The rural purge was the mass cancellation of rural-themed television programs by American networks, in particular CBS, that occurred in the early 1970s. The term was coined within the entertainment industry, although its exact source is unclear.
The majority of these cancellations occurred at the end of the 1970–71 television season. In addition to rural-themed shows such as Mayberry R.F.D., The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, and Hee Haw, the cancellations ended several highly rated variety shows that had been on CBS since the beginning of television broadcasting. CBS saw a dramatic change in direction with the shift, moving away from shows with rural themes and toward more appeal to urban and suburban audiences.
Background Early television and anti-communist campaigns Programming in American television during the late 1940s and early 1950s was "as culturally diverse ... as [had] ever existed", according to the media historian Sara K. Eskridge. Numerous programs about ethnic minorities and topical subjects achieved success; some had already been successful as radio programs. This programming was partially attributable to network infrastructure, FCC regulations of the period, and the expense of purchasing a television set. As a result, the early dissemination of television was primarily an urban phenomenon; most televisions in 1950 had been purchased within a 75-mile radius of New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, and other large cities.
This trend in programming ended because of the increased public mistrust of the entertainment industry that followed the Second Red Scare. Negative perceptions of the industry worsened with the 1950 publication of Red Channels, which listed 151 people accused of subversive activities. Among those listed was the actress Jean Muir, one of the stars of the sitcom The Aldrich Family. NBC and General Foods, the show's sponsor, were successfully prevailed upon by viewers to fire Muir in August. Anti-communist boycotts and threats from the FCC profoundly changed the television industry within a year of the publication of Red Channels; programming shifts away from featuring ethnic minorities and discussions of topical subjects were further encouraged by the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters in 1956. By the late 1950s, television networks effectively censored their own content without need of external organizations or public pressure and were producing programming that was markedly different from what they had produced at the beginning of the decade.
Rise of the rural sitcom The most widely viewed genres of programming on television during the late 1950s were Westerns, mysteries, game shows, and variety shows. They appealed to a broad viewership for various reasons, while their lack of potential controversy made these genres attractive to networks. The revelation that the outcomes on the show Twenty-One were scripted led to the era's quiz show scandals. The success in 1955 of Davy Crockett on ABC made Westerns increasingly appealing over other genres to networks. They also were widely enjoyed by the rapidly expanding viewership in rural areas and the American South; urban-themed programming, as a result, diminished in general favor. The Western was the dominant genre in television in 1959 and the early 1960s. Interest in country music and rural-themed programming increased in urban markets as well.
ABC, which typically ranked third in ratings, was motivated to experiment with its programming; it sought to create a rural-themed sitcom that would be acceptable to families. This eventually resulted in The Real McCoys, starring Walter Brennan, which was broadcast from 1957 to 1962. Throughout its run on ABC the show was ranked among the top ten most-watched, according to ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research.
CBS and NBC consequently began to develop their own sitcoms with rural and Southern themes. The popularity of such programs led Groucho Marx (whose own show You Bet Your Life was among the casualties of this shift in programming) to remark that "the air is now completely filled with cowboys, fertilizer, and inanity". Each subsequent new rural-themed sitcom from the major networks increasingly turned away from Western motifs and, instead, incorporated Southern ones. In late 1960, CBS aired The Andy Griffith Show, which was the most successful rural-themed sitcom to date. Eskridge observed that with its popular reception, CBS "not only took the lead in creating pure rural comedy, it also perfected the art of marketing such series":
In rural comedy, [CBS] discovered a form of programming that provided pure escapism, that neither cast aspersions upon the network's patriotism, nor subjected it to scandal, yet still appealed to large numbers of people.
In 1962, CBS debuted The Beverly Hillbillies, which Eskridge described as "arguably the most popular television program of all time". Its creator, Paul Henning, used his childhood experiences in Missouri to explore the social dynamics between urban and rural dwellers. Critics excoriated the show. One critic in The Saturday Evening Post, who referred to the "Vast Wasteland speech" by FCC chairman Newton N. Minow, said that The Beverly Hillbillies proved that the "wasteland was really a cornfield." Nevertheless, the show's popularity continued despite poor reviews, a phenomenon that became a widely discussed subject in the press. CBS, which led the ratings for much of the 1960s, also ignored critics. It commissioned spin-offs of both The Andy Griffith Show and The Beverly Hillbillies. These, too, repeated the dichotomous receptions of viewers and critics.
Decline By 1966, industry executives were lamenting the lack of diversity in American television offerings and the dominance of rural-oriented programming on the Big Three television networks of the era, noting that "ratings indicate that the American public prefer hillbillies, cowboys, and spies".
