Why did CBS censor The Smothers Brothers? How did The Smothers Brothers respond to CBS’s attempts at censorship? How did questions of what constitutes appropriate content for network TV play out in the late 1960s and early 1970s and how do they play out today?
CBS continually censored The Smothers Brothers due to its “generational and ideological battles over the Vietnam war” (202), psychedelic drug references, and other references to social/political dissent amongst the youth. Risqué skits alluding to drug use, controversial guests who made blatant political statements, and the Smothers Brothers’ undeniable left leaning commentaries made the program susceptible to concern from CBS, but even so, the program preferred to poke fun at those concerns and use them as a punch line.
ReplyDeleteCBS seemed to crack down on The Smothers Brothers more heavily as the program became more left leaning and one sided and featured more “editorial” style skits and monologues that sometimes lacked a punch line. Instead of offering balanced criticism of both sides, the more The Smothers Brothers favored youth-oriented opinions, the more CBS seemed to censor the program, leading to its eventual canceling.
Questions of taste and censorship seem to play out somewhat differently today, however. With cable television, there are so many different channels with different types of programs. In terms of news programs, there are channels that are definitely more right or left leaning—but because both exist, there really aren’t any issues with censorship (at least to my knowledge). I feel that only shows that feature content that could be construed as deeply offensive are censored nowadays (i.e., the episode of South Park featuring Mohammad). Issues with balance and fairness or relating strongly to only one generation, as with The Smothers Brothers, however, seem like a nonissue nowadays.
ReplyDeleteCBS censored the Smothers Brothers because of their political outspokenness. They disagreed with much of what was occurring in America in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s (like the Vietnam war) and used their television show as a platform to express themselves. Despite threats of censorship, the Smothers Brothers continued to showcase their ideologies on a comedic, widely-viewed platform. In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, television was still gaining its footing. Amid the contentious political climate of America, broadcasters felt the need to be very cautious in their programming choices. In today’s television world, networks can get away with a lot more. Obviously America has become much more lenient in their constitutions of “appropriate content,” and with cable, people have many more opportunities to speak out without worries of being censored. For example, subscription channels like HBO are able to show nudity, violence, and abrasive language, and people who wish to subject themselves to this are free to pay and watch it. For networks such as NBC, censorship has definitely subsided, but it still must be somehow intact because it’s much easier to access than specialty channels. Back in the time when Smothers Brothers was on the air, people only had a few channels to choose from. Now if people want to watch something that will coincide with their views, they have a multitude of channels to choose from, and therefore, a multitude of channels to avoid if they wish to do so.
The Smothers Brothers Show was a highly controversial show with its network, CBS. CBS eventually censored the show because the Smothers Brothers were bringing issues on T.V that were critical for the time. When CBS attempted to censor them, the Smother’s Brothers would make fun of it and call the network out. They got such great responses from the audience, but the network couldn’t stand it anymore. Viewers today seem to have more control over what keeps a show on. If its popular and makes the network money, then it stays. Since the standards of censorship are much more different now from the 1960s and 70s, it’s hard to compare what’s appropriate, but it’s safe to say that television has been allowed to become a lot more crude. The censoring of the Smothers brothers brings up public interest, what the people want versus what is thought to be good for us. The Smothers Brothers believed what was good for the people was what we wanted to hear: an honest opinion. Nowadays there are many other shows like the Smothers Brothers (such as The Daily Show and the Colbert Report) who use sarcasm as a means to letting the public know of their opinions and its okay to not agree with every political decision made.
ReplyDeleteCBS began censoring the Smothers Brothers due to controversial sketches, songs, and messages in their shows. They not only had issues with “good taste”, but also attempted to “attract a politically and socially disaffected youth audience” (Bodroghkozy, 202). The Smothers began to “assert their political allegiances on prime-time television”, and most of their views were the complete opposite of what CBS supported (Bodroghkozy, 202). The show had many special guests who spread anti-war and drug culture messages to the audiences at home, even though they were very subtle. CBS were opposed to the counterculture messages being spread around, and the sponsors were upset that no one was stopping the Smothers Brothers from continuing to make lewd material. However, the brothers recognized the “political repressiveness as the network’s motivation” and kept adding sketches that mocked the censors as well as current events at the time (Bodroghkozy, 210). The Smothers Brothers began targeting only young people by avoiding the conventional variety setup and making clear, political statements in their sketches. In the 60s and 70s, networks attempted to censor more and more content as shows became more diverse, political, or blatantly against what the network represented. Broadcasters were very cautious and cracked down on anything that could potentially upset the viewers or sponsors. Today, television shows are able to have much more controversial content, since there is such a variety of programming. Certain channels are created that allow extreme violence or nudity, but people must pay in order to watch it. If a person disagrees with a show, they can easily change the channel to something more suitable to their tastes. They are not subjected to the heavy content due to the few number of channels, such as there were in the 60s.
