Smothers Brothers Still Fighting for Laughs

Dick and Tom Smothers have been carrying on the world’s most famous brotherly quarrel since Cain and Abel locked horns lo those many years ago.

And although most of America is by now wise to the fact that the Smothers Brothers really don’t hate each other, Dick Smothers says that he and his brother are actually getting the last laugh.

“When we get off a good show, Tommy and I look at each other and say, ‘Well, fooled them again,’ ” Dick said recently. “If we had material, we’d be dangerous.”

Yep, if the Brothers Smothers had material, they might actually make us laugh even harder than we have since they broke onto the nation’s consciousness with a mid-season replacement variety show on CBS in 1967, one that knocked longtime Sunday night ratings champ “Bonanza” off its horse and made the Establishment reel.

Actually, in the 20 years since Tommy and Dickie were abruptly yanked from the airwaves after a dispute with the network over their decidedly liberal leanings, they’ve gotten remarkably conventional, acting in Broadway plays, making TV commercials and producing game shows, an indication that the Woodstock generation has indeed grown up.

In fact, the boys have become so mainstream that CBS, the network that originally spurned them, has welcomed them back--sort of.

You see, the former “Tiffany Network” has seen the tarnish on the good silver that used to be its lofty ratings and has consequently given the Smothers Brothers a chance to come back with fresh episodes of their show after their 20th anniversary show racked up boffo ratings two years ago.

The problem, according to Dick, is that the network has jerked the show--which originally introduced such talented future stars as Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Pat Paulsen and David Steinberg--in and out of time slots, never allowing it to build an audience.

“CBS doesn’t promote us at all, despite the fact that we do two (Nielsen ratings) points ahead of anything else they put in our slots,” Dick said. “They’ve got to know that promotions are crucial. But then, this is the network that canceled ‘Green Acres’ and ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ while they were on top of the ratings.”

At any rate, the Brothers are contracted to CBS for eight episodes of an untitled sitcom, and if the network doesn’t pick up the show, Dick said that they will sell it someplace else.