If you linked to this wikipedia article (and its wikipedia, so take it for what is worth) but there was a Rural Purge of television shows from 1969 to 1972. Shows that were too rural like Mayberry R.F.D. and The Beverly Hillbillies were cancelled. How big of an effect do you think this had on tv? This seemed like a pretty big deal at the time and cancelled some very prominent shows. What do you guys think?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_purge

I am old enough to remember all this and I wasn't happy. I loved the shows they decided to can. I still hate that the networks decided what we want and like when they have NO clue what millions of us want. I wish we had shows on today like the classic shows. As stated in the article, the themes of those shows were the honesty and "strong family values supposedly inherent in small town life. Those shows are now classic's.


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Note: The following shows were canceled at their end of the respective seasons. Some shows did not have a rural theme, but were perceived to appeal primarily to rural audiences or had a low youth/urban audience.
1969-70 season

Petticoat Junction (CBS, 1963–1970)[1]
The Red Skelton Show (NBC, 1951–53, CBS, 1953–1970, NBC, 1970–71, cancelled by CBS and renewed by NBC)
The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS, 1962–1970)

1970-71 season

Green Acres (CBS, 1965–1971)[1]
The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS, 1962–1971)[1]
Mayberry R.F.D. (CBS, 1968–1971)[1]
Hee-Haw (CBS, 1969–1971,[1] first run syndication 1971-1991)
Lassie (CBS, 1954–1971, first run syndication 1971-1973)
Family Affair (CBS, 1966–1971)
Hogan's Heroes (CBS, 1965–1971)
The Jim Nabors Hour (CBS, 1969–1971)[1]
The Red Skelton Show (cancelled by NBC)
The Lawrence Welk Show (locally in Los Angeles 1951-1955, ABC, 1955–1971, first run syndication 1971-1982)
The Johnny Cash Show (ABC, 1969–1971)
The Governor & J.J. (CBS, two seasons)
The Virginian (NBC, 9 seasons)
The Andy Williams Show (NBC, 10 seasons)
Wild Kingdom (NBC, 1963-1971; syndication 1971-1988)

1971-72 season

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (CBS, 1969–1972)

1973-74 season

Bonanza (NBC, 1959-1973)
Here's Lucy (CBS, 1968–74, following the related CBS series The Lucy Show (1962–1968), The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960), and I Love Lucy (1951–1957)

1974-75 season

Gunsmoke (CBS, 1955-1975)

Most all the shows that were cancelled were on the wane and would have been out in a year or so. I also think that around the late 1960's into the 1970's that the viewer wanted more relevance and realism in their shows. Stuff like the Vietnam War, political assassinations, rising drug use, rising crimes and protests and the emergence of women as more than homemakers sort of demanded new shows for a different demographic.

The Beverly Hillbillies is a great example of this. The show got to be really stupid and farcical in the end and it was time to cancel it. The show fell out of the Top 30 by the end of the decade. Green Acres was also out of the Top 30 by 1969. Hogan's Heroes also ran its course.

Jim Nabors decided to quit Gomer Pyle USMC and had his variety show. I do not know if his show was good or not or if people watched it or not. I will say that if it was a ratings winner like Carol Burnett, it would have lasted. Carol herself is from Texas. It's not that CBS wanted to get rid of all performers with a drawl.

Mayberry RFD dropped in the ratings because Frances Bavier left the cast, which was the last link in the original Andy Griffith Show. Looking back, most TAGS fans do not like the color shows, and RFD were the color shows without Andy Griffith.

Red Skelton was a relic of the black and white 1950's by 1971. Like the OP stated, not all the shows cancelled were "rural" shows like for example, "Family Affair". Again, not to repeat myself, the show was on 5 years, the kids were no longer cute, the people stopped watching and it was cancelled.

CBS let go of Hee Haw and had about 20 years in syndication which is probably the best thing that could have happened. I amy be wrong, but I think Hee Haw had a regional audience, basically southerners and midwesterners.

I think that from my first paragraph, that times have changed, CBS' audience were older and rural and they wanted to change that. But their "country shows" (Andy and the Paul Henning shows) were monster hits in the early 1960's that were milked dry.

Not all so called "rural" shows were cancelled. Around 1969-70, CBS was going to cancel Gunsmoke, but decided to change the show to Mondays where it went back into the Top 20 for another 5 or 6 years until 1975.

If I were running a network, the last thing I'd do is cancel a hit show. If they wanted to not introduce any new "rural" shows and go for a more urban audience, fine, but I would have let the shows run their course.

The funny thing is that most of these shows thrived in syndication during the 1970's on channels that the networks said wanted to be less rural. lol I was young when these shows were canceled but I remember them so well. They were always on. The Beverly Hillbillies was one of my favorite shows. We used to watch Hee Haw every Saturday night at 7:00 during the 1970's and it came on right before AITF on our local CBS Affiliate.

Having worked in broadcasting since 1971 CBS released they needed to reach a younger demographic and the shows they cancelled at the time were hitting more of the 35+ demo. I encounter this everyday as ad agencies only buy the 25-54 or 25-44 demo, if you are over 55 your viewing of a show doesn't count.

In those days a 35 year old person was considered somewhat old.

When Jackie Gleason was asked about the cancellation of his popular Saturday Night Show he replied "Today CBS learned a new word (Demographics) and because our show reaches an older audience it has been cancelled."


Take a look at TVLand for instance, when it first came on it showed programs from the 50's-70's, today its mostly 90's & 2k shows.

If TVLAND would just air the old shows they would generate no revenue because the audience would be too old.

Having worked in broadcasting since 1971 CBS released they needed to reach a younger demographic and the shows they cancelled at the time were hitting more of the 35+ demo. I encounter this everyday as ad agencies only buy the 25-54 or 25-44 demo, if you are over 55 your viewing of a show doesn't count.

In those days a 35 year old person was considered somewhat old.

When Jackie Gleason was asked about the cancellation of his popular Saturday Night Show he replied "Today CBS learned a new word (Demographics) and because our show reaches an older audience it has been cancelled."


Take a look at TVLand for instance, when it first came on it showed programs from the 50's-70's, today its mostly 90's & 2k shows.

If TVLAND would just air the old shows they would generate no revenue because the audience would be too old.
Now TV Land just sucks. I wish I could have it removed from my lineup.

Now TV Land just sucks. I wish I could have it removed from my lineup.
Could not agree more.

At sheer face value, it's a shame the networks took an axe to unsuspecting shows in such mass exodus. Many of them were considered television staples that provided respectable entertainment in countless homes.

But from a historical point of view I'm actually glad it happened. As it's been pointed out a lot of them were already in the crapper both creatively and in the ratings as well. Programming of the sort was fast becoming repetitive, formulaic, and generally not very good television. They basically NEEDED to be cancelled to make room for a new wave of social relevance from the likes of All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, etc. I really shudder to think what would have become of television if it never changed. The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Hogan's Heroes were simply casualties of history.

I'm left wondering when the networks will commit to a "reality purge" and wipe out a form of programming that's not only old and tired, but also disgusting and harmful to the collective intelligence.

Could not agree more.

Me too. Thank God for my DVD player!!

I am too young to remember the rural purge (I as born in 1971)but took a class in grad school about broadcasting history (I was a media major)and this was discussed. Basically according to the book we studied and the teacher, it happened for a few reasons was overblown by people. For one, most of the shows purged were on their way out and most had by then fallen in ratings. Also, many of the shows included in the rural purge in fact weren't really rural shows. For example Family Affair, which was cancelled because it had run its course. Interesting to note that ABC was originally going to pick it up and felt it would work with similar shows like the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family. Finally, yes CBS did want more topical shows because the rural shows were from a different era and things were changing. Instead they ended up with All In The Family, MASH and Mary Tyler Moore which dealt with more serious issues. Did they make the right choice? I guess that's personal opinion.

I am too young to remember the rural purge (I as born in 1971)but took a class in grad school about broadcasting history (I was a media major)and this was discussed. Basically according to the book we studied and the teacher, it happened for a few reasons was overblown by people. For one, most of the shows purged were on their way out and most had by then fallen in ratings. Also, many of the shows included in the rural purge in fact weren't really rural shows. For example Family Affair, which was cancelled because it had run its course. Interesting to note that ABC was originally going to pick it up and felt it would work with similar shows like the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family. Finally, yes CBS did want more topical shows because the rural shows were from a different era and things were changing. Instead they ended up with All In The Family, MASH and Mary Tyler Moore which dealt with more serious issues. Did they make the right choice? I guess that's personal opinion.
I think the big ones that were cancelled were Hee Haw and Mayberry RFD. They were still top 20 shows. The rest had peaked. I still think they had a few more years in them though.