CBS vice president Michael Dann personally hated the rural-oriented programming that he was airing (as did most television executives), but he kept the shows on the air in acknowledgement of their strong overall ratings, which he considered the most important measure of a program's success. Dann's superior, CBS president James T. Aubrey, likewise believed rural sitcoms were a crucial part of the network's formula for success, noting that, at the time, advertisers wanted the audience that watched rural sitcoms.Oulahan, Richard; and William Lambert. "The Tyrant's Fall That Rocked the TV World: Until He Was Suddenly Brought Low, Jim Aubrey Ruled the Air". Life Magazine. September 10, 1965. 90+.
A preliminary wave of cuts occurred in 1967, motivated by viewer demographics, when CBS ordered cancellation of its remaining game shows, Password, What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret, and To Tell the Truth (though the last continued in daytime for another year). These programs were still extremely profitable, mainly because of their low budgets, and would all be revived within a few years, but failed to attract audiences in target demographics, young adult and urban. The network attempted to incorporate more urban programming, including the innovative sitcom He & She in the 1967 season, but a clash with that show's lead-in (Green Acres) led to its cancellation. The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, likewise an innovative and far more successful program that appealed to a younger audience, also debuted in 1967.
Instigation As summarized for the Museum of Broadcast Communications:
By the late 1960s, … many viewers, especially young ones, were rejecting [rural-themed] shows as irrelevant to modern times. Mayberry's total isolation from contemporary problems was part of its appeal, but more than a decade of media coverage of the civil rights movement had brought about a change in the popular image of the small Southern town. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., was set on a U.S. Marine base between 1964 and 1969, but neither Gomer nor any of his fellow Marines ever mentioned the war in Vietnam. CBS executives, afraid of losing the lucrative youth demographic, purged their schedule of hit shows that were drawing huge but older-skewing audiences.
The wave of cancellations was instigated by CBS executive Robert Wood, the incoming president of CBS, who pressured longtime CBS programming head Michael Dann to cancel the rural programs. Dann responded: "Just because the people who buy refrigerators are between 26 and 35 and live in Scarsdale, you should not beam your programming only at them." Dann was replaced with Fred Silverman, following research highlighting the commercial value of the young adult urban viewer for advertisers. Much of CBS's existing lineup drew audiences that were too old and rural, or children, who lacked purchasing power. Wood's successor James Rosenfield would continue the same strategy..
Popularity of canceled shows Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. was the first of the rural-based shows to leave the air, not due to its theme but because of Jim Nabors' desire to "reach for another rung on the ladder, either up or down". He was given a new show, The Jim Nabors Hour, as a replacement for the next season.
Mayberry R.F.D., a direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show, finished fourth for 1969 and was renewed for two more seasons, but it slipped in the ratings to fifteenth by its final season.
The first of the cancellations was The Red Skelton Show, which had finished the 1969–70 season as the number seven show. It had however fallen out of the top 30 by 1971 after its move to NBC.
The success of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, and newer, more urban variety shows such as The Carol Burnett Show in 1967 and The Flip Wilson Show in 1970 (on arch-rival NBC), allowed cancellations of most of the "undesired shows" at the end of 1971, despite their high ratings and popularity. Both Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies had dropped from the Nielsen top 30 by the 1970–71 season, yet both shows continued to win their respective time slots and had loyal followings, warranting renewal for another season. Other shows that were still pulling in even higher ratings when they were canceled included Mayberry R.F.D., which finished the season at number 15, Hee Haw at number 16, and The Jim Nabors Hour at number 29.
Replacement shows Much of the programming canceled by the networks continued as first-run syndicated programming by network affiliate stations. The Prime Time Access Rule had forced the networks to surrender the 7:30 p.m. Eastern fringe time slot back to their affiliates, another impetus for the rural purge. Lassie and Hee Haw almost immediately went into syndication during the fringe time slot, mainly at CBS affiliates. Several other network cast-offs such as ABC's The Lawrence Welk Show and NBC's Wild Kingdom, earned similar extensions through syndication.
For the network time slots, CBS head Fred Silverman replaced much of the canceled programming in 1971 and 1972 with "relevant" fare. Following the spectacular success of All in the Family, its creator Norman Lear produced its many spinoffs including Maude (debuting 1972) and The Jeffersons (1975). The success of The Mary Tyler Moore Show led MTM Productions to develop the popular The Bob Newhart Show. The sardonic, sophisticated comedy M*A*S*H was added to the network in 1972, placing in the top 10 shows for its final seven of eleven seasons: it eventually aired the most watched single episode of any series in U.S. television history during its 1983 series finale.