We Have Heard About the Rural Purge. But Was the Real Reason the New Access Hour Law? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

icecream · 09-01-2019, 09:46 PM

The networks losing most of the 7:30 eastern half hour in 1971 with Tuesday following the next year would have meant a whole lot less space on the schedule. So more cancellations than would be the usual. While Norman Lear sitcoms sadly started to dominate, rural family drama The Waltons was still one of the 70s' biggest hits on CBS. And some of the 60s sitcoms may have run their course. The Beverly Hillbillies had already been on 9 seasons, and Petticoat Junction suffered when Bea Benaderet died. The color seasons of The Andy Griffith Show are widely regarded as inferior to the black and white seasons with Barney Fife, the Mayberry R.F.D spin-off probably went down even further after Andy Griffith left. Gomer Pyle and Green Acres could have had longer runs though.

LUNCH · 09-03-2019, 01:41 PM

I don't know the reason why they changed it but they should have waited at least 10-15 years later if they were going to do it.There was so much good TV made during the 1970s that some good shows probably got cancelled because as you mentioned, there was less room on the schedule.Also 7:30 was really a better time to start prime time.

Duster76 · 09-03-2019, 11:43 PM

The original intent of the access hour was to provide a window for local programming (news, public affairs, interviews, around town type programs). As we all know it turned into something completely different.

The Rural Purge of 1971 actually started years earlier, it could have started as early as 1966. Networks move slowly, CBS had the most affiliates, I think the number was in the 220's, NBC came next around 205, and ABC was somewhere around 180. CBS had the highest overall rating, then came NBC with ABC trailing the field badly. However NBC had demographics that were more attractive to advertisers (and thus their rate card was higher) and that was a concern for CBS. The network trended older, more rural, here was the birth of the rural purge.

These things take time, affiliate issues have to be dealt with, programs designed to appeal to a younger, urban audience need to be developed, there were casting issues, and pilots needed to be shot . If we look at 67-68, Good Morning World and He & She are added to the line-up along with the 66-67 midseason replacement series, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He & She in particular was a dynamic new series that was very highly thought of by the network and critics but it failed. Many inside the network felt scheduling it at 9:30 with the successful Green Acres as the 9:00 ultimately hurt the show because the audience for Acres was incompatible with the urban leaning He & She. Good Morning World failed as well, there were behind the scenes problems with this series, but the lead-in series was Red Skelton which attracted an older audience. This may have given birth to the notion that at the right time the network was going to have to make major changes simultaneously rather than phasing them in.

Sometime between late 1968 and early 1969, Jim Nabors decides to leave the number 2 rated series on television to star in his own variety series. Nabors had smart people around him managing his career, they may have sensed a change in direction was coming from CBS.

The country shows were still making CBS money, so they just couldn't pull the plug immediately so I think they let most of the series run their course. In 1971, The Beverly Hillbillies was in its 9th season, Green Acres was in its 6th season and rating on both were going down. The network may have been able to get another season out of both but the decline had begun. The Jim Nabors variety series got off well but rating declined in the second season (Flip Wilson), the network wanted to make changes in the show and Jim balked so the series was cancelled. Mayberry RFD another series that was cancelled was staring to decline, the series dropped from 4 to 15 in season 3 and honestly seemed to suffer from neglect. The production company seemed satisfied to just run out the clock without trying to update the show (keep in mind this was really nothing more than an extension of the last three seasons of the Griffith show, without Griffith). There is no doubt that it had earned another season but the show had started downhill. Hee Haw the last of the country shows cancelled was a smash, but of all the series this was country on steroids so off it goes.

That's my version of what happened anyhow.

09-01-2019, 09:46 PM	#1
icecream Cat-tastic and Whiskerlicious Forum Celebrity Join Date: Sep 01, 2006 Location: The Catacombs Posts: 20,704	We Have Heard About the Rural Purge. But Was the Real Reason the New Access Hour Law? The networks losing most of the 7:30 eastern half hour in 1971 with Tuesday following the next year would have meant a whole lot less space on the schedule. So more cancellations than would be the usual. While Norman Lear sitcoms sadly started to dominate, rural family drama The Waltons was still one of the 70s' biggest hits on CBS. And some of the 60s sitcoms may have run their course. The Beverly Hillbillies had already been on 9 seasons, and Petticoat Junction suffered when Bea Benaderet died. The color seasons of The Andy Griffith Show are widely regarded as inferior to the black and white seasons with Barney Fife, the Mayberry R.F.D spin-off probably went down even further after Andy Griffith left. Gomer Pyle and Green Acres could have had longer runs though.
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09-03-2019, 01:41 PM	#2
LUNCH Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 23, 2010 Location: New York State Posts: 1,304	I don't know the reason why they changed it but they should have waited at least 10-15 years later if they were going to do it.There was so much good TV made during the 1970s that some good shows probably got cancelled because as you mentioned, there was less room on the schedule.Also 7:30 was really a better time to start prime time.

09-03-2019, 11:43 PM	#3
Duster76 Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 01, 2008 Location: New jersey Posts: 1,646	The original intent of the access hour was to provide a window for local programming (news, public affairs, interviews, around town type programs). As we all know it turned into something completely different. The Rural Purge of 1971 actually started years earlier, it could have started as early as 1966. Networks move slowly, CBS had the most affiliates, I think the number was in the 220's, NBC came next around 205, and ABC was somewhere around 180. CBS had the highest overall rating, then came NBC with ABC trailing the field badly. However NBC had demographics that were more attractive to advertisers (and thus their rate card was higher) and that was a concern for CBS. The network trended older, more rural, here was the birth of the rural purge. These things take time, affiliate issues have to be dealt with, programs designed to appeal to a younger, urban audience need to be developed, there were casting issues, and pilots needed to be shot . If we look at 67-68, Good Morning World and He & She are added to the line-up along with the 66-67 midseason replacement series, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He & She in particular was a dynamic new series that was very highly thought of by the network and critics but it failed. Many inside the network felt scheduling it at 9:30 with the successful Green Acres as the 9:00 ultimately hurt the show because the audience for Acres was incompatible with the urban leaning He & She. Good Morning World failed as well, there were behind the scenes problems with this series, but the lead-in series was Red Skelton which attracted an older audience. This may have given birth to the notion that at the right time the network was going to have to make major changes simultaneously rather than phasing them in. Sometime between late 1968 and early 1969, Jim Nabors decides to leave the number 2 rated series on television to star in his own variety series. Nabors had smart people around him managing his career, they may have sensed a change in direction was coming from CBS. The country shows were still making CBS money, so they just couldn't pull the plug immediately so I think they let most of the series run their course. In 1971, The Beverly Hillbillies was in its 9th season, Green Acres was in its 6th season and rating on both were going down. The network may have been able to get another season out of both but the decline had begun. The Jim Nabors variety series got off well but rating declined in the second season (Flip Wilson), the network wanted to make changes in the show and Jim balked so the series was cancelled. Mayberry RFD another series that was cancelled was staring to decline, the series dropped from 4 to 15 in season 3 and honestly seemed to suffer from neglect. The production company seemed satisfied to just run out the clock without trying to update the show (keep in mind this was really nothing more than an extension of the last three seasons of the Griffith show, without Griffith). There is no doubt that it had earned another season but the show had started downhill. Hee Haw the last of the country shows cancelled was a smash, but of all the series this was country on steroids so off it goes. That's my version of what happened anyhow.