
On your hands there?
A tiger by the tail
We noticed it
About the third show
Into the first season
So what did that do
To not only
You guys as performers
But your relationship
As brothers
It cemented our relationship
I think at that point
Things were coming down
It was pretty hard
And we started to
Take care of each other
A lot more
We did 72 of those shows
And Tommy and I
Would disagree sometimes
But the writers
Like Rob Reiner
And Steve Martin
Those guys
Mason Williams
They were actually
Radical compared to Tommy
And then I acted as
Tommy's conservative piece
And I thought
We argued about content
A lot on the show
But we agreed on
What we wanted to say
I just wanted to say it
For a longer period of time
Make more money
But what happened was
That Dick and I
Are closer because of that show
And it's really a break
To have a brother
That you can relate to
Particularly the ups and downs
Of being a comedian
And you get very depressed
And kind of manic depressive
Type of thing
And my brother
He's basically a fascist
And he stays
I tried
We did our separate ways
For a little bit
You know we retired
The Nyklub Act
And I went out
As a stand up straight man
And you don't get any laughs
But you don't
You don't ask for them either
You know I don't need any laughs
I'm a straight man
What a
Since
The pressure of having
Like a marriage
Is enormous
And then if you're
In show business
It's got to be doubled
But how do
Do you have an advantage
Being brothers
Oh yeah absolutely
We can deal with each other
And say
Plus it's been
Very supportive for each other
And it doesn't get in the way
I don't think
I think
Do you fight at all
I mean do you actually
After a show
Do you go someplace
Just a second
I want to clear this up
We never fight
No you can fight
It's much better
To be brothers
It's family
You know you could say
Much more heated things
You strike out each other
But you come back
And become much more close
What can you count on
That Tommy will do
On or off stage
That's going to irritate you
Night in or night out
Like clockwork
What do you
Oh here this comes again
Nothing
Nothing
Like Tommy
Tommy is
If he was
Let's say
If he didn't have
As much brains
If he was dumber
He'd be an idiot savant
He had no
He had no reason
To be able to do that
Tommy
It's like
Save your rear end
Type of comedy
He goes right up to a point
And you don't know
How he's going to get out
Of the statement
But something magically
Would come to his mouth
Fortunately I was born
Kind of inarticulate
And I've used it
As a crutch
As a crutch
Jack Parr said
The neatest thing
Jack Parr
When we first went
On the Jack Parr show
Jack had a habit
Of stepping on people's lines
Sometimes
Or breaking for a commercial
Right in front of the punchline
I don't know if he did this
By accident or not
But he never knew
When to cut in on my brother
Because Tommy didn't say a joke
And then finally Jack says
I don't know what you got
But nobody's going to steal it
Would you ever want to get back
Into a weekly situation
On television now
Yeah
We would like to
There's just
We don't know how to do it
We don't know what to do
Yeah
I watch your show
I like it
You've done heroic efforts
You know doing unique things
You've had a couple of shots
At other shows since
But nothing that you really
Nothing we got into
The variety is basically
A dead issue
As far as network television
Would it be impossible
To do that kind of show
With that kind of material now
And have it be a success
I think it would
I don't know
Maybe they're
There's always
It's always fun to try
Yeah
But you have such a short time
To put it together
Well there's two levels of success
One is your ratings
And one is the quality of the show
Yeah
And I think yes
You can put on a quality show
But your rating success
I don't know
Yeah
And it's a crapshoot
Like you said
Thirteen weeks
As people are buying property
In Bel Air
If they've been on for thirteen weeks
Well if you get a pilot
Yeah
Absolutely
What are we doing here
We're going away
The Smothers Brothers
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you gentlemen
For being here
Enjoy it
We'll be right back
With the presidential
Barber
Milton Kitt

The Smothers Brothers On Getting Fired By CBS | Letterman

Oh, the Smothers Brothers, I know.
The Smothers Brothers were two of the most popular and controversial television
performers of the 60s,
right up there with Ozzie and Harriet.
Their weekly series, which aired on CBS from 1966 through 1968,
was the launching ground for such talents as Pat Paulson, Glenn Campbell, and
Steve Martin,
and is still considered one of the most innovative comedy programs ever on
television.
Working as a duo, once again, it's a pleasure to welcome Tom and Dick Smothers.
Thank you very much.
My brother and I are very pleased to be on this show tonight,
and we'd like to do a song that is a type of song, music,
that's not sung very often on late-night television or nightclubs or concerts.
It's a form of music called Madrigal.
Madrigal songs have been around for over 600 years,
and it's a very interesting form of music, generally sung by small choirs,
very small choirs, 4'11", 5'0".
And we'll do it as a duet, and it's a love song, it's a ballad, it's a...
Are you...
It's my brother Tom.
And the song is entitled, over here, the song is entitled, this love song, the
Troubadour song.