Regarding the rural sitcoms, for the most part they had just run their course. It was now the 1970's and CBS wanted to re-vamp the programming. I enjoy Green Acres but I never got into Beverly Hillbillies or Petticoat Junction. With Beverly Hillbillies, the country folk living in Beverly Hills gimmick never clicked with me, Petticoat Junction I just never got interested in that show at all.

I understand about bringing shows that were more social relevance but thats quite the risk. If you cancel shows that are popular, how do you know if the shows you replace them with are going to be any good? I think CBS took a huge risk by having "The Rural Purge" because what if Mary Tyler Moore or All in the Family were not successful?

I encounter this everyday as ad agencies only buy the 25-54 or 25-44 demo, if you are over 55 your viewing of a show doesn't count.


Some of these ad agencies must be buying for the so-called 55 and older demographic. Why else would we see all these commercials for Colonial Penn life insurance, Depends undergarments, Seabond denture adhesive, Hoveround wheelchairs and those annoying-as-hell e.d. ads that are shoved down your throat everyday? :confused:

It's funny CBS had this rural purge yet rural The Waltons premiered in 1972 and lasted nearly a decade on CBS.

Before I give my opinion, I'd like to first thank mets82 for offering this topic, since I consider it one of the most fascinating events in US TV history and one that had a great impact on the kind of programming that has aired since, as well as the decisions that are made to get these programs seen in the first place.


It is true that the sitcoms that have been mentioned to be part of the purge had all by this time run their course and "jumped the shark" and would have left the airwaves soon after eventually. It is also true that CBS looked very good after all of this with the huge successes that resulted with first "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", and later "All In The Family". CBS then rebuilt their entire network around them, soon adding more big hits the next season like "The Bob Newhart Show", "Mash", and "Maude". This allowed them to dominate the ratings for the next 5-6 years until Fred Silverman landed at ABC and turned that network around in the second half of the decade.

And yet even though like many of you I was too young to understand why this happened at the time, I still get a feeling today that it could have been avoided or at least handled a bit differently with at least a little class. For one thing, the old shows were still popular and were still drawing viewers. Even though those viewers were in general either seniors, children, or farmers, they were still numerous enough to carry CBS to the top of the ratings. "The Andy Griffith Show" had left the air in 1968 as the #1 show in the country, a feat that had not happened since "I Love Lucy" left in 1957. In the next couple of years, CBS would still be well represented in the Top 20 with shows like "Here's Lucy", "Gomer Pyle", "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Mayberry RFD", "Hee Haw", "Doris Day", "Family Affair" and "My Three Sons", all series which supposedly only catered to a specific demographic and were supposed to be washed up. Even "Gunsmoke" and "Red Skelton" which seemed to have been on forever were constantly hanging in there and sometimes even beating their younger, and supposedly hipper, rivals including "Bonanza" and "Laugh-In".

One of the more unfortunate victims of this was "My Three Sons", which like "Family Affair" (another series which I agree could have also been spared) was produced by Don Fedderson and was not at all a rural country-style show. CBS basically tried everything in its power to get rid of it in the late-60s changing timeslots and nights every season, but it wouldn't go away because its many fans (including myself) kept watching it. It ranked #14 overall in 1969, #15 in 1970 and #19 in 1971. It only ended when CBS aired it at 10:00 pm which was bad and insulting enough, but against Monday Night Football? Sorry, game over!

That wasn't the only mistake CBS made with their sudden schedule makeover. In the 1970-71 season, CBS had high hopes for a trio of new and what they considered relevant drama series to highlight their new image. They were "Storefront Lawyers", "The Interns", and "The Headmaster". All three failed to last the season, with "The Headmaster" singled out as the biggest of the flops. It starred Andy Griffith as a college professor in a role which was supposed to make his fans forget about Mayberry. It didn't and it was clobbered in the ratings by "The Partridge Family", which also debuted that season. (HA! HA! Take that, CBS!) In the sitcom department, they correctly figured MTM would be a hit, but they were also high on another new series about an average blue-collar worker that they hoped would strike a nerve with the American public. The show was called "Arnie" and starred Herschel Bernardi, but it also became a letdown, lasting only two seasons. However, "All In The Family", with its Archie Bunker character being somewhat like Arnie, only a lot louder and a lot funnier, finally gave CBS the big monster hit they were looking for, but not until the summer reruns began and audiences began to discover and fall in love with it just as the network was also considering cancelling it.

So, all in all, CBS in the end came out looking great. They were brave, smart, and daring in their programming choices, but they were also very lucky. If not for Mary and Archie, CBS in 1972 would have looked like NBC in 2012, and that would have been very scary, scary enough to wake the dead, or at least revive some of the dead series like "Family Affair", "My Three Sons" and "Green Acres" which should never have left. With a few of the old series still around and the great new ones that followed, CBS in the 1970s would have been unstoppable. But instead, their decisions and changes would hurt and upset a lot of people and I suspect that the impact is still being felt today, for better AND worse!


A lot of the points which I talked about are found in a book that I have which is called "Honey, I'm Home!: Sitcoms: Selling The American Dream" by Gerard Jones, which features a chapter on this very topic. If you've seen it or heard of it, it's worth a look.

Before I give my opinion, I'd like to first thank mets82 for offering this topic, since I consider it one of the most fascinating events in US TV history and one that had a great impact on the kind of programming that has aired since, as well as the decisions that are made to get these programs seen in the first place.


It is true that the sitcoms that have been mentioned to be part of the purge had all by this time run their course and "jumped the shark" and would have left the airwaves soon after eventually. It is also true that CBS looked very good after all of this with the huge successes that resulted with first "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", and later "All In The Family". CBS then rebuilt their entire network around them, soon adding more big hits the next season like "The Bob Newhart Show", "Mash", and "Maude". This allowed them to dominate the ratings for the next 5-6 years until Fred Silverman landed at ABC and turned that network around in the second half of the decade.

And yet even though like many of you I was too young to understand why this happened at the time, I still get a feeling today that it could have been avoided or at least handled a bit differently with at least a little class. For one thing, the old shows were still popular and were still drawing viewers. Even though those viewers were in general either seniors, children, or farmers, they were still numerous enough to carry CBS to the top of the ratings. "The Andy Griffith Show" had left the air in 1968 as the #1 show in the country, a feat that had not happened since "I Love Lucy" left in 1957. In the next couple of years, CBS would still be well represented in the Top 20 with shows like "Here's Lucy", "Gomer Pyle", "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Mayberry RFD", "Hee Haw", "Doris Day", "Family Affair" and "My Three Sons", all series which supposedly only catered to a specific demographic and were supposed to be washed up. Even "Gunsmoke" and "Red Skelton" which seemed to have been on forever were constantly hanging in there and sometimes even beating their younger, and supposedly hipper, rivals including "Bonanza" and "Laugh-In".

One of the more unfortunate victims of this was "My Three Sons", which like "Family Affair" (another series which I agree could have also been spared) was produced by Don Fedderson and was not at all a rural country-style show. CBS basically tried everything in its power to get rid of it in the late-60s changing timeslots and nights every season, but it wouldn't go away because its many fans (including myself) kept watching it. It ranked #14 overall in 1969, #15 in 1970 and #19 in 1971. It only ended when CBS aired it at 10:00 pm which was bad and insulting enough, but against Monday Night Football? Sorry, game over!

That wasn't the only mistake CBS made with their sudden schedule makeover. In the 1970-71 season, CBS had high hopes for a trio of new and what they considered relevant drama series to highlight their new image. They were "Storefront Lawyers", "The Interns", and "The Headmaster". All three failed to last the season, with "The Headmaster" singled out as the biggest of the flops. It starred Andy Griffith as a college professor in a role which was supposed to make his fans forget about Mayberry. It didn't and it was clobbered in the ratings by "The Partridge Family", which also debuted that season. (HA! HA! Take that, CBS!) In the sitcom department, they correctly figured MTM would be a hit, but they were also high on another new series about an average blue-collar worker that they hoped would strike a nerve with the American public. The show was called "Arnie" and starred Herschel Bernardi, but it also became a letdown, lasting only two seasons. However, "All In The Family", with its Archie Bunker character being somewhat like Arnie, only a lot louder and a lot funnier, finally gave CBS the big monster hit they were looking for, but not until the summer reruns began and audiences began to discover and fall in love with it just as the network was also considering cancelling it.

