February 5, 1967-June 8, 1969. "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" was a breath of fresh air, but to CBS the Smothers Brothers seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong things to say.
After the telecast of October 27, 1968 (from which a David Steinberg "sermonette" had generated much critical mail), CBS took the then unusual step of demanding that a tape of each upcoming show be prescreened for network affiliates by closed circuit.