Is it A Fair Assumption to Call 'Carter Country' A Comedic 'In the Heat of the Night? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 09-06-2010, 04:11 PM

Don't know much about this show but people were calling it a sitcom version of In the Heat of the Night. Is that a fair comparison?

Retro4Life · 09-06-2010, 04:16 PM

Yeah, I'd say so. I think the show also wanted to capitalize on the fact of Jimmy Carter being President, but the parallels between ITHOTN are definitely there.

Brian Damage · 09-06-2010, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Yeah, I'd say so. I think the show also wanted to capitalize on the fact of Jimmy Carter being President, but the parallels between ITHOTN are definitely there.

Wow ok thanks for that, if that is the case, the sitcom sounds a little like a train wreck lol

In all fairness though, I never saw it. Thanks retro!

Retro4Life · 09-06-2010, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

Wow ok thanks for that, if that is the case, the sitcom sounds a little like a train wreck lol

In all fairness though, I never saw it. Thanks retro!

Actually the show was quite funny. I'm a bit surprised it didn't last longer than two seasons. Check out some of the clips of it on YouTube, they kind of give you an idea of the humor of the show.

Mr. Television · 09-06-2010, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Actually the show was quite funny. I'm a bit surprised it didn't last longer than two seasons. Check out some of the clips of it on YouTube, they kind of give you an idea of the humor of the show.

It was a very funny show. Reruns ran in NC for quite a few years after it ended and it would run 5 days a week too.

Chief Roy was sort of like Chief Gillespie and Jasper was kind of like Bubba although Jasper was really a racist. Bubba was just a good old boy. Curtis was a lot like Tibbs. Then you had Harley who could have been Parker's twin brother.

Retro4Life · 09-06-2010, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuck In The '70's

It was a very funny show. Reruns ran in NC for quite a few years after it ended and it would run 5 days a week too.

Chief Roy was sort of like Chief Gillespie and Jasper was kind of like Bubba although Jasper was really a racist. Bubba was just a good old boy. Curtis was a lot like Tibbs. Then you had Harley who could have been Parker's twin brother.

Yeah, all of the regulars were very good in their roles, it's a pity only a couple of them ever went on to other success. I actually talked to Harvey Vernon on a local Jerry Lewis telethon outlet back in the 70's and he was a very nice guy.

Mr. Television · 09-06-2010, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Yeah, all of the regulars were very good in their roles, it's a pity only a couple of them ever went on to other success. I actually talked to Harvey Vernon on a local Jerry Lewis telethon outlet back in the 70's and he was a very nice guy.

Wow, you're lucky. Harvey Vernon was a very good actor and he really played Jasper well. Usually the ones that play the very bad guys are usually just the opposite in real life. Yea it's too bad most of the cast didn't go on to do much afterward. Victor French and Kene Holliday did the most after Carter Country. I really liked Richard Paul. He went on do be on some short lived shows afterward but he died back in the 90's.

Retro4Life · 09-06-2010, 06:27 PM

^I always thought Richard Paul was a dead ringer for Jerry Falwell and if I'm not mistaken he actually played the Reverend in a TV movie at some point.

I think the lady who played "Clovis" also passed on, as well as Vernon and Victor French and Paul. And I just looked up the show on imdb; I didn't remember that Melanie Griffith was actually on the show for a while!

Mr. Television · 09-06-2010, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

^I always thought Richard Paul was a dead ringer for Jerry Falwell and if I'm not mistaken he actually played the Reverend in a TV movie at some point.

I think the lady who played "Clovis" also passed on, as well as Vernon and Victor French and Paul. And I just looked up the show on imdb; I didn't remember that Melanie Griffith was actually on the show for a while!

Did you ever see the Patty Duke sitcom Hail to the Chief? He played a Reverend in that one. He was yelling that Satan had taken over the white house because there was a woman President.

Yea I remember that Melanie Griffith was in it. I think she played a reporter or something.

Retro4Life · 09-07-2010, 01:14 AM

^ No, never saw Hail to the Chief, but I wish I had.

studd911 · 09-14-2010, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

^ No, never saw Hail to the Chief, but I wish I had.

was carter county like the counter part of Barney Miller

Retro4Life · 09-20-2010, 09:01 PM

Different setting and more of a gender mix, to be sure. I'd say Barney Miller's humor was a little more subtle, too, but I enjoyed them both.

jehobden · 12-17-2010, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

^I always thought Richard Paul was a dead ringer for Jerry Falwell and if I'm not mistaken he actually played the Reverend in a TV movie at some point.

From what I've read, Richard Paul did play Jerry Falwell in the movie, The People vs. Larry Flynt, where Woody Harrelson played Flynt. Paul also played what appears to be a stereotypical takeoff on Falwell, "Rev. Billy Bob", who gave grief to Patty Duke's U.S. President character in her mid-80s sitcom, Hail to the Chief.
Since Carter Country had come and gone before I'd ever heard of Jerry Falwell or the Moral Majority, when I first saw Falwell, I thought to myself "He looks just like that fat mayor from Carter Country!".

TMC · 01-21-2020, 05:08 AM

Another description that I've read is that Carter County was basically a backwoods, southern version of Barney Miller.

09-06-2010, 04:11 PM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,108	Is it A Fair Assumption to Call 'Carter Country' A Comedic 'In the Heat of the Night? Don't know much about this show but people were calling it a sitcom version of In the Heat of the Night. Is that a fair comparison?
	__________________ The Key to the Kingdom of Heaven: John 3:3 *Money Doesn't Buy Happiness...But I'd Rather Cry in My Private Jet*

09-06-2010, 04:16 PM	#2
Retro4Life Accept No Substitutes Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 04, 2009 Location: IL Posts: 6,706	Yeah, I'd say so. I think the show also wanted to capitalize on the fact of Jimmy Carter being President, but the parallels between ITHOTN are definitely there.
	__________________ Alex Reiger :[Trying to convince Louie not to antagonize Bobby] "It's not hard to make people feel bad about their lives. What's hard is making people feel good about their lives."

09-06-2010, 06:27 PM	#8
Retro4Life Accept No Substitutes Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 04, 2009 Location: IL Posts: 6,706	^I always thought Richard Paul was a dead ringer for Jerry Falwell and if I'm not mistaken he actually played the Reverend in a TV movie at some point. I think the lady who played "Clovis" also passed on, as well as Vernon and Victor French and Paul. And I just looked up the show on imdb; I didn't remember that Melanie Griffith was actually on the show for a while!

09-07-2010, 01:14 AM	#10
Retro4Life Accept No Substitutes Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 04, 2009 Location: IL Posts: 6,706	^ No, never saw Hail to the Chief, but I wish I had.

09-20-2010, 09:01 PM	#12
Retro4Life Accept No Substitutes Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 04, 2009 Location: IL Posts: 6,706	Different setting and more of a gender mix, to be sure. I'd say Barney Miller's humor was a little more subtle, too, but I enjoyed them both.

01-21-2020, 05:08 AM	#14
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 124,453	Another description that I've read is that Carter County was basically a backwoods, southern version of Barney Miller.