The 1987 New Year’s Eve broadcast of ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’ welcomed the ‘Smothers Brothers’ to the stage to perform their music and comedy. Johnny welcomes them, saying, “My first guests, you all know. They’ve got a lot to celebrate. They’re making a 20th-anniversary reunion back at the network that fired them in 1968.”
They begin singing the famous song ‘The Impossible Dream.’ Dick narrates at the instrumental break, describing how the music represents Don Quixote’s quest. He passionately speaks about the power of the dream.
Then, after his emotional plea, he asks Tom what the song means to him, and Tom says, “I’m sorry, I really wasn’t paying attention.” The audience laughs along with the brothers.
Dick continues, saying, “The message is simple. Fight for what you believe in!” He admonishes the crowd telling them that if they fight, no matter what the result, they will be winners in life.
Tom finally chimes in and says, “This song reminds me on New Year’s Eve of two great Americans. George Washington and Lt. Colonel Oliver North.” Tom gets his first laugh. Then, he says, “You know they say George Washington slept here, he slept there, yet he was still elected President. Today that is an impossible dream!”
Tom continues, “And what of the great Lt. Colonel Oliver North. We all learned a great moral lesson this past year. That it is better to tell the truth about a lie than to lie about the truth.” The brothers were no strangers to adding political comedy to their routine.
They join Johnny for the countdown. Johnny says, “We have no champagne tonight because it’s illegal to drink on the air.” Tom replies, ‘Wanna light up one? When the clock strikes midnight, hundreds of balloons flood the stage, and Doc Severinsen’s band plays ‘Auld Lang Syne.’
