Mom Always Liked Him Best

 Approaching the end of a tough year for celebrity loss, I bring you the words of Tom Smothers who passed away this past Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, California: “It’s hard for me to stay silent when I keep hearing that peace is only attainable through war.” 

Tommy said this at the 2008 Emmy Awards, where he was being acknowledged for his work in television over the course of five decades. When I watched the Smothers Brothers way back in 1968 I had no idea just how subversive they were. They had Buffalo Springfield and The Who on as musical guests. There were all sorts of jokes being made at the expense of the establishment, including bringing Pete Seeger on not once but twice to sing Waist Deep In The Big Muddy. The first time, the executives at CBS wouldn't let it air. So the Brothers Smothers brought him back to make sure America got to see and hear it. And when the rest of the TV establishment was wishing Merry Christmas to the troops overseas, Tommy sent his holiday wishes to the draft dodgers in Canada. 

All of which might have become tiresome if Tommy and his brother Dick weren't also bringing solid entertainment mixed with their anti-war rhetoric. They boasted talent like Rob Reiner and Steve Martin on their writing staff, and they brought us the earliest known sightings of Super Dave Osborne when he was going by the title Officer Judy. 

Oh, and The Smothers Brothers themselves were funny. Very. Years of honing their act in clubs and other people's TV shows made them one of the tightest comic/folk song duos on network TV. Until the powers that be decided they had enough fun at the corporation's expense. That was fifty-three years ago. Tommy Smothers received his Emmy Award thirty-eight years after his show was cancelled. If you look at your television today and see a Jon Stewart, a Steven Colbert, a John Oliver, a Samantha Bee or any of the myriad of topical news-comedians, you can thank Tommy Smothers. 

He stomped on the Terra and gave fits to the network censors, and made the world a more thoughtful and amusing place. He will be missed. 

Aloha, Tommy.