So, all in all, CBS in the end came out looking great. They were brave, smart, and daring in their programming choices, but they were also very lucky. If not for Mary and Archie, CBS in 1972 would have looked like NBC in 2012, and that would have been very scary, scary enough to wake the dead, or at least revive some of the dead series like "Family Affair", "My Three Sons" and "Green Acres" which should never have left. With a few of the old series still around and the great new ones that followed, CBS in the 1970s would have been unstoppable. But instead, their decisions and changes would hurt and upset a lot of people and I suspect that the impact is still being felt today, for better AND worse!


A lot of the points which I talked about are found in a book that I have which is called "Honey, I'm Home!: Sitcoms: Selling The American Dream" by Gerard Jones, which features a chapter on this very topic. If you've seen it or heard of it, it's worth a look.
That's a great post Sal and very well said. :)

another dumb thing that cbs did was cancel the ed sullivan show and replace it with the cbs sunday night movie wich ended up have not only the same demos as sullivan but also lower ratings:crazy:

If you linked to this wikipedia article (and its wikipedia, so take it for what is worth) but there was a Rural Purge of television shows from 1969 to 1972. Shows that were too rural like Mayberry R.F.D. and The Beverly Hillbillies were cancelled. How big of an effect do you think this had on tv? This seemed like a pretty big deal at the time and cancelled some very prominent shows. What do you guys think?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_purge

I once read a good quote about the rural purge. I forget who said it, but the quote was "1971 is the year CBS cut out every program that had a tree in it."

I agree that I have always heard it was done to attract younger viewers.

I think it's funny how the Rural channel airs Mr. Belvedere, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart and Highway To Heaven in prime time. With the exception of Newhart, I don't think anyone ever considered any of those shows to be rural. I'm not complaining at all. I'm glad to get to see some of those shows again. It doesn't make up for me not being able to get ME-TV or Antenna-TV, but it's still nice. Sorry if I got off track a little.

That wasn't the only mistake CBS made with their sudden schedule makeover. In the 1970-71 season, CBS had high hopes for a trio of new and what they considered relevant drama series to highlight their new image. They were "Storefront Lawyers", "The Interns", and "The Headmaster". All three failed to last the season, with "The Headmaster" singled out as the biggest of the flops. It starred Andy Griffith as a college professor in a role which was supposed to make his fans forget about Mayberry. It didn't and it was clobbered in the ratings by "The Partridge Family", which also debuted that season. (HA! HA! Take that, CBS!)

The addendum to this topic is the short-lived relevancy era. The main purveyor of this was ABC, which flooded its schedule with relevant shows:
The Young Lawyers, The Young Rebels, The Mod Squad, The New People, The Music Scene, Matt Lincoln, even a western like The Outcasts tried to be relevant. You can even throw Love American Style into that category. But as bad as most of these were, and except for The Young Lawyers, most were pretty bad, the CBS copies were ten times worse. The only thing worse than a bad, pseudo-hip relevancy show is a watered down copy of one. As bad as these were on ABC, the ones on CBS were far worse.

But getting back to the original topic, CBS was tired of being the network of old, rural viewers and they wanted to attract a younger, urban audience, which is what they accomplished by cutting the dead wood.

Nevermind

I once read a good quote about the rural purge. I forget who said it, but the quote was "1971 is the year CBS cut out every program that had a tree in it. I agree that I have always heard it was done to attract younger viewers.

That was Frank Cady...

"What's the secret to playing Sam Drucker? I just play myself. Sam Drucker and I are old friends. I played him on "Petticoat Junction" (1963), "Green Acres" (1965) and "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962) and we were going strong until 1971, when Fred Silverman canceled every show with a tree in it."

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=300380#ixzz2Bg4DgnR3

I think it's funny how the Rural channel airs Mr. Belvedere, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart and Highway To Heaven in prime time. With the exception of Newhart, I don't think anyone ever considered any of those shows to be rural. I'm not complaining at all. I'm glad to get to see some of those shows again. It doesn't make up for me not being able to get ME-TV or Antenna-TV, but it's still nice. Sorry if I got off track a little.I haven't heard of the Rural channel. It sounds great, wish I had it!

Before I give my opinion, I'd like to first thank mets82 for offering this topic, since I consider it one of the most fascinating events in US TV history and one that had a great impact on the kind of programming that has aired since, as well as the decisions that are made to get these programs seen in the first place.


It is true that the sitcoms that have been mentioned to be part of the purge had all by this time run their course and "jumped the shark" and would have left the airwaves soon after eventually. It is also true that CBS looked very good after all of this with the huge successes that resulted with first "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", and later "All In The Family". CBS then rebuilt their entire network around them, soon adding more big hits the next season like "The Bob Newhart Show", "Mash", and "Maude". This allowed them to dominate the ratings for the next 5-6 years until Fred Silverman landed at ABC and turned that network around in the second half of the decade.

And yet even though like many of you I was too young to understand why this happened at the time, I still get a feeling today that it could have been avoided or at least handled a bit differently with at least a little class. For one thing, the old shows were still popular and were still drawing viewers. Even though those viewers were in general either seniors, children, or farmers, they were still numerous enough to carry CBS to the top of the ratings. "The Andy Griffith Show" had left the air in 1968 as the #1 show in the country, a feat that had not happened since "I Love Lucy" left in 1957. In the next couple of years, CBS would still be well represented in the Top 20 with shows like "Here's Lucy", "Gomer Pyle", "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Mayberry RFD", "Hee Haw", "Doris Day", "Family Affair" and "My Three Sons", all series which supposedly only catered to a specific demographic and were supposed to be washed up. Even "Gunsmoke" and "Red Skelton" which seemed to have been on forever were constantly hanging in there and sometimes even beating their younger, and supposedly hipper, rivals including "Bonanza" and "Laugh-In".

One of the more unfortunate victims of this was "My Three Sons", which like "Family Affair" (another series which I agree could have also been spared) was produced by Don Fedderson and was not at all a rural country-style show. CBS basically tried everything in its power to get rid of it in the late-60s changing timeslots and nights every season, but it wouldn't go away because its many fans (including myself) kept watching it. It ranked #14 overall in 1969, #15 in 1970 and #19 in 1971. It only ended when CBS aired it at 10:00 pm which was bad and insulting enough, but against Monday Night Football? Sorry, game over!

That wasn't the only mistake CBS made with their sudden schedule makeover. In the 1970-71 season, CBS had high hopes for a trio of new and what they considered relevant drama series to highlight their new image. They were "Storefront Lawyers", "The Interns", and "The Headmaster". All three failed to last the season, with "The Headmaster" singled out as the biggest of the flops. It starred Andy Griffith as a college professor in a role which was supposed to make his fans forget about Mayberry. It didn't and it was clobbered in the ratings by "The Partridge Family", which also debuted that season. (HA! HA! Take that, CBS!) In the sitcom department, they correctly figured MTM would be a hit, but they were also high on another new series about an average blue-collar worker that they hoped would strike a nerve with the American public. The show was called "Arnie" and starred Herschel Bernardi, but it also became a letdown, lasting only two seasons. However, "All In The Family", with its Archie Bunker character being somewhat like Arnie, only a lot louder and a lot funnier, finally gave CBS the big monster hit they were looking for, but not until the summer reruns began and audiences began to discover and fall in love with it just as the network was also considering cancelling it.

So, all in all, CBS in the end came out looking great. They were brave, smart, and daring in their programming choices, but they were also very lucky. If not for Mary and Archie, CBS in 1972 would have looked like NBC in 2012, and that would have been very scary, scary enough to wake the dead, or at least revive some of the dead series like "Family Affair", "My Three Sons" and "Green Acres" which should never have left. With a few of the old series still around and the great new ones that followed, CBS in the 1970s would have been unstoppable. But instead, their decisions and changes would hurt and upset a lot of people and I suspect that the impact is still being felt today, for better AND worse!


A lot of the points which I talked about are found in a book that I have which is called "Honey, I'm Home!: Sitcoms: Selling The American Dream" by Gerard Jones, which features a chapter on this very topic. If you've seen it or heard of it, it's worth a look.

Thank you for the kind words. This topic or era seems to have been under the radar. But Sal, you make some great points, especially about having Family Affair up against Monday Night Football. Back then, MNF was THE event. Nobody was going to beat it. I still think you have to keep the shows that are hot. If Andy Griffith, Mayberry R.F.D. were hot, then dont cancel them. CBS is lucky they didnt alienate there viewers by getting rid of the shows they enjoyed.

CBS is lucky they didnt alienate there viewers by getting rid of the shows they enjoyed.

They alienated me 12 years ago when they cancelled Early Edition. :angryfire

That was Frank Cady...

"What's the secret to playing Sam Drucker? I just play myself. Sam Drucker and I are old friends. I played him on "Petticoat Junction" (1963), "Green Acres" (1965) and "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962) and we were going strong until 1971, when Fred Silverman canceled every show with a tree in it."

