How the "Rural Purge" changed TV

[Crimson]

But the newness of these topics for TV is long gone.

Newness expires almost instantly; quality is eternal. I think most of AITF's agedness is technical. Sitcoms of the era that were videotaped, rather than filmed, now look as shoddy as kinescope from the 50s. MTM is as much visually of its era as AITF, but MTM's look is a vibe and AITF's look is crummy. I even question how much of the "loudness" of AITF was technical. Sure some of it was the premise of 4 people arguing, but most sitcoms recorded in front of an audience of that era were eardrum shattering loud. MTM's sereneness was not only atypical but very much intentional.

Watching a few early episodes of AITF after Rob Reiner's death was depressing for a second reason: we are still culturally arguing about the exact same things 55 years later. A few years back when those live reenactments of AITF aired it seemed to me a wasted opportunity; rather than embalmed recreations, those scripts could easily have been brought to the present by just swapping out references to Vietnam and Watergate.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

It's interesting to me just how successful these rural sitcoms have been since they've gone into reruns. THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, especially the B&W episodes, has been widely syndicated, particularly all of the Season 1 episodes and nineteen of the Season 2 episodes that have long been public domain. THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW and GREEN ACRES seem to have been rerun constantly, and some of the other cancellations, like GOMER PYLE, HOGAN'S HEROES, etc., have had healthy second-life in reruns.

I'd make the argument that these "old hack" shows the executives so desperately wanted to get rid of have had a longer life than the newer, more sophisticated shows that decided to replace them with. MARY TYLER MOORE has rerun well, but shows like ALL IN THE FAMILY and MAUDE suffer from the topicality that they infused into their storylines, and they loose their appeal. What was topical in 1972 isn't what's topical in 2026.

I don't know, just something I was pondering.

The rural comedies had a feel good quality, that reruns well. Shows like AITF and Maude incorporated topics of the times, that today's audience is less familiar with the content.
MTM had such a great cast, and was more upbeat than AIFT and Maude, and has aged better, seemingly.

 

[ClassyCo]

The Weird History of Hillbilly TV — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER

Gabe Bullard takes a long, hard look at the history of hillbilly TV, from Andy Griffith to “Duck Dynasty.”

bittersoutherner.com