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As I well know, revisiting the mass media joys of one's past can be a dangerous thing. I loved the fantasy movie The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (co-created by Dr. Seuss) when I was a kid, but when I saw the movie again some 20 years later, I was sorely disappointed. I think it's letting such a lot of time pass between viewings, as I still love The Music Man and How to Succeed in Business and the old I Love Lucys which I loved as a kid and continued to have access to as I grew up. Still, I forge ahead bravely, risking disappointment, when I get the chance to re-view some of my childhood pleasures.
Hence, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The Best of Season 3 on DVD. In my memory, I have lumped this show in with another hip, controversial 60's comedy-variety series, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. A few years ago, I watched some old Laugh-In episodes and, while some bits still made me laugh, I appreciated it more as an exercise in nostalgia. I got pretty much the same feeling with the Smothers Brothers, who took their existing comic folk-music act and gave it a political jolt with lots of satirical jabs at the war, the government, and parents, and made lots of references (some veiled, some not) to drugs and the protest movement. By the third season (1968-69, the season during which they were cancelled due to their controversial material while still being a top 20 show), they had pretty much dropped their sibling rivalry schtick (slow Tommy whining to pompous Dickie, "Mom always liked you best!") for topical humor, and as we all know, that's the humor most susceptible to becoming quickly dated, and that's definitely true here.
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I couldn't embed the video of Donovan's "Happiness Runs" performance, but here's a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkxRoCdYG0U
1 comment:
I got a VHS tape "A Session With the Committee" some years ago (from Aardvark Video)--thought it was good improv. Have a dub somewhere of that, but it might be unwatchable in terms of quality.
The series on PBS right now "Make 'em Laugh" is a pretty good retrospective of comedy over the years. The first episode (of five) covered Lucy among a lot of other people and shows.
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