Comedian Tommy Smothers died recently at 86. He was the better half of The Smothers Brothers. Their show, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” premiered in 1967 at a time when major political unrest existed in the United States.

The Brothers’ political satire included veiled jokes about drugs, sex and American involvement in Vietnam. They became icons of the late sixties youth counterculture, and their show’s content led to frequent clashes with CBS censors and infuriated then-President Lyndon Johnson, who was rumored to have enlisted network president William Paley to intercede.