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=300380#ixzz2Bg4DgnR3


Oh, sorrows. :( His death had totally escaped my attention.

But was he perhaps quoting Pat Buttram? I had always heard the "tree" quote attributed to him by everyone, including Linda Kaye Henning on the PJ DVD commentary.

But was he perhaps quoting Pat Buttram? I had always heard the "tree" quote attributed to him by everyone, including Linda Kaye Henning on the PJ DVD commentary.

He may very well have been quoting Pat.

They alienated me 12 years ago when they cancelled Early Edition. :angryfireEarly Edition is my all time favorite show. It deserved several more seasons.

I haven't heard of the Rural channel. It sounds great, wish I had it!

I think it's fairly new. With the exception of what they have on weeknights from 7pm central to 10pm central, it's not a entertaining channel in my opinion.

It looks as though THIS-TV has added Green Acres to its morning schedule. With the exception of Hee-Haw and Mayberry RFD, I'm now able to watch pretty much all of the '60s rural series -- and a wide variety of seasons at that.

I think it's worth mentioning that The Beverly Hillbillies had pretty much abandoned its rural roots by its final season -- the great majority of the activity took place either indoors (mansion, bank office, Miss Jane's apartment building) or at the "cement pond." While Jed and Granny were still as home-spun as ever, it's an example of a series whose time was on the "expired" side regardless of any network exec's inclinations.

Early Edition is my all time favorite show. It deserved several more seasons.

One cool thing about Early Edition is that it was actually filmed in and around Chicago and I knew several people who worked on the show. One episode was filmed and centered on a nearby suburb and that was so cool watching and seeing things I often saw because I had friends who lived there.

It looks as though THIS-TV has added Green Acres to its morning schedule. With the exception of Hee-Haw and Mayberry RFD, I'm now able to watch pretty much all of the '60s rural series -- and a wide variety of seasons at that.

I think it's worth mentioning that The Beverly Hillbillies had pretty much abandoned its rural roots by its final season -- the great majority of the activity took place either indoors (mansion, bank office, Miss Jane's apartment building) or at the "cement pond." While Jed and Granny were still as home-spun as ever, it's an example of a series whose time was on the "expired" side regardless of any network exec's inclinations.

Is Green Acres running complete or cut?

Pat Buttram was quoted as saying that, "1971 was the year CBS let go of everything with a tree in it—including Lassie." You never see any actual trees in live-studio-audience sitcoms.:lol:

Not all so called "rural" shows were cancelled. Around 1969-70, CBS was going to cancel Gunsmoke, but decided to change the show to Mondays where it went back into the Top 20 for another 5 or 6 years until 1975.

Actually that happened fall 1967. CBS was cancelling Gunsmoke after 12 seasons. It had had a long run on Saturday nights, with declining ratings for years. Allegedly, Mrs. Bill Paley wanted to keep it on, so CBS cancelled 2 Monday night shows, Run Buddy Run and Gilligan's Island, to keep Gunsmoke on the air. In the long run it proved to be a smart move for CBS, as Gunsmoke surged back to good ratings for at least the next 6 years. (From what I remember, this information was provided by the Brooks & Marsh "Complete Encyclopedia of Primetime Network TV Shows".)

Then, how was Gunsmoke cancelled in 1975 when it was still in the Top 30 (ranking #28). Besides the fact that it was getting stale.

I am old enough to remember all this and I wasn't happy. I loved the shows they decided to can. I still hate that the networks decided what we want and like when they have NO clue what millions of us want. I wish we had shows on today like the classic shows. As stated in the article, the themes of those shows were the honesty and "strong family values supposedly inherent in small town life. Those shows are now classic's.


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Note: The following shows were canceled at their end of the respective seasons. Some shows did not have a rural theme, but were perceived to appeal primarily to rural audiences or had a low youth/urban audience.
1969-70 season

Petticoat Junction (CBS, 1963–1970)[1]
The Red Skelton Show (NBC, 1951–53, CBS, 1953–1970, NBC, 1970–71, cancelled by CBS and renewed by NBC)
The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS, 1962–1970)

1970-71 season

Green Acres (CBS, 1965–1971)[1]
The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS, 1962–1971)[1]
Mayberry R.F.D. (CBS, 1968–1971)[1]
Hee-Haw (CBS, 1969–1971,[1] first run syndication 1971-1991)
Lassie (CBS, 1954–1971, first run syndication 1971-1973)
Family Affair (CBS, 1966–1971)
Hogan's Heroes (CBS, 1965–1971)
The Jim Nabors Hour (CBS, 1969–1971)[1]
The Red Skelton Show (cancelled by NBC)
The Lawrence Welk Show (locally in Los Angeles 1951-1955, ABC, 1955–1971, first run syndication 1971-1982)
The Johnny Cash Show (ABC, 1969–1971)
The Governor & J.J. (CBS, two seasons)
The Virginian (NBC, 9 seasons)
The Andy Williams Show (NBC, 10 seasons)
Wild Kingdom (NBC, 1963-1971; syndication 1971-1988)

1971-72 season

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (CBS, 1969–1972)

1973-74 season

Bonanza (NBC, 1959-1973)
Here's Lucy (CBS, 1968–74, following the related CBS series The Lucy Show (1962–1968), The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960), and I Love Lucy (1951–1957)

1974-75 season

Gunsmoke (CBS, 1955-1975)


Of all of those shows mentioned, the only one that deserved to stay on, IMO, was Governor and JJ. I didn't see it at the time as I really didn't watch much CBS, but having seen a bunch of them on tape, I have to say that it was a very funny, very well written show and it deserved more than a season and a half. The rest of the list, the shows were past their sell by dates and were ready to be done.

From the Wikipedia article on Mayberry R.F.D..

It is stated there that there was an original plan for CBS's Rural Purge that had Gunsmoke cancelled at the end of the 1970-71 season and Mayberry R.F.D. and Family Affair renewed for the 1971-72 season. That plan was changed due to Gunsmoke ranking #5 in the Nielsen Ratings for the season with a 25.5 rating and the following season, the ratings rose to #4 with a 26.0 rating. Mayberry R.F.D. ranked #15 with a 22.3 rating and Family Affair (which had ranked #5 with a 24.2 rating in the 1969-70 season) had fallen out of the Nielsen Top 30, so R.F.D. and FA were cancelled by CBS.

I wonder exactly how old did the rural shows, specifically The Beverly Hillbillies and Mayberry R.F.D., skew during the 1970-71 season? Over half of their audiences would be in the target demo? One third? One fourth, even? Also, this may be difficult to determine, but how much of the shows' audiences actually lived in rural areas?

Then, how was Gunsmoke cancelled in 1975 when it was still in the Top 30 (ranking #28). Besides the fact that it was getting stale.
one reason was that westerns were no longer popular. In fact by that time GUNSMOKE was the only one still on the air.

I consider myself a big fan of "Hillbillies", "PJ", and "Green Acres" but I think all 3 of them had ran their course when they were canned. It was time to move on to new shows and ideas.

Nevermind

:lol:

Though NOT a rural show...The Ed Sullivan Show got cancelled in 1971, the same time the rural purge came full-blast.

I think there's another potential topic - somewhat similar - concerning the period that bridged the 70s into the 80s.

During this period my observation is that a number of shows were kept on the air far beyond their expiration dates. Unlike the Rural Purge period, I think TV executives in the early 80s got lazy and just let a bunch of shows run themselves into the ground. If you watch the later seasons of these shows, they're near unwatchable considering how good they were earlier.

Examples: The Jeffersons, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Alice, One Day At a Time, Three's Company (pretty much ABC and CBS).

All of these shows stayed on air about 3-4 seasons too long. Perhaps others can think of more shows from this period that fit this category.

thx for reading :)

Though NOT a rural show...The Ed Sullivan Show got cancelled in 1971, the same time the rural purge came full-blast.so did THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW and THE RED SKELTON SHOW

[QUOTE=Ledhed

All of these shows stayed on air about 3-4 seasons too long. Perhaps others can think of more shows from this period that fit this category.

thx for reading :)[/QUOTE]

M*A*S*H* :rolleyes:

Take a look at TVLand for instance, when it first came on it showed programs from the 50's-70's, today its mostly 90's & 2k shows.

If TVLAND would just air the old shows they would generate no revenue because the audience would be too old.
...and dead too. :lol:

I think there's another potential topic - somewhat similar - concerning the period that bridged the 70s into the 80s.

