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?
When The Smothers Brothers began, CBS had no idea the struggle that was to come later on. During the first season, the brothers were clean-cut, wore nice suits, and were attractive to both young, left wing viewers and older audience members. Initially the show featured a small amount of political humor, it was mostly middle of the road and did not differ much from other shows on at the time. The trouble with the show began when the brothers started to align themselves with the rebellious youth, and produced material that would appeal to their tastes and lifestyles (Bodroghkozy, 204). CBS fought back against this and tried to have stricter censorship. As the the show moved into its third season and CBS employed stricter standards, the brothers tried to slip in more unambiguous political material and made the show more confrontational (Bodroghkozy, 206). They also encouraged their writers to write more openly political material (Hilmes, 266). The show taunted the network and worked hard to trick the censors into allowing inappropriate material to pass through. The battle between the brothers and the network intensified as the political situation in the United States grew unstable. Minority groups were fighting for representation and there was a “crisis of authority” in the country (Bodroghkozy, 208). CBS did not want to contribute to this growing dissonance and were facing economic pressure from adversities; the network was looking for a way out. CBS soon found a reason to cancel the show, the ratings began to decrease and since CBS could no longer turn a blind eye to the politics of the show, they cancelled it. Although CBS claimed they cancelled the show because of ratings, it was well known that the cancellation came about because of politics. The Smothers Brothers was “one of the few examples of a successful network show to be cancelled because of politics” (Hilmes 267). In the 1960s and early 1970s, networks were attempting to cater to youths; The Smother Brothers was CBS’s effort to go after the youth market. This was problematic for some because the youth was more interested in politics than their parent’s generation was. Many shows that were catered to the youth featured political segments that did not sit well with networks or advertisers. During that time, the networks and advertisers decided what content was appropriate. I think today, the networks still have a great deal of control over what is deemed appropriate. Although today shows are more openly political and discuss issues not formally considered appropriate for television, it has been a gradual and slow change. Networks are still concerned with the bottom line and with what advertisers will pay for. Toady networks allow more, but they still have strict censorship, which is why some viewers turn to cable where there are few restrictions.
ReplyDeleteDespite the seemingly progressive nature of the times, the Sixties still saw its share of socially conservative playmakers. CBS wanted to censor The Smothers Brothers for many reasons. One would think that the first season’s overly suggestive jokes about illicit drugs and glorification of their effects would be of concern to the network. But surprisingly, writers and censors fought very infrequently over these matters, as the age gap between the two groups allowed the former a great deal of creative liberty with the slang used in the script.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as the show moved into its second season, the Smothers’ sketches became increasingly confrontational and leftist. The Smothers Brothers saw their show as an opportunity to allude to the various injustices that were happening around the country (and world) at the time. Bodroghkozy’s mention of the Chicago riot incident (an indirect form of censorship wherein CBS refused to allow the Smothers Brothers to show “violent” footage of the events) really highlights the program’s inability to give viewers the true, bitter criticism the Brothers wanted to.
CBS was forced to censor the Brothers for many reasons, the most important of which being financial concerns. In order to maintain good relationships with advertisers (and therefore finance their studios), CBS had to air material that didn’t ruffle too many feathers. Though being abursd and controversial was great in attracting viewers, it didn’t exactly serve as a mating call for sponsors, or even affiliates (Bodroghkozy notes that stations in Michigan, Kansas, and Nebraska, amongst many other states, threatened to drop the program).
Though determining what does and does not constitute appropriate content for network television remains a problem today, it seems to have been a much larger issue for the Smothers Brothers during their time. I think that the distinction Bodroghkozy makes between “editorialization” and “entertainment” is extremely important. Though examples of each may contain the same anarchist-y message, editorialization is far more threatening and taken much more seriously than entertainment (as seen in the discussion of the Joan Baez episode and the Kate Smith sketch). Clearly, the same case exists today. Jokes made on SNL during George W. Bush’s administration were relatively unpunished, but acrimony abounded when Kanye West appeared on a fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina victims and stated “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
CBS’ censorship of The Smothers Brothers was an attempt to save their image as a wholesome, family network that was non-partisan. However, The Smothers Brothers saw this non-partisanship as a way of siding with the corporations and the Vietnam War. The brothers’ aims at making a political statement were often tamed and even outright censored by the network, creating even more motivation for the brothers to try to broadcast their beliefs.