ReplyDeleteCBS began to censor the Smothers Brothers as their show became increasingly more radical in its messages, but the Smothers Brothers reacted simply through escalation of what they tried to put on the air and sneak past the censors. Eventually something had to give and in this case it was CBS firing the Smothers Brothers. The Smothers Brothers criticisms of the government and references to drugs and psychedelics were something that the networks were not ready for yet. This was not what was “acceptable content” as deemed in the 1960s and 1970s. The idea of acceptable content is an interesting one because, even now, we grapple with the notion of what this phrase necessarily constitutes. For instance, in the clip above, references are made to how the Smothers Brothers couldn’t criticize the president (or even governor) on their show. In that sense, we have come a long way. Shows like SNL, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report regularly criticize every aspect of the governing structures of this nation with little political censorship. On the other hand, though, many of George Carlin’s seven dirty words are still things that cannot be said on TV (for most programs at least, South Park gets away with quite a bit). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just shows that as a society, we are much more open to political and social criticism than we are to the use of dirty, offensive language in mainstream media.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Bodroghkozy’s article, it seems to me that even from the start, the people at CBS must have realized that in trying to reach a younger audience the Smothers brothers would interact with youth counter culture. Indeed, that’s what they seemed to do. At the beginning, though, unlike towards the end of their run, the brothers were able to successfully present the content of drug culture and anti-war sentiments in an unthreatening manner. For one, the Smothers brothers were clean-cut, with conservative haircuts, suits and humor, which helped them appeal to the more conservative, often older, crowd. Furthermore, they effectively used their humor as a tool to diffuse moments when they presented heavy political topics in their sketches. Finally, characters such as “Goldie O’Keefe” are a perfect example of how the Smothers brothers and their staff of young writers were able to present counterculture drug-related content by employing culture-specific language, not necessarily known to the conservative audience.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn’t until the brothers became more blatant in their presentation of counter culture, often completely neglecting a comedic punch line, that the network felt the overwhelming need to object and ultimately cancel the show (as well as in response to outside pressure from viewers and local stations).
Nowadays, it’s hard to say what methods of censorship might be at work. Networks, especially cable networks, are certainly more open about representations of sexuality, violence, and language. Furthermore, as many people mentioned previously, opposing ideologies might simply find homes in the abundance of networks currently in existence. However, though ideologically motivated cancellations of shows don’t seem as prevalent, I find it hard to believe that they don’t still happen (an all too recent example was The Ellen Show getting canceled in 2002 arguably due to backlash about Ellen’s character coming out in primetime).
The Smothers Brothers joked around many controversial topics such as the Vietnam War, the president, and racism on their television show. CBS would censor any material regardless of however it would to be used. An example of such said controversial material included the song “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” sung by Pete Seeger, a formerly blacklisted protest singer. “The final stanza ran ‘Now every time I read the papers/ That old feelin’ comes on/ We’re waist deep in the Big Muddy/ And the big fool says to push on.’ CBS censors immediately recognized the song as a thinly veiled reference to President Johnson’s leadership in Vietnam and insisted that it be cut from the show” (OC 3rd Edition, 273-274.) Even though The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was a popular show, the CBS was still willing enough to censor the show from adding any other potential controversial issues. In response to CBS’s attempts at censorship, the brothers began to change their show into one that featured a youth-oriented opinion. This eventually led to the cancellation of the show.
ReplyDeleteIf networks provided similar actions as the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, then nearly all television programs in today’s times would be censured in some way or another and would face an eventual cancellation. Today, there are television shows that portray extremely political leftists and rightists, violence, profanity, and even nudity. The fact that shows such as South Park are able to run on air while the Smothers Brothers faced censorship portrays how different times have really become in that nearly anything shown today is simply okay to broadcast.
Back in the 60s and 70s, society was on a rapid change about what was and was not acceptable. Drugs were becoming prominent, anti-war movements were louder than ever, and the Sex Revolution was influencing teenagers everywhere. The Smothers Brothers didn't like to shy away from commenting on and/or making jokes of these highly controversial topics of the time, and CBS was not okay with it. The Smothers Brothers liked to base their shows and have special guests on that commented on these changes, but CBS was keen on not allowing their personal views be shared on the network, especially since CBS was quite the conservative network. The Smothers Brothers essentially just made fun of the censors and worked around them, causing more controversy and ultimately ended in CBS firing them. It's interesting to look at that and compare it to present day television, where nudity, drugs, violence, and political views are the backbone of modern television. With so many options around for television and with society being in a totally different now, programs don't need to censor themselves nearly as much anymore. If a viewer doesn't like what they see, they simply change the channel to something they do like. With broadcast networks, the more violent or promiscuous shows are typically shown later in the evening with "family-oriented" shows getting the 8 PM slot to start the night off, as kids are usually still awake. The Parents Television Council is one of the few organizations around today that will criticize the networks for what they air, but they don't actually have much power.