Do you happen to know of a maiden in need of a sweetheart?
Here's one who is anxious to please, it's a shame that a handsome young fellow
like me should be left whilst the nightingale sings in the tree.
It's a shame that a handsome young fellow like me should be left whilst the
nightingale sings in the tree.
It's very difficult singing a duet by oneself.
Imagine, it puts a lot of pressure on your other voice.
I don't have another voice.
Then I suggest not trying to sing a duet by yourself.
I was not trying to sing a duet by myself.
That's just the way it turned out.
You see, you didn't sing, you didn't participate.
You didn't come in.
I don't...
I don't know the words.
If I don't know the words, I don't sing the song.
If I don't know the notes, I don't blow the tune.
If I don't know the steps, I don't do the dance.
And if I don't know the words, I don't sing the song.
That's the way I live my life.
I can't argue that.
I mean, that's a wonderful way to live your life.
But you don't have to know the words to sing the song.
Huh?
I said you don't have to know the words to sing to sing the song.
Then I was doing good.
No, you weren't.
Well, I don't know the words.
You were not singing.
I told you, you didn't have to know the words.
Listen to me.
Know the words to sing the song.
You weren't singing.
Well, I don't know the words.
How can you not know the words and sing the song if you don't know the words?
That's just what I said.
That's just what I told you.
You said what?
I said you don't have to know the words to sing the song.
Oh, but I misunderstood you correctly the first time.
You see, that's the magic.
That's the magic of a madrigal.
See, I mentioned madrigals were first created over 600 years ago.
Now, this was in Europe, and they didn't have any public education.
Most people were illiterate.
They couldn't read or write either.
And they wanted to sing these songs.
So what they did is when they came across...
When they came across these songs, they were trying to sing, and they couldn't
read the words.
They didn't know the words.
What they did is they made up their own words, their own lyrics.
These were called nonsense lyrics.
And after a few hundred years, they became standardized into the well-known madrigal
fa-la-las of today.
So, whenever you hear a musical phrase a little bit like this...
With a fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...
That's where it came from.
And that's how a person can sing the song without knowing the words.
I've heard of that.
That's like that Christmas carol.
Dig the balls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la.
Perfect example.
That's an example.
That was deck the halls.
I don't know the words.
Yeah, you did.
Anyway, what I mean is Tommy will now sing the fa-la-laws and I will sing the
lyrics.
Okay?
The fa-la-laws.
Second verse.
Second verse.
The time it is short, there is none I can spare.
The nightingale song soon will die in the air
Don't you think, dearest maiden, you'd better agree
To make love whilst the nightingale sings in the tree
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-fa-la-la-chirp-chirp
That was the sound of the nightingale
Big mother nightingale
Eats troubadours
I did not ask for a big mother nightingale
Did I? Did I ask for a big mother nightingale?
No, I threw in the sound of the nightingale
Because sometimes I heard you sing the lyrics about the nightingale
So I threw in the sound of the nightingale
Actually, nightingale doesn't go chirp, chirp, chirp
Okay, Tommy, Tommy
Hundreds of years ago, the nightingales were illiterate
And they couldn't leave
And so after hundreds of years
The chirp, chirp became a standardized sound for me
I get the point, it's not funny
I mean, I'm trying to help you, try to teach you something
You mock me
You're mocking my efforts
And what do you call it?
By ridiculing you
Okay, I'll give you one more shot, Tommy
You had your little funny joke
Now, what did I ask for?
Wipe that smirk off your face right now
What did I ask for?
Concentrate, now, what did I ask for?
You asked, when?
Just a few minutes ago
You didn't know the words, remember?
You didn't know the words?
Uh-huh
Uh-huh
And I asked for something?
Yeah
What did Dickie ask for?
You asked, you asked, you asked for me to do, you asked for me to do follow
laws
Uh-huh
That's what you asked, you said do follow laws
That's right, follow laws
You said, Tom, do follow laws
Uh-huh
And what did you give me?
Give you a bonus
I did not ask for a bonus
You don't ask for a bonus, it's a gift, it's a surprise
The surprise?
Well, surprise me with the follow laws
Just do the follow laws
Well, you didn't give me a chance to come in with the follow laws
Not supposed to
But you could
I can't sing the follow laws
How could
Just sing the follow laws
But then you won't hear the lyrics
Sing them softly then
Well, you didn't tell me what kind of follow laws
I'm not supposed to have to do that
You should know the song's a love song
My words are important, your follow laws are not
They're for texture
They're for color
Just light, delicate follow laws while I'm singing the words
Okay
You understand?
Okay
Loving follow laws
You didn't specify what kind of follow laws
I did now
I just get off
What kind of follow laws?
