Were the Smothers Brothers Treated Fairly?

While preparing my post, "The Fairness Doctrine," I read a paragraph in Hazlett's Public Interest article about the Smothers Brothers that I thought was wrong. The key part of the paragraph reads,

The bipartisan coup de grace came when the highly rated but politically liberal "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" offended Rhode Island's Democratic senator Frank Pastore, the chairman of the FCC's oversight committee, by mockingly bestowing upon him the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate" award. The Senator was unamused, and CBS quickly cancelled the profitable show.[1]

As I recalled, and verified through the Internet, Dan Rowan presented weekly the Fickle Finger of Fate award on Laugh-In. Out of respect for Hazlett, a mentor, I did not point out his apparent error. Knowing the care he takes to get the details right, I did a little more Internet research, and found a post on EconLog by David Henderson [2],[3] that explains the discrepency and vindicates Hazlett.

It is true that CBS had a lot of difficulty with the Smothers Brothers' edgy looks at politics and religion. But that's only part of what got the show yanked. The other part was a humorous bit done by guest Dan Rowan. Rowan gave the "fickle-finger-of-fate" award (i.e., the finger) to John O. Pastore, a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island. Why did Rowan single out Pastore? Pastore was the chairman of United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. In that role, he had a great deal of power over the Federal Communications Commission, the federal agency that censors radio and television. In other words, Rowan "fingered" a man who had a great deal of power over television content.[4]

I wonder if Rowan and Martin asked the Smothers Brothers to appear on Laugh-In?

[1] Hazlett, Thomas W. "The Fairness Doctrine and First Amendment," The Public Interest, Num. 96, Summer 1989.

[2] Henderson, David. "Smothers Brothers: The Missing Story," EconLog, December 7, 2008.

[3] Pastore was an important political patron of PBS, and Henderson explains that PBS protected Pastore's reputation in a recent broadcast, "The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," and posits a reason for the protection.

[4] Yes, I did notice that Hazlett refers to Pastore as Frank, and Henderson refers to him as John. No, I have not been able to verify that Frank was John's nickname.