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So,I’ve been reading this book,”Dangerously Funny”, about the rise of the Smothers Brothers, and their censorship battles with the CBS network. For a couple of guys whose show started out as a simple variety show, they were very revolutionary. Watch the video for “Give Peace a Chance” sometime, the one filmed at the bed-in in Toronto. That’s Tom Smothers you see playing guitar, and hear on the recorded video. The Smothers Brothers paid the ultimate career price for their supposed sins,being fired from CBS and having to fight a protracted legal battle against the network. It really got me to thinking , though, where are all the Smothers out there? I’m not talking about satirists alone. Let’s be honest, most of them are preaching to the converted(Jon Stewart), or relegated to late night pay cable or some other TV equivalent of West Virginia dinner theater.(Bill Maher). No, I’m talking about those who would use it to directly confront the evils of our time(war in iraq, corporate greed, incompetent government) with humor and fun. Who would use a major network to promote human causes, and worthwhile artists, and for once,not have them on just to play their latest single.(Who wouldn’t kill to see some artists do that?) Now, I’m sure someone’s going to point out that a)we have 1000+ channels and b) there’s this thing called the internet. But as much as a band can sell on Myspace and do well, ask how many of them would cut off their mother’s left tit for a prime time network spot, and if they could play the two songs that best represent them. Artists used the Smothers Brothers show to launch new songs, not rehash old ones. I’d love to have someone use CBS’ money or maybe good old arms dealing dough from GE on NBC for something like that. And yes, the networks may be dying, but it may take a long time for them to do it. They still get more viewers than anything out there, period. And only every other house in this country has a computer and internet, still. So who would I put on the Trevor Curtis variety hour?My opening spot would be a stand-up by either Neil Hamburger or Margaret Cho. Musical guests for the first season would probably be Cruxshadows, Immortal Technique, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Gwar, just to see how many censor’s heads I could get to explode. And Patton Oswalt,David Cross and Brian Posehn would help me pick out my sketch writers.Lastly, Jim Hightower, Amy Goodman, and Paul Heyman would close out each week with a rotating rant.