Loving follow laws
Sissy follow laws
Third verse
In the woods and the meadow
Beneath the pale moon
Every lad and his lad
Make the most of the Jews
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
To make love once a night
And get all things in the tree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
When there's two in the bush
There's a bird up your tree
Burn up your tree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
You'd better agree
Don't you think, tourist maiden
Well, we're back for the Smothers Brothers
Welcome back to the show
The Smothers Brothers are here
Tommy and Dickey
The stuff
Your material has always been great
And this, of course, was no exception
Wonderful stuff
And it's nice to see you
You're pretty much back in the uniform of
When you started, right?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
But you've got your sort of burgundy blazers on again
Yeah, we thought we'd do it
If we're going to do it, we should do it
We feel better wearing the red blazers
I'd prefer the tux, actually
But I like the blazers a lot
I like the red blazers a lot more than I do the tux
Yeah, but you know, 1961, June 26th
Right across the hall with Jack Parr show
The first late night show we did
That was the first one for you, right?
And in all those years, we've traveled 150 feet
That's right, right across the hall
We only have just a second or two here
But we will
How much time have we?
Oh, we've got to go right now
We'll be right back to discuss this
And many other things with the Smothers Brothers
Thank you
Thank you very much
Welcome back to the show
The Smothers Brothers are here, of course
A little bit later
And I guess this is why you're here
Ronald Reagan's barber will be joining us
When your program was on CBS
What was the first year it was on CBS?
Your variety show
67
66, 67
And it went off in June
No, April
It went on in February
February of 67
I thought it went on
68
And got fired in 69
Yeah
Now you want to explain that?
You were not canceled
As has become the trend
You were actually
No, we were fired
Yeah
I mean, we left under duress
Yeah
No, I don't think it shows up
We're not f***ed now
But we knew that
We're more mature about it
So you're handling it pretty well then
Oh yeah
Yeah, that's good
It's been over 13 years now
Yeah, really
It's been a long time
But you're legends now
As a result of that effort
Don't you think?
I don't know
I don't get any respect
Around where I live
No, I think it's been
Kind of a
In retrospect
It's been a blessing in disguise
Because it did
It was a major
Point in our lives
And other people's lives
And ten years later
We get this
Residual respect
From us
It was thought to be
A very controversial show
At the time
Did you consider it
Laden with controversy?
No, no, no
We didn't
See, they didn't believe us
CBS when they hired us
See
We were replacing Gary Moore
It was the last rated show
On television
We're going against Bonanza
And everybody got killed
Against Bonanza
So we said
We want to be
Socially relevant
And they said
Okay, anything you want
Anything you want
Because we'd be
In and out in 13
Yeah
At 13 shows
Which is now a big season
And so once we did it
And did the show
They started complaining
About the type of material
We were doing
And there was no controversy
Except what they created
In fact, we look back
And now it's changed a lot
We were going to
It's changed a whole lot
We were going to
Things have changed
A whole lot
Like
Things have loosened up
Like Lou Grant
You know, Lou Grant
Lou Grant show
He just got it
Rid of him real quick
Yeah
It's amazing
Because we were
Saying things on our show
He didn't
He's not making a statement
On the show
He's making it
Off the back
Isn't that weird?
He gets canned
For saying things off the air
And we got
For saying on the air
He's very righteous
What did that do
To your
At what point
Did you realize
You had an uphill battle
On your hands there?
A tiger by the tail
We noticed it
About the third show
Into the first season
So what did that do
To not only
You guys as performers
But your relationship
As brothers
It cemented our relationship
I think at that point
Things were coming down
It was pretty hard
And we started to
Take care of each other
A lot more
We did 72 of those shows
And Tommy and I
Would disagree sometimes
But the writers
Like Rob Reiner
And Steve Martin
Those guys
Mason Williams
They were actually
Radical compared to Tommy
And then I acted as
Tommy's conservative piece
And I thought
We argued about content
A lot on the show
But we agreed on
What we wanted to say
I just wanted to say it
For a longer period of time
Make more money
But what happened was
That Dick and I
Are closer because of that show
And it's really a break
To have a brother
That you can relate to
Particularly the ups and downs
Of being a comedian
And you get very depressed
And kind of manic depressive
Type of thing
And my brother
He's basically a fascist
And he stays
I tried
We did our separate ways
For a little bit
You know we retired
The Nyklub Act
And I went out
As a stand up straight man
And you don't get any laughs
But you don't
You don't ask for them either
You know I don't need any laughs
I'm a straight man
What a
Since
The pressure of having
Like a marriage
Is enormous
And then if you're
In show business
It's got to be doubled
But how do
Do you have an advantage
Being brothers
Oh yeah absolutely
We can deal with each other
And say
Plus it's been
Very supportive for each other
And it doesn't get in the way
I don't think
I think
Do you fight at all
I mean do you actually
After a show
Do you go someplace
Just a second
I want to clear