During this period my observation is that a number of shows were kept on the air far beyond their expiration dates. Unlike the Rural Purge period, I think TV executives in the early 80s got lazy and just let a bunch of shows run themselves into the ground. If you watch the later seasons of these shows, they're near unwatchable considering how good they were earlier.

Examples: The Jeffersons, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Alice, One Day At a Time, Three's Company (pretty much ABC and CBS).

All of these shows stayed on air about 3-4 seasons too long. Perhaps others can think of more shows from this period that fit this category.

thx for reading :)

How can the executives be "lazy?"

if the shows in question are still delivering ratings and profits, then of course they'll keep them on. Quality or watchability have nothing to do with it. The executives care about $$$ and demographics.

The addendum to this topic is the short-lived relevancy era. The main purveyor of this was ABC, which flooded its schedule with relevant shows:
The Young Lawyers, The Young Rebels, The Mod Squad, The New People, The Music Scene, Matt Lincoln, even a western like The Outcasts tried to be relevant. You can even throw Love American Style into that category. But as bad as most of these were, and except for The Young Lawyers, most were pretty bad, the CBS copies were ten times worse. The only thing worse than a bad, pseudo-hip relevancy show is a watered down copy of one. As bad as these were on ABC, the ones on CBS were far worse.

But getting back to the original topic, CBS was tired of being the network of old, rural viewers and they wanted to attract a younger, urban audience, which is what they accomplished by cutting the dead wood.


ABC also came out with Room 222 and The Courtship of Eddie's Father which were also considered relevant and topical and they didn't do too badly. NBC also chipped in with a couple of minor hits with Julia and The Bill Cosby Show and for a while these shows and similar ones like That Girl, Love American Style, and Nanny and the Professor (all on ABC) helped to bridge the gap between the 60s and 70s. Once Mary Tyler Moore and All In The Family hit it big, suddenly the rules changed and they became the models that everyone else was trying to copy, and that's still the case today.

So what happened in 1975-76? TV got so inane(with exceptions)that I swore the demographic Networks were aiming for from the mid-70s through the 60s was 12-year olds.

What really blows my mind is that 45 years ago we had about 100 shows on the air. Now there a 100 tv stations on the air each with about 100 shows . I don't watch much current tv. In fact the only current show I see is Devious Maids. The rest retro shows. The new shows which I sometime bump into are so loud in background sound, actors voices and laugh tracks. 45 years ago, tv was so different.

I'm also thinking that the over-50s who liked the rural sitcoms so much and would have been left with nothing to watch on their TV sets when those rural sitcoms were cancelled probably switched to the cop and detective shows like Cannon, Ironside, Adam-12, Mannix, and The FBI. Perhaps that is a reason why even the crime/police procedurals of today skew older.

I am old enough to remember all this and I wasn't happy. I loved the shows they decided to can. I still hate that the networks decided what we want and like when they have NO clue what millions of us want. I wish we had shows on today like the classic shows. As stated in the article, the themes of those shows were the honesty and "strong family values supposedly inherent in small town life. Those shows are now classic's.


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Note: The following shows were canceled at their end of the respective seasons. Some shows did not have a rural theme, but were perceived to appeal primarily to rural audiences or had a low youth/urban audience.
1969-70 season

Petticoat Junction (CBS, 1963–1970)[1]
The Red Skelton Show (NBC, 1951–53, CBS, 1953–1970, NBC, 1970–71, cancelled by CBS and renewed by NBC)
The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS, 1962–1970)

1970-71 season

Green Acres (CBS, 1965–1971)[1]
The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS, 1962–1971)[1]
Mayberry R.F.D. (CBS, 1968–1971)[1]
Hee-Haw (CBS, 1969–1971,[1] first run syndication 1971-1991)
Lassie (CBS, 1954–1971, first run syndication 1971-1973)
Family Affair (CBS, 1966–1971)
Hogan's Heroes (CBS, 1965–1971)
The Jim Nabors Hour (CBS, 1969–1971)[1]
The Red Skelton Show (cancelled by NBC)
The Lawrence Welk Show (locally in Los Angeles 1951-1955, ABC, 1955–1971, first run syndication 1971-1982)
The Johnny Cash Show (ABC, 1969–1971)
The Governor & J.J. (CBS, two seasons)
The Virginian (NBC, 9 seasons)
The Andy Williams Show (NBC, 10 seasons)
Wild Kingdom (NBC, 1963-1971; syndication 1971-1988)

1971-72 season

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (CBS, 1969–1972)

1973-74 season

Bonanza (NBC, 1959-1973)
Here's Lucy (CBS, 1968–74, following the related CBS series The Lucy Show (1962–1968), The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960), and I Love Lucy (1951–1957)

1974-75 season

Gunsmoke (CBS, 1955-1975)

Bonanza was the 1972-73 Season, not 1973-74

I am old enough to remember all this and I wasn't happy. I loved the shows they decided to can. I still hate that the networks decided what we want and like when they have NO clue what millions of us want. I wish we had shows on today like the classic shows. As stated in the article, the themes of those shows were the honesty and "strong family values supposedly inherent in small town life. Those shows are now classic's.


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Note: The following shows were canceled at their end of the respective seasons. Some shows did not have a rural theme, but were perceived to appeal primarily to rural audiences or had a low youth/urban audience.
1969-70 season

Petticoat Junction (CBS, 1963–1970)[1]
The Red Skelton Show (NBC, 1951–53, CBS, 1953–1970, NBC, 1970–71, cancelled by CBS and renewed by NBC)
The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS, 1962–1970)

1970-71 season

Green Acres (CBS, 1965–1971)[1]
The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS, 1962–1971)[1]
Mayberry R.F.D. (CBS, 1968–1971)[1]
Hee-Haw (CBS, 1969–1971,[1] first run syndication 1971-1991)
Lassie (CBS, 1954–1971, first run syndication 1971-1973)
Family Affair (CBS, 1966–1971)
Hogan's Heroes (CBS, 1965–1971)
The Jim Nabors Hour (CBS, 1969–1971)[1]
The Red Skelton Show (cancelled by NBC)
The Lawrence Welk Show (locally in Los Angeles 1951-1955, ABC, 1955–1971, first run syndication 1971-1982)
The Johnny Cash Show (ABC, 1969–1971)
The Governor & J.J. (CBS, two seasons)
The Virginian (NBC, 9 seasons)
The Andy Williams Show (NBC, 10 seasons)
Wild Kingdom (NBC, 1963-1971; syndication 1971-1988)

1971-72 season

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (CBS, 1969–1972)

1973-74 season

Bonanza (NBC, 1959-1973)
Here's Lucy (CBS, 1968–74, following the related CBS series The Lucy Show (1962–1968), The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960), and I Love Lucy (1951–1957)

1974-75 season

Gunsmoke (CBS, 1955-1975)
all those shows were cancelled in 1971? I never knew that!

Alan Brady's Hair is absolutely right -- there were other factors at play in the Rural Purge than straight demo-targeting.

In fact, the only element of this programming trend directly correlated to demographics was part of a power play between CBS' new network president Bob Wood and Senior Programming VP Mike Dann, the latter of whom had essentially been making all of the scheduling decisions since the mid '60s and tended to base decisions solely on total viewership. To exert his new authority over Dann and the '70-'71 season's schedule, Wood's tactic was to convince Paley that advertisers specifically wanted younger audiences -- the kind Gleason and Skelton weren't delivering.

Paley went along with Wood and cancelled those two shows (along with PETTICOAT JUNCTION, which might have gotten ousted anyway), and successfully shocked Dann, who had squeaked out a technical victory in total ratings over NBC for the '69-'70 season by employing Operation 100, a sweeping strategy in which low-performing shows were pre-empted by special presentations, and therefore assumed that his judgment was king. With the network now rejecting his entire philosophy, Dann quietly left CBS that summer and was replaced by Fred Silverman.

However, in this discussion, it should be noted that the targeting of younger demos was not yet a proven science at the start of the '70-71 season, despite being a factor in the way some networks (specifically NBC) spun their numbers in the late '60s to make themselves look like winners. Interestingly, although Wood really believed advertisers were eyeing younger audiences, his plan to inject CBS' schedule with "relevant" programming seemed like a passing, and mostly unfruitful trend by the November 1970 sweeps, when the next year's schedule was being drafted.

As a result, a few back-to-normal decisions were made (the kind that one might have expected from Dann) for the start of the '71-'72 season. But with both ALL IN THE FAMILY and THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW quickly emerging as TV's most prestigious new offerings, Wood's theory was seemingly validated and the following year, '72-'73, was readied with content of a similar, more "relevant" type. By then, it looked like both NBC and ABC were now scrambling to follow CBS' lead, even though they'd both been trying to skew young since at least '66 as a means of undermining CBS' valid claim of being the most watched.

