The Late Tommy Smothers Was Canceled Back When That Meant Something
On another episode, the show welcomed blacklisted folk singer Pete Seeger — he’d been banned from television for years. He sang his “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” a song widely understood to ridicule President Lyndon Johnson for the Vietnam War. CBS refused to air the segment, but Tom and Dick brought Seeger back and he sang it again, this time making the air. Segments like these, along with others poking fun at religion, racism and the establishment, led to CBS giving the brothers the ax.
This hits different knowing that at this time CBS was balls deep with Navy contracts to build nuclear reactors for submarines and aircraft carriers.
Edit: I stand corrected. They did not buy CBS until 1995. I knew CBS owned the liabilities for Westinghouse from the 50's onward, didn't realize it only began in 1995.
Don't forget the song from Harry Belafonte (who also died this year) that was recorded for The Smothers Brothers but didn't see the light of day until 1993