Back around 1971, some City Slicker named Fred Silverman conducted the "Rural Purge" and none of us were the better for it.

Out in the Hinterlands | June 12, 2021 | Big Fan of Emmylou Harris

[SamAdams76]

I have mosquito bites all over my arms and legs. I'm thinking because I've been out camping, sitting by the campfire and doing a lot of cast iron based cooking over said fire. Which is some of the best kind of cooking if you are to be camping.

Then I go into my tent and roll myself into a "sleeping bag" but even then, I'm thinking mosquitoes are still able to get through.

So a lot of mosquito bites and it's only mid June. Lot of camping left to go this season.

Nothing better though then sleeping under a tent and hearing all the noises of nature, especially pit-pattering rain and crickets and tree frogs. Then you get the birds in the morning waking you up as the sun gains strength in the east.

Then you get the campfire going again in put some "cowboy coffee" on as you prepare the eggs and bacon to get your next camping day off to an acceptable start.

But I digress.

I'm old enough to remember back when "rural" themed TV shows ruled the day. You had "Hee Haw" which was such an incredible institution that I might need several posts to fully describe it. You had "Beverly Hillbillies", "Green Acres", "Petticoat Junction", "Mr Ed", "Andy Griffith", "Jim Nabors Show", and "Lassie" just to name a few.

Oh yeah, and "Gunsmoke" and "F Troop" just to name a couple more.

All these shows (and more!) had respectable to great ratings on TV and presented good American values to the general public.

But along came this douchebag named Fred Silverman who took over CBS around 1970 and felt that rural values were not conducive to how he felt America should be and the "rural purge" was on.

In came more "urban" based shows like "Mary Tyler Moore", "All In The Family", "The Jeffersons", "What's Happening", "James at 15", and "Sanford & Son."

Certainly not all Fred Silverman creations but Fred did kill the rural-based TV shows in order to cater to more urban and suburban audiences (though those audiences did appreciate the rural shows as even "Hee Haw" got decent ratings in NYC and Boston.)

Fact is, rural shows basically disappeared in the early 1970s with the notable exceptions of "The Waltons" and "Little House On The Prairie."

Basically from then on, you had the urban-suburban TV shows with their loud voices, their canned laughtracks and their more liberal values dominating the airwaves.

[HandyDandy]

And Mr. Greenjeans!

[escapefromboston]

I never liked Petticoat Junction. The rest of those Rural Shows were pretty good though.

[Huskrrrr]

Good points.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Thanks for your post! Good memories.

The current crop of "urban" comedies aren't funny. They are ugly and mean spirited. The actors spend a half hour running each other down, belittling one another, spouting ugliness toward all.

By the way, I happened across a really good made-for-tv movie from the early 1980s starring Johnny Cash and Andy Griffith. Tremendous movie based on a true story called Murder in Caweta County. Andy plays the exact opposite of Sheriff Taylor, and Johnny is the good guy.

I found it on the free streaming channel called "Tubi". It's a pretty good channel, maybe one of the best free ones. Just do a search.

[blackdog]

One of the best experiences stories told here on FR, ever.

If you watch Rocky and Bullwinkel today they are so spot on in presenting the insanity of TODAY'S politics and social stupidity that you would swear they knew exactly what was coming.

Great that you experienced that the art craft of really hard working geniuses loyal to their collective effort.

[Fiji Hill]

“Apple’s Way,” set in rural Iowa, began in 1974 but lasted only a couple seasons.

[wardaddy]

You’re right but Silverman didn’t do it by himself....

Replaced by game shows and woke comedies

[blackdog]

Green Acres. Still relevant.

[HandyDandy]

Barney Miller is a fascinating glimpse into those times. We had so many social issues resolved. And now they are all reopened wounds again. My favorite oldie. That and Rockford Files.

[EvilCapitalist]

You a female? Only asking because most male FReepers love Petticoat Junction for 3 obvious reasons.

[EvilCapitalist]

Arnold the Pig is still my favorite character from that show.

[blackdog]

I have every Barney Miller episode. I think it ran all the way to 1983.

[Fiji Hill]

In came more "urban" based shows like "Mary Tyler Moore", "All In The Family", "The Jeffersons", "What's Happening", "James at 15", and "Sanford & Son."

There was also "Mod Squad," whose leftist bias was quite pronounced.

"All in the Family" was obviously intended to make conservatives look like a-holes.

[snuffy smiff]

You left out ‘murphy brown’-starring the hyper-arrogant candace bergen that also had a bastard child on the show...

That’s when I began limiting my ‘TV time’.

[wardaddy]

I’d like to have gone up against Ellie May too

Horizontal

By the cement pond

Hold the biscuits..

Beauregard on a leash...

She could leave her boots on...

[Chainmail]

They were comic geniuses - and really warm people too. I wish that I had gone back again but at that age, every new moment is the new moment. That was a really magic night.

[wally_bert]

Rockford is an excellent course in social engineering attacks.

[Fiji Hill]

I used to like MASH which I would watch as reruns. It wasn’t until I got a bit older that I realized just how left-wing that show is.

I refused to see the movie when it came out in 1970 because the billboards advertising it featured the "peace" symbol.

[wally_bert]

An excellent movie.

[wally_bert]

Who wouldn’t want a boss like Barney?

I thought the Jack Soo tribute episode was one of the best things ever done on network TV.

Dietrich was my favorite, he knew just about everything.