Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour"
David Bianculli
Touchstone
December 1, 2009
There were some concessions made for the performance of these three songs on network TV - no nudity being the obvious one. Other parts, though, demonstrated remarkable fidelity to the original stage version. They lyrics to the title song included a couplet cut from the subsequent Cowsills rendition yet presented on Comedy Hour intact, despite the show's history with offending many religious viewers: "My hair like Jesus wore it. Hallelujah, I adore it@" And elsewhee in teh same song, a cast member sits in a yoga lotus position, draped in an American flag and pretending to sew Betsy Ross-style, as his fellow "tribe members" sing, to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner," a brief, irreverent anthem: "O say, can you see my eyes? If you can, then my hair's too short!"
|
