There was a time when the Democrats were basically a Southern party where all culture - including TV - celebrated Southern Democrat culture, including nostalgia for the Confederacy. Once the Dems were wiped out in the South, the medial culture changed to vilify Southern culture (and convenienty ignored that the Democrats created the Dixie / Confederate culture).
The Rural Purge.
See my earlier post. Even in the 1980s and ‘90s, shows like Designing Women, Grace Under Fire, and even In The Heat of The Night were being made with the Southern culture on display. And who could forget BJ and The Bear and also Sheriff Lobo, lol.