With regard to the FCC's 1970 passage of the Prime Time Access Rule, although that decision was crafted to have more of an impact on the affiliates than the networks, it was the latter group that seemed the most affected. With less time for the networks to program each night, they not only had to cut shows (and they each had a lot of not-so-great offerings that they were glad to have an excuse to sacrifice), but they also needed to cut their own expenses (drop old stars) and maximize profits (make bulk deals with larger studios instead of many independents).

The networks' response to the PTA passage is really the reason why all those long-running "rural" shows (like GREEN ACRES and THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES) were dropped when they were, after the '70-'71 season -- not simply because they were demographically unimportant or no longer in keeping with the network's brand, but because they were getting too expensive to bankroll, and the executives, knowing that times were changing, needed material that was financially expedient to distribute.

The fact that television tastes changed around 1971 in favor of shows that indeed pulled younger crowds was merely a good excuse that could be applied to what had been a business decision (in 1970) to accommodate the ruling, which itself was made just after the '70-'71 schedule had already been announced. If that ruling had come a month before, more "rural" shows would have likely been axed before the new season had even begun -- and before demo-targeting had cautiously been tested by Wood on CBS' schedule.

The FCC passed a rule that, beginning in the 1971 season, network primetime was reduced from 3 1/2 to three hours. I think it was only six days a week, so each network had to cancel three hours of programs before they even thought of introducing new shows.

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=329522
was that when the start of prime became 8:00 instead of 7:30? (eastern time)

I think there's another potential topic - somewhat similar - concerning the period that bridged the 70s into the 80s.

During this period my observation is that a number of shows were kept on the air far beyond their expiration dates. Unlike the Rural Purge period, I think TV executives in the early 80s got lazy and just let a bunch of shows run themselves into the ground. If you watch the later seasons of these shows, they're near unwatchable considering how good they were earlier.

Examples: The Jeffersons, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Alice, One Day At a Time, Three's Company (pretty much ABC and CBS).

All of these shows stayed on air about 3-4 seasons too long. Perhaps others can think of more shows from this period that fit this category.

thx for reading :)

This happened a decade later as well. There were several sitcoms that ended around 1991-1993 that should have ended a few years earlier.

I remember that 7:30 starting tv time. If I recall the Wonderful of Disney was on Sunday? and it started at 7. I think it was nice that the youngsters including me at the time could see a show and be in bed by 8 or 9.

They need to a reverse purge today to thin out all the urban and suburban shows that are stinking up the airwaves.

I remember that 7:30 starting tv time. If I recall the Wonderful of Disney was on Sunday? and it started at 7. I think it was nice that the youngsters including me at the time could see a show and be in bed by 8 or 9.
yes, it was on Sundays on NBC.

Let’s remember that advertisers also played a role in the “purge”. They wanted shows that appealed to younger audiences with more disposable income.

Let’s remember that advertisers also played a role in the “purge”. They wanted shows that appealed to younger audiences with more disposable income.
..yes with less intellect and attention span.

I was born in 1960 and lived in a cornfield in Indiana and I can say I hated the rural purge. Suddenly when I was 10 years old there were no more shows that weren't set in big cities. Red Skelton was probably my favorite show at the time, but I watched Hee Haw, Green Acres, and Hogan's Heroes religiously. I really couldn't relate to Archie Bunker or Mary Tyler Moore or all these new shows and wanted my westerns and old familiar fare back. I have read that the networks only put The Waltons on to placate people who were upset about the rural purge and intentionally set it in a time slot that was guaranteed to fail and were upset when it prospered. Hollywood is the devil and has done everything it can to destroy old fashioned families with high moral standards and Christian beliefs. They're doing a fine job...

How can the executives be "lazy?"

if the shows in question are still delivering ratings and profits, then of course they'll keep them on. Quality or watchability have nothing to do with it. The executives care about $$$ and demographics.

My retort to this: If such a show keeps getting renewed despite its declining quality or non-watchability, and having already ran its course, then younger shows on the network will suffer and be held back.

For example, I think the runs of Taxi and Too Close for Comfort were pretty much ruined because of Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. And the shows that Ledhed mentoned could be a reason why the early 1980s were a terrible time for sitcoms. HD, L&S, and The Jeffersons kept getting renewed because there was nothing fresh or good until Cheers debuted.

And I suppose that after Gunsmoke got back to the Top-10 of the ratings after it was saved from cancellation, that one must have held back younger shows, also. LOL

The funny thing about that is many of these rural shows were not only still popular but did respectfully in the rating sure some shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and petticoat junction were getting long in the tooth although I don't see TBH lasting long without granny but as proven in its syndication run shows like Hee Haw were very popular too the end.

Let’s remember that advertisers also played a role in the “purge”. They wanted shows that appealed to younger audiences with more disposable income.

It's still this way. As someone with experience in this, part of the reason is advertisers believe (wrongly I might add) that younger audiences are more likely to try a new product than older people. It's not so cut and dry actually. My major issue with advertisers is how they often stereotype when attracting a specific group. For example years ago I worked at a marketing research firm and we were doing testing on a sports drink.It was men of all age and women until 25. I asked why and they said nonsense such as women after 25 don't workout. Not true of course, especially since I was 27 at the time and worked out everyday for hours. Advertisers need to realize not everyone is the same but until they do this will be a problem. I mean there were shows cancelled even though they were huge hits because 18-49 didn't watch them (and that's the only group they care about sadly).

In one sense, the RP marked a return of TV to its earliest years, when sitcoms had urban settings and a voluble style of humor.

They need to a reverse purge today to thin out all the urban and suburban shows that are stinking up the airwaves.i wish they would do one for all of those aging crime dramas that have been on cbs forever some of them are goood shows but are long past ther sell by dates

i wish they would do one for all of those aging crime dramas that have been on cbs forever some of them are goood shows but are long past ther sell by dates

:yeahthat

They need to complete purge of stuff like American Idol, The Voice and Dancing With The Stars as well as **** like Survivor bring back the westerns.

My retort to this: If such a show keeps getting renewed despite its declining quality or non-watchability, and having already ran its course, then younger shows on the network will suffer and be held back.

For example, I think the runs of Taxi and Too Close for Comfort were pretty much ruined because of Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. And the shows that Ledhed mentoned could be a reason why the early 1980s were a terrible time for sitcoms. HD, L&S, and The Jeffersons kept getting renewed because there was nothing fresh or good until Cheers debuted.

And I suppose that after Gunsmoke got back to the Top-10 of the ratings after it was saved from cancellation, that one must have held back younger shows, also. LOL

OK, I'll concede the point on Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, which coincidentally began their decline during the same season, 1980-81. HD lost Ron Howard and Donny Most and L&S moved to California.

And also during that time -- early 80s -- the sitcom was in decline. Even Cheers wasn't a hit its first season. It was The Cosby Show that revived the sitcom and made it viable again. You have to put Bill Cosby's real-life transgressions aside, because nobody knew about it then.

i wish they would do one for all of those aging crime dramas that have been on cbs forever some of them are goood shows but are long past ther sell by dates

Hey, I first suggested (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=324665) something like this five years ago (when the original CSI was airing its last season).

This year (2020), it's Criminal Minds that's ending. I don't know about NCIS, or how long it will continue to be CBS's top drama, especially with The Big Bang Theory gone (which is the reason why I stopped watching CBS last year). I could see Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods, and NCIS: Los Angeles ending in the early 2020s (I am worried about their future renewals because they're just going to end up cancelled without a proper sendoff later).

It'd be boring if every procedural were literally the same (i.e. not unique). :(

I think this is right. You had ethnic shows like Amos and Andy, the Goldberg's, Life with Luigi, and then no show was ever "grittier" than The Honeymooners. Between protests and advertisers who wanted squeaky clean programming, most of that stuff got pushed out for small town/suburban shows where Dad was some sort of professional.

In the early years of TV, most shows were produced in NYC and most of the audience was in the urban northeast. By the late 1950s, most Americans owned a television, production had shifted to Hollywood, and a more “white bread” sitcom style developed.

I think the whole "Rural Purge" thing was unfair to CBS. A lot of these shows were showing their age. Of the shows below.....


The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS, 1962–1971)
Green Acres (CBS, 1965–1971)
Mayberry R.F.D. (CBS, 1968–1971)
Hee-Haw (CBS, 1969–1971)
Jim Nabors (CBS 1969-1971)

The first three were about at the end of their rope anyway. Especially The Beverly Hillbillies. Show wasnt good at the end. Mayberry RFD to me was a contination of the less stellar Andy Griffith Show without Andy Griffith. I have read that Jim Nabors was actually getting tired of television and wanted to hit the road with his musical act as a headliner and do other stuff.

