TV Guide Ad: Smothers Brothers Show and Slattery’s People

Here’s a CBS TV Guide ad from September 1965 promoting the series premiere of the network’s new sitcom The Smothers Brothers Show and the return of its critically-acclaimed drama Slattery’s People:

Scanned black and white TV Guide ad for The Smothers Brothers Show and Slattery's People

TV Guide Ad for The Smothers Brothers Show and Slattery’s People – Copyright 1965 Triangle Publications, Inc.

The Smothers Brothers Show starred Dick and Tom Smothers. Dick played a publishing executive while Tom played his deceased brother who returned to Earth as a new angel tasked with helping people. He wasn’t very good at helping, however, and Dick often had to help. It lasted the entire 1965-1966 season, airing 32 episodes between September 1965 and April 1966.

Slattery’s People returned for its second season in September 1965. Despite praise from TV critics, the series was low-rated throughout its first season and did no better in its second. So CBS dropped it in November 1965, just ten episodes into the 1965-1966 season.

The two shows premiered on Friday, September 17th, 1965.

This particular ad is from the Eastern Illinois Edition of TV Guide. Channel 3 was WCIA-TV in Champaign, IL. The station was in the Central Time Zone. In the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones, The Smothers Brothers Show ran from 9:30-10PM on Fridays while Slattery’s People ran from 10-11PM.

Image Credit:
TV Guide, September 11th, 1965 (Vol. 13, No. 37), Eastern Illinois Edition, Page A-67.


Related Posts

Become a Patron Today

Are you a fan of obscure television? Please support Television Obscurities on Patreon by becoming a patron today.

3 Replies to “TV Guide Ad: Smothers Brothers Show and Slattery’s People”

  1. Originally CBS wanted to put the Smothers Brothers in a variety show format, but the producer of the show insisted on the comedy series. It started strong, but soon died in the ratings. CBS didn’t give up on using them, and put them into their own show to replace the new Garry Moore Show on Sunday night in late 1966, early 1967.

  2. Yes, and because CBS assumed that no one would watch SBCH because it was up against Bonanza, the boys got total creative freedom. As a result, some of the material was too risqué for the ’60’s and they were canceled. Imagine what a Smothers Brothers show would be like in the Trump era, and maybe Dick and Tom will get back together!

    1. The 1967-69 “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” was the first program that went head-to-head against “Bonanza” since the latter’s 1961 move to Sunday nights that gave “Bonanza” serious competition in it’s timeslot.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.