Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Finally, He Has Something in Common with John Wayne! Tom Smothers dead at 86 after cancer battle


By R.C.
Wednesday, December 27, 2023 at 12:31:53 p.m. est

Tom Smothers dead at 86 after cancer battle

Tom Smothers dead at 86 after cancer battle

via MailOnline for iPhone & iPad

His brother Dick Smothers, 84, announced that his brother and co-star passed away at home surrounded by family in Sonoma County, California on Tuesday.

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

One isn't supposed to speak ill of the deceased, but... Even as a kid I was repelled by them. Smug, smarmy (does anyone use that word anymore?) little hippie punks. There was a more recent quote from one of them somewhere that was more or less, "Drugs are the greatest thing ever!" Color me shocked (NOT)- and good riddance. (Couldn't stand Rowan and Martin either.) -RM

Wednesday, December 27, 2023 at 1:11:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...

Good point.Smothers never kissed Maureen O'Hara though.

Comedy was decent--sometimes funny as heck--but their singing was what impressed me--folk style.

Always mentioned with the late 60s,but if
you watch old shows,they don't hold up that much.Great musical guests



--GRA

Wednesday, December 27, 2023 at 1:19:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...

jerry pdx
I read their book "Dangerously Funny" and found it to be reasonably diverting, plus gave me insight into what made them tick. Their liberal politics were fueled by an incident with police when Tommy Smothers was smacked in the head by a cop when he was protesting something. After that, he went full on anti cop, anti establishment liberal and it fueled much of the politics on their show. It was Tommy that drove the show, his brother Dick actually withdrew and let his brother run the show, interestingly, Dick was clearly the smarter more talented brothers but Tommy had a more forceful personality so Dick backed off to avoid conflict with his brother.
They started out in folk and were decent musicians but didn't have strong singing voices which limited how far they could go in the folk world, which is why they shifted to comedy.
I agree with GRA that their comedy was reasonably humorous with moments of hilarity, but does come off a bit dated. I have no idea if their political views have changed as they aged but I have a feeling that if they were young today they'd be as woke as they come.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023 at 2:19:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...

Darren McGavin was a terrific actor and a flaming liberal- supposedly he too was knocked in the head by a cop when he was a young punk hanging out in the streets. People like that are vocally liberal not from good intentions, but from rebellion against some kind of authority they feel oppressed them. Jane Fonda's mental state reportedly stems from hatred of her father, allegedly a cold SOB who drove the mother to suicide. She STILL hasn't gotten over it. It doesn't help matters when people smoke dope and are subject to paranoia and psychosis, combined with lack of inhibition- the 60s generation in a nutshell. -RM

Wednesday, December 27, 2023 at 7:52:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...

Rich actors/actresses in Hollywood get very sympathetic about lower ethnic groups(as if they're pets)--the guilt of making millions for playing in front of a camera is too much for them to stand.But if White celebs in the 1940s,50s and 60s felt the same way as liberal/commie Whites do now,there'd be nary a Whitey onscreen from the 70s on.But those stars(like Wayne,Stewart,Gable,Bogart) understood the difference between thinking about "helping blacks" and kowtowing to blacks on every demand--because in doing so--you put White actors on the "soon to be extinct" list.

--GRA

Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 12:32:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...

NAME ONE SONG OF QUEEN LATIFAH'S--SHE'S HONORED AT 46TH KENNEDY AWARDS

GRA:Billy Crystal--yes.
Barry Gibb--yes.
Renee Fleming--yes.
Dionne Warwicke--yes.

Queen Latifah--NO!
When I saw highlights of the show and her contributions that qualified her to be part of the above group were:horrible rap,a horrible movie with Steve Martin and a horrible tv show,it became obvious that the standards of a previously decent method of whom to honor had been lowered to just being black.

Next year:lizzo.

--GRA

Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 8:59:00 AM EST

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