Hee Haw worked much better as a syndication series anyway and I am sure made the producers of the show a lot more money.

So I dont think it was so much CBS just saying "We need to kill all these country shows", more that these shows were at their end and were going to be cancelled anyway. As mentioned before, Gunsmoke survived because Paley's wife loved the series and it was an excellent series. Gunsmoke was pretty amazing in that it began when I Love Lucy was on and ended when MASH was on the same network.


To me now, a lot of 1960's TV shows were for lack of a better term, hokey. Unsophisticated and dumb. There were exceptions like The Dick Van Dyke Show which very could have been shown in color a decade later. Andy Griffith Show, even seen as a "country or rural show" was very well written and done, well arguably the black and white episodes of the first five seasons. Leave it to Beaver was another show of the early 1960's that while very dated, pretty much showed suburban life of sixty years ago.

But a lot of the shows were gimmicky, Like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. Get Smart, Gilligan's Island, Addams Family, The Munsters. Sort of a flight of reality and I think by the end of the 1960's into the early 1970's it wasnt so much getting rid of the "country shows", is that people wanted shows with more realism. I think that in the 1950's and 1960's the networks really shied away from realism, and then slowly saw that people dont mind seeing married people in one bed, social problems being discussed, once taboo issues being discussed. All In the Family kicked that door down in 1971-1972. Thus beginning of the 1970's Golden Age of mostly realistic comedies and dramas.

But when you look back at how turbulent the 60's were those screwball shows were needed and as for the 70's realism um please explain the likes of Happy Days Mork and Mindy and Laverne and Shirley.

Those last two programs were spin-offs of Happy Days, which had jumped the shark by then.

They need to complete purge of stuff like American Idol, The Voice and Dancing With The Stars as well as **** like Survivor bring back the westerns.

* Hurumph!* Survivor and Big Brother are the only two network shows that I watch now.

So what happened in 1975-76? TV got so inane(with exceptions)that I swore the demographic Networks were aiming for from the mid-70s through the 60s was 12-year olds.

I was 12 in 1976-77. Gen X man! :lol::crazy:

True but I was getting at was that while the 60's had allot of hokey surreal shows the 70's were as bad in that department as well.

Quote:
GEORGE: Yeah, but nothing happens on the show. You see, it's just like life. You know, you eat, you go shopping, you read.. You eat, you read, You go shopping.

RUSSELL: You read? You read on the show?

JERRY: Well, I don't know about the reading.. We didn't discuss the reading.

RUSSELL: All right, tell me, tell me about the stories. What kind of stories?

GEORGE: Oh, no. No stories.

RUSSELL: No stories? So, what is it?

GEORGE: (Showing an example) What'd you do today?

RUSSELL: I got up and came to work.

GEORGE: There's a show. That's a show.

RUSSELL: (Confused) How is that a show?

JERRY: Well, uh, maybe something happens on the way to work.

GEORGE: No, no, no. Nothing happens.

JERRY: Well, something happens.

RUSSELL: Well, why am I watching it?

GEORGE: Because it's on TV.

RUSSELL: (Threatening) Not yet.

I've always thought the pilot storyline dragged on too long on Seinfeld, but that scene is hilarious.

But when you look back at how turbulent the 60's were those screwball shows were needed and as for the 70's realism um please explain the likes of Happy Days Mork and Mindy and Laverne and Shirley.

Simple. Not everyone liked the more realistic shows. Some people wanted an alternative.

When asked how his shows compared to Norman Lear's, Garry Marshall said something like "Norman Lear's shows are like school. My shows are like recess."

:D

Yeah by the mid 70's people were getting tired of being preached to.

While the networks rural purge (and the move to urban relevance) impacted the lack of fanciful shows in the early 1970s, IMHO, it was equally the fault of the prime-access rule that stripped away the 7:30 PM time slots that were filled in the 1960s by shows appealing to kids and families. Between all 3 networks that's 21 half hours not being programmed so away went all the Flintstone/Gilligan/Flipper/Lassie/Beaver type shows.

And what did we get out of it? Rehashed game shows and entertainment reporting. Bad trade.

Yep we were definitely sold a truckload of lemons.

Yeah by the mid 70's people were getting tired of being preached to.

No matter how popular something is, the novelty eventually wears off.

True

I don't think that it can be said that this show held that show back. Shows compete for airtime against the worst show that network has, and if they can't make that cut there are always other networks. There has always been room on the schedule for a good show.

Then what else do you call "good" shows getting cancelled outright because the network simply has too many "good" (or mostly old and tired) shows on the schedule?

It's easier for veterans to hold-back younger shows on the FOX Broadcasting network, because they have less hours of prime-time than the "Big 3" networks. For example, during the last two-thirds of The Simpsons's three-decade-long run, newer and more promising animated series-es have gotten buried left and right, the biggest cases being King of the Hill, Futurama, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show.

Then what else do you call "good" shows getting cancelled outright because the network simply has too many "good" (or mostly old and tired) shows on the schedule?

It's easier for veterans to hold-back younger shows on the FOX Broadcasting network, because they have less hours of prime-time than the "Big 3" networks. For example, during the last two-thirds of The Simpsons's three-decade-long run, newer and more promising animated series have gotten buried left and right, the biggest cases being King of the Hill, Futurama, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show.


Those shows all sucked! They deserved to be buried.

The funny thing is that most of these shows thrived in syndication during the 1970's on channels that the networks said wanted to be less rural. lol I was young when these shows were canceled but I remember them so well. They were always on. The Beverly Hillbillies was one of my favorite shows. We used to watch Hee Haw every Saturday night at 7:00 during the 1970's and it came on right before AITF on our local CBS Affiliate.

That's a funny coincidence, given that ALL IN THE FAMILY premiered right after HEE-HAW when it premiered on CBS in 1971.

That's a funny coincidence, given that ALL IN THE FAMILY premiered right after HEE-HAW when it premiered on CBS in 1971.

“Hee-Haw” started as a CBS replacement for the Smothers Brothers. It ran for two seasons until the network canceled it. The series then went into first-run syndication and new shows were produced into the 1990s.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hee_Haw

Those shows all sucked! They deserved to be buried.

Oh, come on! That's the kind of argument people make when they answer the question: "Should The Simpsons end its original run or not?"

King of the Hill sucked? That was a great show, and its ratings actually matched-up to The Simpsons during its second season, and then FOX-TV decided to move KotH to Tuesdays the following year.

The Sundays-at-7:30 timeslot has been used by FOX-TV to bury and screw-over programs (good or otherwise), making the scheduling of their original episodes erratic because of NFL overruns. American Dad! was buried in that same timeslot for awhile, and now AD is airing its original episodes on TBS. Bob's Burgers was also scheduled at 7:30 for several seasons before FOX-TV decided to put it at 9:00 for season 10.

Oh, come on! That's the kind of argument people make when they answer the question: "Should The Simpsons end its original run or not?"

King of the Hill sucked? That was a great show, and its ratings actually matched-up to The Simpsons during its second season, and then FOX-TV decided to move KotH to Tuesdays the following year.

The Sundays-at-7:30 timeslot has been used by FOX-TV to bury and screw-over programs (good or otherwise), making the scheduling of their original episodes erratic because of NFL overruns. American Dad! was buried in that same timeslot for awhile, and now AD is airing its original episodes on TBS. Bob's Burgers was also scheduled at 7:30 for several seasons before FOX-TV decided to put it at 9:00 for season 10.


1. King Of The Hill sucked badly. It deserved what it got.

2. Your points have nothing to do with the topic. Stick to the topic: The Rural Purge of 1969-71 not 2001!

1. King Of The Hill sucked badly. It deserved what it got.

2. Your points have nothing to do with the topic. Stick to the topic: The Rural Purge of 1969-71 not 2001!

1. Your opinion. Do not push it on others. King of the Hill had several award wins and nominations. If FOX-TV's schedule space weren't so limited, there was no need for them to have buried KotH at all.

2. Tell it to Ledhed, Dr. Thong, and Alan Brady's Hair; they're the ones that started the conversation on shows that were being kept on the air past their expiration dates and holding back younger shows, and that conversation is what I'm focusing on right now.

Always felt some of those shows The Beverly Hillbillies Green Acres and Mayberry RFD could've gone another season and Hee Haw really made the networks eat crow when you add in in the long run in syndication and is considered a cultural icon while the majority of the so called hip urban shows of that time are hardly remembered.