ReplyDeleteWhat made it to air and through the censors on The Smothers Brothers gives an idea of how conservative television was at the time. Bodroghkozy discusses the show’s recurring hippie character, Goldie, who often made references to drugs in detail in order to give a sense of what made it to broadcast. Bodroghkozy states, “the censors may also have been less concerned with Goldie’s humor since the majority of Americans probably did not know all the drug code terms she used, and thus her humor probably resulted in fewer complaints” (206). The ability for the Goldie sketches to be shown illustrates that what was deemed appropriate on television in the 1960s and 1970s was often based on the true message and humor being hidden in the subtext. Today, television is more openly political and less subtle as cable offers viewers the ability to watch whatever type of programming they agree with and ignore the rest, thus eliminating as much outrage from viewers as they are given the option to simply change the channel. Cable also has helped loosen censors and networks have gained the ability to broadcast more racy material in order to keep up.
The Smothers Brothers was cancelled because they were truly progressive and destructive while CBS only wanted something that looked progressive. The networks at the time wanted to capture the energy and aesthetic of the counterculture without adopting its ideals. The Smothers Brothers spoke out frequently against the Vietnam war and the inequalities that littered the time. They were exactly what the networks tried to keep off the network. The Smothers Brothers at first seemed so safe, so white, so non-threatening that CBS didn't think they had to worry about any controversy. CBS was also not worried about the show being popular, because it went up against Bonanza.
ReplyDeleteOnce it was clear that they were a hit, CBS had to reign in the brothers. They tried influencing them and nudging them toward safer content, which they would not do. They couldn't threaten their show at first because they were too profitable and CBS had a show that could beat Bonanza. In the end, they took them off the air after the Smothers Brothers refused to cooperate.
ReplyDeleteThe growing opposition between leftist and conservative cultures in the United States heavily provoked CBS’ censorship of The Smothers Brothers. Because the Brothers targeted a counterculture oriented young audience on a traditionally conservative network, CBS had an obligation to censor them to appease the traditional advertisers and network affiliates. Although the Brothers drew a large audience, CBS still had to limit the Brothers’ content in order to satisfy the wishes of advertisers and network affiliates who became outraged that their products were endorsing such material.
Since the networks’ traditional function was to appeal to the conservative ideology that served the majority of American television viewers, Bodroghkozy cites Todd Gitlin in identifying the show as an example of “hegemonic ideology”. With the addition of the Smothers Brothers to the CBS lineup, it served as an opposition to the views of most Americans, but remained domesticated in that these views did not seem threatening to the common American viewer. Bodroghkozy specifically uses the shows feature of Buffalo Springfield as an example of this in that the leftist purpose of the song, “For What It’s Worth” was counteracted by the silly antics of Tom and Dick.
While at first this domesticated opposition seemed harmless, by the second season of the show they began to push their luck and out rightly target the younger audience and concern themselves less with trying to keep their content domesticated. As the Smothers’ were censored more, they pushed the limits even farther as to what they could and could not say. The Beatles became popular guests on the show, and at one point George Harrison made an appearance by himself and urged the brothers to keep pushing the limits of censorship. The Brothers asked Harrison, “Do you have something important to say?” and further explained the difficulty they have to discuss important material; to which Harrison responded “Whether you can say it or not, keep trying to say it.”
Although the conservative ideology won out in the late 1960s and early 1970s and the Smothers Brothers were cancelled, their influence made its mark today. In the mid 1970s, SNL was first aired and took the reigns of political satire comedy that were once held by the Smothers and ran with it for decades up to the present. As the leftist movement became more domesticated inside the home, it became more appropriate to broadcast this type of comedy and the taboos of satire became less of a vice. In 1988, just 20 years after the Brothers were cancelled, they were able to have a reunion on CBS.
