Harry Belafonte censored 9-29-68 variety show performance

[@eddasimon1427]

Miss Mr. Harry Belafonte🌹❤️🌹

[@georgeh6856]

I cannot believe this segment got censored. It was so very tame. CBS sucks.

[@orbison]

I remember this from Harry's HBO documentary. CBS cut Harry's number with the images of the turmoil of that time juxtaposed, and placed.....a commercial for Richard Nixon. To hear Tom Smothers tell it, this marked the beginning of the end of their days on CBS.

[@jasonbeard4713]

Actually, the original CBS aired version of this broadcast was recently posted on youtube. Tom misspoke. A portion of the question segment was not cut for Nixon. It aired in the form seen on the DVD. The episode which DID have the Nixon message aired a few weeks later.

[@MarkAffeltranger]

Crap! This could be this summer

[@girlfromthebronxbywayofelb7288]

So if this aired in Sept 1968, this was right after the 1968 convention, but very close to the election. Wow. Please, never again split the vote like what happened in 1968. We might have actually saved the nation from Nixon. What a mess. That's the real danger of third parties. No more 1968. Tommy, rest in power. Dick, continue in your own power. Thank you, really.🗽

[@eduardostupnik8261]

Excellent.

[@lemurianchick]

I'm really confused. I thought this was a live show but it seems like Harry taped his performances at another time. I just don't understand how it all went down.

[@terrywilliams7610]

I've been watching some Smothers Brothers DVDs and have seen that the shows were recorded about a week in advance of their being aired.

[@girlfromthebronxbywayofelb7288]

Especially as pressure from censors became more pronounced, they wanted advance approval on almost everything. They didn't want to take a chance on the brothers sneaking something in as a joke or brief statement as part of their closing sign off. I think it moved from approving scripts to approving the whole show before it could be broadcast. I think they gave that as an excuse for the firing, that a show had not been submitted with enough time to fully view it for approval.

[@evelynhanneman2920]

Since the SB’s contract did not say that they had to submit the shows ahead of time, they won their suit against CBS.