ReplyDeleteThe Smothers Brothers emerged around the counter cultural movement. By 1965 this movement included a non-traditional look with the hippie culture and anti war protests. The style associated with this movement parted from the progressive social movement association that once existed. At this time the first sex discrimination suits were filed, there was the establishment of organization for women, the gay liberation movement, rock counter culture, and many more. The Smothers Brothers liked to include this information and type of style in their show. They did not shy away from speaking the truth and they often tried to avoid censorship and snuck away from it in order to continue to present the content in their show. The sponsors did not like the material that was provided by The Smothers Brothers and therefore would not sponsor their shows. CBS needed to sensor The Smothers Brothers or else they would need to pay for the show on their own. In 1969, The Smothers Brothers was taken off the air. Censorship is much different today in the way we have cable television as well as different parental control systems. We have television shows that favor Republicans such as FOX and others that favor Democrats such as CNN however those don't have issues with censorship because we are already aware of the issues of the world. In the 1960s and 1970s they were less aware of what was going on in their society and therefore the content The Smothers Brothers provided had more of an effect on the public than it would have today.
ReplyDeleteCBS censored The Smothers Brothers because the show continually attempted to align itself with the youth culture and to test the boundaries of what they could get away with showing on television. For example, Lentz discusses how the show frequently referenced drug culture and used many drug slang terms that were aired on the show simply because the censors did not know what they meant. The shows responded to censorship by deciding to air even more controversial and political material, rather than backing down and submitting to CBS. They also made their political affiliations and beliefs even more clear, beliefs that aligned with those of the youth and countercultures. One way they did this was by having guests on their show, such as Joan Baez, who were figures in the counterculture movement and who said controversial things on the show. However, despite all their resistance against CBS I found it interesting that even after the show was cancelled many members of the counterculture saw them as part of the problem rather than the solution, and as being aligned with CBS's beliefs rather than the new, radical beliefs of the counterculture and underground media. Nowadays, I feel that censorship is much less strict on television, at least on cable television. I think there are plenty of shows where people say pretty much whatever they want, without fear of having their show cancelled.
ReplyDeleteThe censorship of CBS’s popular show, The Smothers Brothers, brings up relevant social and political elements of culture as well as reflects the current state of the television industry in 1960’s and 70’s. The Smothers Brothers comedic show bluntly discussed criticisms of the Vietnam War, the rising popularity of drugs and negative aspects of government and politics. Audiences across the United States instantly fell in love with the “editorial” style skits, monologues and controversial guest appearances. The presentation of counterculture messages paired with the comedic, sarcastic content made the show was an instant success with younger audiences. However it seemed the more The Smothers Brothers discussed politics and culture, the more CBS had to censor them.
ReplyDeleteFrom the perspective of CBS’s producers, I can understand why they thought it was necessary to censor the widely popular Smothers Brothers show. The climate of the times was not prepared for the extremely leftist commentary with no counterargument. These messages were being distributed to a mass audience, who may not have more exposure to news and politics outside of this show. While today these shows definitely exist, such as The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, they have their place in formulating “truth.” CBS felt they had to censor because the combination of satire and politics could easily misconstrued as truth and a reflection of the views of CBS. This would be extremely detrimental to the network as well as public opinion, therefore CBS had no choice but to censor and later cancel The Smothers Brothers.
The Smothers Brothers was not initially seen as a show that would be censored, it was seen as a show that would capture the young audience while displaying traditional values. Developed over its seasons into the show that CBS would censor by incorporating drug references (LSD, marijuana) and cultural/social topics CBS deemed distasteful. At first CBS was not too harsh in their censoring of the program when the Smothers Brothers referenced drugs, for example with the earlier show casings of Goldie O’Keefe, because the way this material was presented. The show used slang and comedy “mystifying its meanings to the older generation” (Bodroghkozy), meaning that censors were less concerned with the references as a lot of America would not recognize what was going on. As the show matured they pushed the envelope to what was acceptable to CBS. During the third season the show dealt with anti-war protests and “the social transformations and political upheavals that the late 1950s had witnessed” (Bodroghkozy pg 208); the show continued to show leftist bias and material that focused on the youth counter culture of the time period. When CBS attempted to censor the program, the Smothers Brothers made their political views even more clear while creating shows that mocked critics and dissented against CBS and the networks censors. As the show continued to go against the views of CBS and what CBS though was “appropriate content” the amount of censoring increased until the show was eventually canceled. Today networks are much more lenient on what is considered to be “appropriate content” even though there are shows that have strong political biases or display heavy graphical content. One reason for this change may be related to the number of networks on TV today, if a show is deemed to stray away from the political or ethical values of one channel there is a good chance that the show will be accepted on another channel with different values.
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