The Smothers Brothers was one of the few wildly successful shows due its relevance and quality. Through their comedy, the Smothers Brothers were able to discuss social issues such as counterculture, war, and other similar problems. The Smothers Brothers scooted their way into prime-time television as CBS anticipated for them a timely downfall. Once the network realized they were able to gain a large following, even against the front-running “Bonanza,” CBS developed distaste for how direct and accessible the message of the Smothers Brothers became.
ReplyDeleteThe popularity of TSB surprised CBS, as the program was assumed to be somewhat of a dud, especially going up against the number one “Bonanza.” As the Brothers’ influence manifested, CBS attempted to censor them in polite, passive ways as to slowly manipulate the program and create a new guise. The Brothers weren’t fond of these suggestions and strongly refused to censor their original and meaningful content. The distinguished brothers who became a voice for CBS that it never had – nor necessarily wanted – were silenced regardless of the popularity of their program. Even though the show was a lucrative investment for CBS, the network eventually chose its own morals over its profits.
During its three seasons, the groundbreaking CBS program The Smothers Brothers reflected an ideologically splintered 1960s American society of the late 1960s that was undergoing a unprecedented cultural revolution. In the article, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and the Youth Rebellion, author Aniko Bodroghkozy illuminates how the explicit subject matter being explored by the Smothers Brothers, such as references to drug use, drove CBS to censor the program as the network feared losing sponsorship dollars, airtime from network affiliates, and a fall in the ratings. “This presented a problem for CBS because illegal drug use could not be condoned, much less advocated on network television,”(Bodroghkozy pg. 205). Although CBS gave creative control to the Smothers Brothers during their first two seasons, by the third season CBS began to censor material that did not constitute as appropriate content. Instead of retreating in the face of network pressure, during the third season the Smothers Brothers openly criticized CBS, consistently emphasizing that their political allegiance lay with a youth counterculture movement that was determined to forge a new American cultural identity. Bodroghkozy analyzes how the Smothers Brothers reconstructed the structure and format of the show to accentuate their loyalty to America’s invigorated youth population. They did this by routinely panning to young and hip viewers in the audience to: ““Point out to television viewers exactly who they thought their audience really was and exactly who they wanted to address,”(Bodroghkozy pg. 212). The censorship of the Smothers Brothers by CBS outlines how television programming became a cultural symbol that represented what Bodroghkozy explains as a “crisis of authority,” in America during this turbulent time period. The Smothers Brothers shattered the barriers of what was allowable to broadcast to the public. This daring progressive program opened the doors for the cable television networks of today that are able to address a wide range of controversial topics and subject matters without fear of being condemned by society.
DeleteAlthough the first season of CBS’s program The Smothers Brothers was relatively similar to other television variety shows of its time, in order to gain viewership, the show’s writers used counter-programming to draw in younger audiences, as well as the counter-culture audience. By including hidden drug references in material such as Goldie O’Keefe’s segment “Share a little tea with Goldie,” the Smothers Brothers seemed to almost ask for confrontation from their network. As seasons of TSB continued, so did the Vietnam War, and TSB allied themselves clearly with the anti-war/counter-cultural movement, specifically in the third season premiere’s opening sketch. CBS was stuck with a show that was addressing the feelings of the political minority, and their sponsors were unhappy with the show’s content. TSB responded to CBS’s attempts by revealing to their audience what the writers were going through. On October 13, 1968, TSB opening skit included a row of men in suits who censored the Smothers brothers’ material until there was practically nothing left (Bodroghkozy, 210). The Smothers brothers also incorporated bands, which would perform counter-culture songs, into their programming.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, TSB was cancelled because CBS felt that the content was “attracting socially and politically uncontrollable ‘hip folk’” (Bodroghkozy, 213). This, combined with the need to keep sponsors content, caused CBS to terminate TSB contract as soon as they did not send in a broadcast tape in time for preview. Although the idea of programming and sponsorship is not structured necessarily in the same way as it was during he late 1960s and early 1970s, networks still control and monitor the material that takes place on their TV shows, and they wish the material to reflect well on them and bring in a specific kind of audience.