Really? I think that show was in re-runs already when I saw it as a youngster in the late 60's or early 70's..... I think I was ... 10 years old or so. Didn't know what a communist was, just knew that was a damn' funny show.
Oh, well I saw it on black and white TV...weekly. I doubt Irene Ryan was really all that political, although she lived through the McCarthy era.
But just by watching who city people elect, and their stupid policies, we can tell what they are. (See county by county election maps)
We learned all about communists in grade school, and my mom, who was a "war bride" from WWII Germany, told me more about both the nazis and the communists.
She said they were at one time street gangs in Frankfurt, shooting it out in the streets....kinda like now.