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.
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