Smothers Brothers

With their genteel comic sibling banter straight out of Vaudeville and yen for tradition folk songs like "Tom Dooley," it's almost stunning to think that the Smothers Brothers were one of the most controversial acts of the 1960s. Yet Dick and Tommy Smothers' enormously popular television variety program would become a lightning rod for controversy during contentious times as the pair would famously book provocative acts, refusing to back down to censor's notes. As a comedy act, Dick played straight-laced straight man as Tommy's doe-eyed simpleton turned most routines around to the latter's catch phrase "mom always liked you best."