Rural purge--overexaggerated myth?

[dustintv]

Obviously CBS' Fred Silverman did give the finger to most of their rural-themed programming due to older demos but one thing sticks out. There are claims out there that these shows were still high-rated. It seems to me that is a false claim--the highest rated show was the Beverly Hills at #33 in the ratings! It seems to me that declining ratings would make a good excuse to cancel programs, especially given the hits which came about. The shows already had respectable runs. Mayberry RFD wasn't funny anyways, Red Skelton was a pompous old man with a dated show, and Hee-Haw eventually was killed by its own.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Those shows did well with the flyover states but in the big city, not so much. The advantage was a loyal audience. Also, how did those shows do in their time slots?

Also, Hee Haw didn't kill itself. It thrived for another 20 years in first run syndication.

 

[Braves2005]

Lawrence Welk was cancelled by ABC in 1971 after 16 years on the network and he went directly into syndication that fall and lasted eleven more years in syndication.

 

[mleach]

Mayberry RFD wasn't funny anyways,

Another factor going against Mayberry RFD was that series star Ken Berry was BORED with doing the show and besides he was about to do his "Ken Berry WOW Show" dancing/comedy variety show the next year. Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence and the late Harvey Korman pretty much had said over the years that Berry, while he can be a very funny actor, Ken Berry is a "dancer" and wanted to be remembered as such.

 

[bpatrick]

Red Skelton was #7 when CBS canceled him; he
never came close to that during his last season
(1970-71) on NBC. Some of the other shows in
the top 30 in 1970-71 that got the axe:

Mayberry R.F.D. #13
Hee Haw #16
The Men From Shiloh (new name for The Virginian)
#17
The Jim Nabors Hour
#29

And to underscore two points made above, Hee Haw
and Lawrence Welk traded off the number-one slot
in syndication for 11 years.

Another factor that contributed to CBS's cancellation
of Skelton (and of Jackie Gleason) was the increasing
cost of both shows and--because of their older demographics--
a diminishing pool of potential advertisers. Gleason's best
ratings were always in the Northeast, yet he's sometimes
included in the "rural purge."

Don't forget, too, that Gunsmoke and Bonanza survived the
"purge": Bonanza died for different reasons in 1973: a move
from Sunday to Tuesday plus the death of Dan Blocker; Gunsmoke
in 1975 when the networks were on an anti-violence kick following
a real-life murder modeled on the TV-movie "Born Innocent."

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Regarding "Gunsmoke", I imagine James Arness had had enough by that time. Wasn't his deal in the latter years of "Gunsmoke" kind of like Fred MacMurray's near the end of "My Three Sons"; specifically, they front-loaded all of their scenes for the entire season so they could hit the golf course?

As far as the idea of a lightning-fast "purge", it really happened over half a decade at least, dating back to 1966 and 1967 when CBS cut their prime time game shows because, despite the fact they were cheap to produce, they "skewed older", as we would say today. Also, I can believe the production costs excuse for Gleason. He just seemed like a guy who liked to spend money.

 

[Bob1370]

"Another factor that contributed to CBS's cancellation
of Skelton (and of Jackie Gleason) was the increasing
cost of both shows and--because of their older demographics--
a diminishing pool of potential advertisers. Gleason's best
ratings were always in the Northeast, yet he's sometimes
included in the "rural purge."

Was Gleason actually cancelled at all, or didn't he just walk? I've read that CBS wanted very much to bring him back and re-sign him to a multi-year deal, but Gleason decided to pack it in on his own when his contract expired at the end of his last season. He had a disagreement with CBS over the show's content going forward. CBS wanted another full season of shows in 1970-71 (and beyond) composed entirely of hour-long weekly plays (some with musical numbers, some without) based on the Honeymooners characters. It would be a commitment to several seasons of hour long Honeymooners sitcom episodes interspersed with musical plays built around the same characters--a truly large scale, exhaustive and big-budget commitment by 1970 TV standards. Gleason for his part was thinking about taking a break from weekly series TV, and if he was going to do another season, he wanted to de-emphasize the Honeymooners and do more shows based on other characters and episodes with a straight variety format--the way the show was when it started years before. When Gleason and the network couldn't come to a quick meeting of the minds on the creative issues, he decided to pack it in and go back to movies--a decision which worked out pretty well for him because he was seen frequently in starring or co-starring roles in major films over the last 17 years of his life.

 

[onairb]

What's the story behind 'Born Innocent'? Was that the main cause of the so-called '8 PM Family Hour' being put in place in '75?
I've read that, until CBS said otherwise, Arness, and other 'Gunsmoke' cast members, had assumed they would come back for at least a 21st season, and that Arness felt he could have done at least a couple of years after '75. By that point, the show had lost some viewers to 'The Rookies' on ABC, and, without Lucy or 'The New Dick Van Bad Word Show' ;D leading out in '74, 'Gunsmoke' didn't really fit in with the network's lineup of 'MTM and Norman Lear' spinoffs.
I always assumed that CBS just felt it would be easier toket 'Gunsmoke' go after an even 20 years, and with its ratings still (barely) in the Top 30, rather than moving it to a later timeslot and/or another night.
I've also assumed that CBS dropped 'Mannix' in '75, due to that 'Family Hour' rule, and no room for it with other new dramas on the schedule that year.

