I saw this episode of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' but I don't remember it very well, and the notes I took while viewing it have been mislaid: it was definitely one of the less memorable episodes of the Smothers' siblings very innovative series. Carl Reiner briefly turns up in this episode, probably as a favour to his (then-obscure) son Rob, one of the Smothers' gag writers.
The opening credits of the series typically featured Ron Poindexter's dancers dressed as a marching band, performing to an instrumental version of the theme tune (it had a lyric, but this was omitted) while waving placards bearing the names of this week's guest artists. The placard bearing Carl Reiner's name is misspelt 'Riener'. I'd thought this was an error when I spotted it during the opening credits, but when Reiner finally comes onstage to join the Smothers Brothers he complains about the error, and it straight away becomes obvious that this is a pre-scripted routine ... so the error must have been intentional. Not every performer would be willing to have his name deliberately misspelt for the sake of a joke.
SLIGHT SPOILER NOW. Early in this episode, during their folk-music spot, Tom and Dick perform a song I've never heard anywhere else before or since, about a girl named Jenny Brown. It starts out seeming to be a straightforward ballad (not a very good one), then it turns into a joke song (still not a very good one) ending with the punchline "What a rotten sense of humour has my sweetheart Jenny Brown".
In the second half of this episode, there's an appearance by a folk singer named Jennie Smith. The Smothers boys give her a REALLY bad introduction, by pointing out that they've done a song about a girl named Jenny Brown, and now here's a girl named Jennie Smith. (Try to restrain your applause.) She's a pretty blonde with a pretty voice but nothing sensational. Afterwards, she and the Smotherses lapse into some really bad banter about her name. What do people named Smith do when they want to check into hotels? They make up some other name. Ha bloody ha.
'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' is deservedly an important marker in television history, but its content was extremely variable ... and this episode is definitely one of the weaker efforts.
The opening credits of the series typically featured Ron Poindexter's dancers dressed as a marching band, performing to an instrumental version of the theme tune (it had a lyric, but this was omitted) while waving placards bearing the names of this week's guest artists. The placard bearing Carl Reiner's name is misspelt 'Riener'. I'd thought this was an error when I spotted it during the opening credits, but when Reiner finally comes onstage to join the Smothers Brothers he complains about the error, and it straight away becomes obvious that this is a pre-scripted routine ... so the error must have been intentional. Not every performer would be willing to have his name deliberately misspelt for the sake of a joke.
SLIGHT SPOILER NOW. Early in this episode, during their folk-music spot, Tom and Dick perform a song I've never heard anywhere else before or since, about a girl named Jenny Brown. It starts out seeming to be a straightforward ballad (not a very good one), then it turns into a joke song (still not a very good one) ending with the punchline "What a rotten sense of humour has my sweetheart Jenny Brown".
In the second half of this episode, there's an appearance by a folk singer named Jennie Smith. The Smothers boys give her a REALLY bad introduction, by pointing out that they've done a song about a girl named Jenny Brown, and now here's a girl named Jennie Smith. (Try to restrain your applause.) She's a pretty blonde with a pretty voice but nothing sensational. Afterwards, she and the Smotherses lapse into some really bad banter about her name. What do people named Smith do when they want to check into hotels? They make up some other name. Ha bloody ha.
'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' is deservedly an important marker in television history, but its content was extremely variable ... and this episode is definitely one of the weaker efforts.