The Rural Purge of 1969-1972

[jimpickens]

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.

[visaman666]

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

[visaman666]

Originally Posted by jimpickens

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.

[visaman666]

Originally Posted by antoniod

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!

[jimpickens]

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.

[TSMIV]

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.

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by jimpickens

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."

[jimpickens]

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

[merlinjones]

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.

[jimpickens]

Yep we were definitely sold a truckload of lemons.

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by jimpickens

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.

[jimpickens]

True

[James28]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

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.

[Sal]

Originally Posted by James28

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.

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by Mr. Television

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.