For Good or Bad, Norman Lear Helped Erase Rural America from TV (https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-for-good-or-bad-norman-lear-all-in-the-family-helped-erase-rural-america-from-tv/2024/02/22/)

The white-hot popularity of Lear’s “All in the Family” 53 years ago gave CBS Television leverage to purge a host of rural-based sitcoms that were “permanently in the past even when they were contemporary.”

by Jeffery H. Bloodworth
February 22, 2024

Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in The Good, the Bad, and the Elegy, a newsletter from the Daily Yonder focused on the best, and worst, in rural media, entertainment, and culture. Every other Thursday, it features reviews, retrospectives, recommendations, and more. You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article to receive future editions in your inbox.

Among the Hollywood figures who were honored in memoriam last month during the 75th Emmy Awards was Norman Lear. The iconic television writer, director, and producer passed away at 101 in December. Lear leaves in his wake a bevy of iconic television shows that defined his era and shaped the future of American popular culture. His role in U.S. television history also had a complex impact on how the nation sees — and doesn’t see — rural America.

Fifty-three years ago, Lear’s breakout hit, “All in the Family,” aired on CBS. A satire set in the New York City borough of Queens, the program made topical comedy out of the post-1960s culture wars. It also touched an immediate nerve. An instant hit, the program became the nation’s most-watched television show of its era. But Lear’s legacy is more complicated for rural Americans. His 1971 rise signaled the demise of rural America on network television.

“All in the Family’s” white-hot popularity spelled almost instantaneous doom for the show that immediately preceded it, “Hee Haw.” But the country music variety show was not the only rural-themed program on borrowed time. Airing on CBS on the same night as “Hee Haw” were “Green Acres” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Within a year, those programs, along with “Mayberry RFD,” “The Jim Nabors Hour,” “Petticoat Junction,” “Gomer Pyle,” and the “New Andy Griffith Show,” were canceled. Termed the “rural purge,” Norman Lear marked the end of an era.

In the early 1970s, Lear followed “All in the Family” with hits like “Maude,” “Good Times,” “The Jeffersons,” and “Sanford and Son.” These shows were defined by their urban settings, realism, and topical humor. By contrast, the programs canceled in the “rural purge” were wholly disconnected from the sturm-and-drang of the 1960s.

Sara K. Eskridge, Ph.D., believes “escape” was exactly the point. “I think they provided a sense of soothing,” said Dr. Eskridge, a historian who authored Rube Tube: CBS and Rural Comedy in the Sixties. “They were set in contemporary times. But they were focused on friendships. You don’t see conflict.”

Unlike Lear, who found comedy in social conflict and made shows that spoke to the moment, Eskridge said the rural-themed programs “were permanently in the past even when they were contemporary. They were not culturally relevant.”

In the 1960s, CBS so dominated television ratings with its rural-themed programming that critics dubbed it, the “Country Broadcasting System.” At television’s birth in the 1940s, CBS had also conquered the medium. But it did so with highly rated and critically acclaimed shows ranging from “I Love Lucy” to “The Twilight Zone.” Dubbed the “Tiffany Network,” for combining popularity and quality, CBS faced a changed television landscape by 1960.

In 1959, the network’s hit quiz show, “The $64,000 Question,” was embroiled in a rigging scandal.

In addition to this, technology had finally given rural Americans access to television. To please their expanded audience of urban and rural viewers, networks turned to Westerns. Popular with every demographic, the networks aired as many as 41 Westerns in one season of television programming.

With quiz shows discredited and Westerns saturated, CBS launched “The Andy Griffith Show” in October 1960. Combining the Western motif of the honest lawman with a tried-and-true comedy formula, CBS struck ratings gold. This runaway hit spawned a series of rural-themed television comedies ranging from the cornpone, “Beverly Hillbillies,” to the slightly postmodern, “Green Acres.” Critics may have moaned “the pone is the lowest form of humor,” but audiences disagreed. During the Kennedy presidency, “The Beverly Hillbillies” was America’s most watched television series.

Ironically, as American cities boomed in the 1960s so did rural-themed television programming. To Dr. Eskridge, “Nostalgia works great for this. The future was in the city and when people think ‘rural’ they think of the past.”

Brooks Blevins, Ph.D., understands the show’s popularity a bit differently. The Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University sees a timeless narrative thread in these programs. Dr. Blevins told me, “The rich fat cats are always the butt of the joke. And that has existed for as long as there has been humor.”

But Blevins also understands that once the tumult of the 1960s fully emerged, “these shows are escapism. You can’t deny that there is an escapist measure in these shows.”

To Tim Brook, a television critic, the programs relied upon the trope that “Rural America was like true America, without all the problems,” he wrote in the Bitter Southerner. But even Mayberry was not immune to the times. In 1967, “The Andy Griffith Show,” in a slight nod to contemporary events, finally featured its first African American character in a speaking part.

Ironically, it was integration that spawned the rural purge. During Jim Crow and segregation, African Americans were absent from television. In that time, Dr. Blevins claims it was “hillbillies” who played the role of the exotic “other.” Through these “non-threatening, non-conformist” characters, writers could “poke fun at American materialism in a non-leftist way.” When Norman Lear integrated television, African Americans became the “other” who held up the mirror to society; hillbillies were redundant.

Network executives were eager for a change. CBS president William Paley loathed the “Country Broadcasting Network” moniker. To fix it, in 1970, he hired 33-year-old Fred Silverman as head of network programming. Silverman also detested the rural comedies but now he had a rationale to cancel what were popular shows. The new Nielsen ratings measured viewer demographics, not just raw viewership. CBS dominated the ratings, but its rural, downscale viewers would never attract top advertising dollars.

Paley and Silverman sought to revive the “Tiffany Network” by producing prestige television that attracted a younger, educated, and urban audience. Lear’s “All in the Family” fit the bill. Within a year of its premiere, Silverman had, as one observer quipped, canceled every show “with a tree in it.”

In all, Silverman canned a dozen shows in the 1971 rural purge: “Green Acres,” “Petticoat Junction,” “Beverly Hillbillies,” “The Red Skelton Show,” “Family Affair,” “Hee-Haw,” “Hogan’s Heroes,” “Jim Nabors Hour,” “Mayberry RFD,” and “The New Andy Griffith Show.” Not even “Lassie” escaped Silverman’s hatchet. In 1973, Silverman’s Saturday night lineup, “All in the Family,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Bob Newhart,” “M*A*S*H,” and “The Carol Burnett Show,” came to be regarded as the greatest night of television in the medium’s history.

Norman Lear had blazed a trail for these programs to follow. He proved it was feasible to be “topical, funny and immensely popular.” But his success came at a cost. The “rural purge” was a tipping point for depictions of rural America in popular culture. Sure, “The Waltons,” “Lonesome Dove,” “The Dukes of Hazard,” and (now) “Yellowstone” are hit programs that center on rural life. But these are outliers. Rural America, when it is depicted at all, is too often a setting for horror movies or reality show rubes. Dr. Eskridge understands that many rural people feel ignored in popular culture. They ask, in her words, “Where am I in this melting pot?”

Christopher Ali, Ph.D., thinks the rural purge points to a deeper issue. Fred Silverman’s quest for the urban, educated middle class did not stop with network television. Today, media almost wholly ignores rural America. The Pioneers Chair in Telecommunications at Pennsylvania State University told me wide swaths of rural Americans now live in “double deserts.” They lack access to both broadband and reliable local news and media.

These “double deserts” pack a powerful social wallop. In Ali’s words, “The lack of representation of rural communities creates a terrible cycle. Rural communities are vibrant, rich, and diverse. But the lack of connectivity, news, and information are never good. It limits opportunity to learn and grow economically. It limits options. It can only be a bad thing. You end up in echo chambers without connectivity.”

Lear proved television could speak to the moment — and, at times, could help heal division. His passing reminds us that television and media ignore that legacy.

Jeffery H. Bloodworth is a professor of political history at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, and co-director of the university’s School of Public Service & Global Affairs. He is the author of the forthcoming book Heartland Liberal: The Life & Times of Speaker Carl Albert.

Poorly researched statement by Bloodworth:

“All in the Family’s” white-hot popularity spelled almost instantaneous doom for the show that immediately preceded it, “Hee Haw.” But the country music variety show was not the only rural-themed program on borrowed time. Airing on CBS on the same night as “Hee Haw” were “Green Acres” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Within a year, those programs, along with “Mayberry RFD,” “The Jim Nabors Hour,” “Petticoat Junction,” “Gomer Pyle,” and the “New Andy Griffith Show,” were canceled. Termed the “rural purge,” Norman Lear marked the end of an era.

Petticoat Junction's final season was 1969-70, well BEFORE All In the Family. A very common and stupid error.

How much of this was political? Dems in the cities, Repus in the rural areas.