The citizens of U.S of A were truly blessed to have had a generational calibre of people, the likes of Pete Seeger, Fred Rogers and Robert Kennedy to name just a few. Men to have revered, admired as role models and to have used as inspiration. It is truly sad today to hear and witness narcissistic, morally decaying behaviours of future generations since. Where have all the flowers gone. When did America lose its moral compass.

2022; where ?

This wasn't the one that got the show canceled. This was from one of the earlier seasons. CBS originally censored "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" from Pete's first appearance because the song was believed to be a shot at Lyndon Johnson. The brothers demanded that Pete be allowed to return and got their wish. The show got canceled during the third season (and had been approved for a fourth season) because the Smothers supposedly did not turn in a show to the network for review (even though no other show was required to do so). Tom and Dick sued and won around $750,000 for breach of contract (which they could easily prove, as if they tried for freedom of speech there would have been enough wiggle room for CBS to win). Coincidentally, the show that CBS picked up to replace the Smothers Brothers was Hee Haw, which lasted a year on CBS before the Rural Purge (where "every show that had a tree ... including Lassie" was canceled as an attempt to get a younger demographic. Hee Haw got picked up in Syndication and ran for 20-plus years) Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, Mayberry RFD and Lassie all got canned (Beverly Hillbillies had already announced they were stop filming that season). All In the Family and Mary Tyler Moore began the wave of more urbane shows (Bob Newhart, Sonny and Cher, Rhoda, Maude, etc.)

How so? if you don't mind sharing.

Thank you for your service. Love Pete's songs.

As someone who is anti-war and very much opposed to the United States’ military industrial complex, I thank you and appreciate you for your service. ✊🏼

I would imagine it would have made a big change of mood. My father ensured I knew what it was about and to never be cannon fodder for the military industrial machine

Glad you came back, sir.

Including the one in the White House.

Pretty much.

interesting, that god damn war , left so many families torn apart , and for what

@@imannonymous7707 For what? My underwear is made in Vietnam.

What really drove LBJ to quit was when CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite criticized the war after the Tet Offense of early 1968, and declared the Vietnam War as "unwinnable." LBJ declared in despair, "If I lost Cronkite, then I lost America's votes." LBJ announced his decision not to run for the 1968 election in March-April of that year.

One of the few great Americans

Hey I know this is a weird question, but how to you feel about another Marcos takin' up the presidency?

@@MrLeGeNdCast It couldn't worse than what America is going through. Let's see how he can handle the Chinese and the economy

The Big Muddy was the song that had been censored. Tom Smothers went public with what the network did. There was so much public outcry, the network had to relent and told them they could book him later in the season and allowed the song to air.

I was thirteen, watched it live, and it was the most shocking thing I had seen up to that time in my sheltered life. I'll never forget it, and props to the Smothers and to Seeger. ETA: I had lots of family that fought in Vietnam; it was very clear to me that he was talking about President Johnson and the war. Got chills again watching it.

@@Maggie-iv3st The network relented because Pete's album 'Waist Deep in the Big Muddy' just came out and they wanted to promote it and make money. It wasn't because they believed in what he said or wanted his view to be heard.

​@@757boing50/50.

a fine line, Pete sang the songs of them, and didnt glamorize at all, just presented them as melodies of previous needless blood spilling and listen to how quaint and boring glamorizing war is.

You mean LBJ. No way to tell if it had an influence, but he would soon announce he was not running for reelection in 1968.

My father told me in the 1990s how stupid 'Johnson's war' (Vietnam) was. I mentioned this to my brother as being a bit ironic. Ironic? He laughed. Did you forget the time he chased you into the back yard and ripped the peace symbol off your neck?

i remember those days , most houses had 1 tv and father called the shots....who knew we would be here today...with tv screens tethered to our souls

@@imannonymous7707 my dad must have been pretty liberal because I do remember parts of the show even as a 3 year old. Not this, but I do remember it being on in the house. He was never a hardcore fan of any show in particular. Even if there was something on he liked, he checked the other channels to see if there was anything better. Right to the present day, as he only passed on a couple of years ago.

You're not good with metaphores a are you?

I think it is about a good deal than that. For one thing there was an actual training accident in the 1950s of this type. Did you ever hear Pete Seegar explain how he came to write this?

Laugh out loud. You must have missed the English class that discussed allegories and analogies didn't you?

This did air. I remember it well. I was 16, and it hit me like a load of bricks. In 1968, you watched the show live, or you couldn't watch it at all - no reruns, no internet, no VCRs or DVDs or any other after-the-fact. It's true that CBS censored this song from broadcasting, but that was on a show a couple months earlier. Because of The Smothers insistence, and public backlash, Seeger was invited back and performed it again. It's that repeat that is shown here, and this time aired without censorship. It's tough to express, in these days of media overload, just how impactful that single performance was at the time.

lee shafer Funny how many uninformed jack-offs comment here. It was censored in 1967. Because of the backlash CBS relented and he came back on in ‘68. This is what aired.

It was on a DVD produced by TimeLife of the shows that were cancelled .

The 2002 documentary shows this

The first time Seeger sang Big Muddy, the sound went out during the final section. This is the second time and it played without censorship.