RIP Eb

Bobbie Jo Bradley is still alive and kicking. (Betty Jo, too).

 

Rural purge - Wikipedia

The line from Pat Buttram - CBS killing everything with a tree in it - including Lassie - is funny. I'm still amazed that so many of those types of shows were successful, particularly in the turbulent '60s. I'm guessing you could write a dissertation on the idea that at a time of great social unrest, people turned to these shows for reassurance and comfort - noting the lack of diversity, Vietnam, or strong women (Granny on the Hillbillies excluded). But then again, CBS has shown an ability to get a decent rating out of anything. Their NCIS shows are on auto-pilot and the knockoffs (SWAT, Seal Team, Criminal Minds) seem to stretch out to 7 or 8 seasons without breaking a sweat.

 

The rural shows appealed to the country style life people imagined their grandparents at the time having had.

 

Mo Rocca’s Mobituaries podcast did an episode about the purge.

The Rural Purge: Death of the Country Broadcasting System - Mobituaries

 

We regularly use about a half-dozen Green Acres catchphrases around our house. Every time we drive by some broken-down shack, wife will say, "There's a Haney place." (Oliver and Lisa bought "The Haney Place" --- I think that phrase was only used in 2-3 early episodes.) There was some damn creative writing in that show.

And Doris Ziffel was a pretty strong woman.

 

Don't like "Scribble?"

 

Didn't take long for CBS to go back to the country well. They followed the rural sitcoms with The Waltons, a rural drama and a huge hit.

 

Reluctantly. The backlash from the rural purge was so severe --- including Congressional hearings about the quality of TV programming (not targeting family viewing) --- that CBS commissioned The Waltons. And they deliberately stuck it on Thursday night against two very popular shows --- Flip Wilson and The Mod Squad --- hoping it would fail so CBS could insist there was no interest in such programming.

 

The best part of The Waltons was John Walton never going to church.

 

Not even with Jack Tripper as a Reverend.

 

The stories were that the writers sat around and got stoned before delving into "Green Acres."

It was a lot more "out there" than the Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction.