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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

Posted on 06/12/2021 3:06:57 PM PDT by 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.


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: sitcoms; television; tv
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To: wally_bert

The Deitrick lie detector episode. Oh my God! Claiming he was born long ago in a Galaxie far far away. And he passed!


41 posted on 06/12/2021 3:48:14 PM PDT by blackdog (Joe Biden, Deep State Cuckold.)
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To: EvilCapitalist

The County Agent Mr. Hayney. Pure bumbling bureaucrat.


42 posted on 06/12/2021 3:49:39 PM PDT by blackdog (Joe Biden, Deep State Cuckold.)
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To: blackdog

Steve Landesburg was in a good Rockford as a con man that cons another con man.


43 posted on 06/12/2021 3:51:08 PM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure.)
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To: SamAdams76

Didn’t Fred Silverman end up running NBC into the ground


44 posted on 06/12/2021 3:51:16 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Lean on Joe Biden to follow Donald Trump's example and donate his annual salary to charity.)
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To: blackdog

I’ve got the boxed set.


45 posted on 06/12/2021 3:53:22 PM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure.)
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To: Fiji Hill
"All in the Family" was obviously intended to make conservatives look like a-holes.

It sort of backfired, Meathead was not a likeable character, even Lionel called him out, because all Meathead wanted to do was talk about race issues with him...."Why don't we ever talk about the weather? Black people have weather too, you know!"

46 posted on 06/12/2021 3:54:55 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

I used to fly charter planes. Andy Griffith, James Garner, Reba Mackintyre, Steven Tyler, and television preachers have reserved stalls in hell.


47 posted on 06/12/2021 3:55:02 PM PDT by blackdog (Joe Biden, Deep State Cuckold.)
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To: Salamander

I’d like to see meathead go up against Granny.


48 posted on 06/12/2021 3:55:05 PM PDT by Overtaxed (Ephesians 6:12)
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To: blackdog

Yup.


49 posted on 06/12/2021 3:55:19 PM PDT by EvilCapitalist (I voted for prosperity, and I got poverty.)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Andy Griffith at heart was a mean spirited lefty. He didn’t have to act when he was a villainous character.


50 posted on 06/12/2021 3:55:55 PM PDT by Tailback
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To: blackdog

“The Deitrick lie detector episode”

LOL! Great episode.

Now I can remember all these TV episode but don’t have a clue where I put my keys an hour ago!


51 posted on 06/12/2021 3:56:34 PM PDT by lizma2
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To: wally_bert

The episode where the bad guy tells Rockford ,Angel is dead and Rockford says ,when did it happen.... Bad guy says tomorrow,Wednesday at the latest... Can’t tell you how many times I’ve used that.....


52 posted on 06/12/2021 3:57:02 PM PDT by Hambone 1934 (Dems love playing Nazis.....The republicans love helping them)
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To: lizma2
Watch some Star Trek, post Kirk. Holy cow!

In the last year I re-watched TOS and really enjoyed it. Then I tried re-watching TNG. I had to quit. Not just the sledgehammer messages, but I realized there was only one person on that show that could act. I guess back in the day I was such a Trekkie I didn't notice the first time through.

53 posted on 06/12/2021 3:57:52 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: SamAdams76

Ironically, Leonid Brezhnev loved American westerns. He was a big fan of “The Rifleman”, and there’s a famous image of Chuck Connors giving Brezhnev a bear hug.


54 posted on 06/12/2021 3:58:27 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Fiji Hill

I could probably still nail my MASH trivia, but I have to desire to ever watch an episode again. You live and learn over time.


55 posted on 06/12/2021 4:00:05 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Last good comedy was Seinfeld.


56 posted on 06/12/2021 4:01:18 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Hambone 1934

Drought at Indianhead river.

Rancho Angelo.

Just about all the Angel episodes were among the best,

He’s about the only one left if you count Lance White, Freddie Beamer, and Becker’s wife.


57 posted on 06/12/2021 4:01:25 PM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure.)
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To: blackdog

Mr. Kimball, but your point is definitely valid.


58 posted on 06/12/2021 4:01:46 PM PDT by ScottinVA (Enough. Divide the country.. now. )
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To: dfwgator

I think I read somewhere that Conners’ gifted Brezhnev with a rifle similar to what was used on the show.


59 posted on 06/12/2021 4:05:02 PM PDT by Reily
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To: EvilCapitalist

The first few years were pretty funny. Then McClain Stevenson and Wayne Rogers left. Alan Alda took over and it turned into a huge liberal war is hell suck fest.


60 posted on 06/12/2021 4:05:29 PM PDT by The MAGA-Deplorian (Democrats are lawless because Republicans are ball-less)
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