As for 'The Men From Shiloh' in '71, I guess NBC only had one slot for a 90-minute program, and really wanted it for the 'NBC Mystery Movie', which aired only on Tuesdays, in 'Virginian/Shiloh's old spot; NBC kept 'The Bold Ones' on Sundays at 10 in '71, rather than cutting 'Shiloh' to 60 minutes and pairing it with 'Bonanza.'
Ironically, they ended up moving the 'NBC Mystery Movie' to Sundays in '72(or at least the 'Columbo/McCloud/Third show that nobody watched' version), while 'Bonanza' and the 'Bold Ones' went to Tuesdays to die, and Wednesdays got 'Banacek' and other short-lived shows in the 'other' Mystery Movie slot.
The one 'old timey' sitcom scheduling decision that I don't get was 'My Three Sons'..how did that show last until '72, especially in such a sitcom-unfriendly time slot(Mondays at 10:00) in that last season?

 

[onairb]

"Another factor that contributed to CBS's cancellation
of Skelton (and of Jackie Gleason) was the increasing
cost of both shows and--because of their older demographics--
a diminishing pool of potential advertisers. Gleason's best
ratings were always in the Northeast, yet he's sometimes
included in the "rural purge."

Was Gleason actually cancelled at all, or didn't he just walk? I've read that CBS wanted very much to bring him back and re-sign him to a multi-year deal, but Gleason decided to pack it in on his own when his contract expired at the end of his last season. He had a disagreement with CBS over the show's content going forward. CBS wanted another full season of shows in 1970-71 (and beyond) composed entirely of hour-long weekly plays (some with musical numbers, some without) based on the Honeymooners characters. It would be a commitment to several seasons of hour long Honeymooners sitcom episodes interspersed with musical plays built around the same characters--a truly large scale, exhaustive and big-budget commitment by 1970 TV standards. Gleason for his part was thinking about taking a break from weekly series TV, and if he was going to do another season, he wanted to de-emphasize the Honeymooners and do more shows based on other characters and episodes with a straight variety format--the way the show was when it started years before. When Gleason and the network couldn't come to a quick meeting of the minds on the creative issues, he decided to pack it in and go back to movies--a decision which worked out pretty well for him because he was seen frequently in starring or co-starring roles in major films over the last 17 years of his life.

This matches what I've read, also; CBS wanted nothing but 'Honeymooners', seeing as how the last four years of his Gleason's show had been a 50-50 (or more) split between his traditional variety show, and 'Honeymooners' specials. I believe that Gleason and CBS agreed to do at least two variety specials in the '70-71 season-don't know if any 'Honeymooners' content was included-and then he and CBS officially parted ways.

 

[Markieo]

What's the story behind 'Born Innocent'? Was that the main cause of the so-called '8 PM Family Hour' being put in place in '75?

There was a graphic scene where Linda Blair gets raped with a broomstick. When it was rebroadcast several months later it was sloppily edited out (you can see where the film was spliced).

Not too long after that someone else was raped in the same way and the suspects said they got the idea from watching the movie. One year later, the "Family Hour" was introduced. And a lot of series such as "Starsky & Hutch", "Baretta", and "Hawaii Five-O" had the violence toned down somewhat, while series like "S.W.A.T." and "The Rookies" got the axe.

 

[mleach]

What's the story behind 'Born Innocent'? Was that the main cause of the so-called '8 PM Family Hour' being put in place in '75?

There was a graphic scene where Linda Blair gets raped with a broomstick. When it was rebroadcast several months later it was sloppily edited out (you can see where the film was spliced).

Not too long after that someone else was raped in the same way and the suspects said they got the idea from watching the movie. One year later, the "Family Hour" was introduced. And a lot of series such as "Starsky & Hutch", "Baretta", and "Hawaii Five-O" had the violence toned down somewhat, while series like "S.W.A.T." and "The Rookies" got the axe.

As I can recall wasn't the "family hour" discontinued after 1976?

As I can remember ABC in 1977 aired a TV movie starring Linda Purl and David Soul about teen hookers called "Little Ladies of the Night". Like "Born Innocent" this movie had its graphic scene where Vic Tayback from Alice ( I believe ) performs oral sex on a young girl. Of course one doesn't actually see the oral sex but one does see Vic kissing the girl's back and neck and then her lower back and of course the close up of her face..crying. I believe at the time some ABC affiliates refused to air this movie only because of that scene but I don't remember if that actually happened or not.

Anyway I believe this movie had aired at 8:30pm EST..which would make it inside the "family hour".

 

[Stanislav]

Regarding "Gunsmoke", I imagine James Arness had had enough by that time. Wasn't his deal in the latter years of "Gunsmoke" kind of like Fred MacMurray's near the end of "My Three Sons"; specifically, they front-loaded all of their scenes for the entire season so they could hit the golf course?

Arness, from what I recall, was by then suffering from some painful knee problems (not uncommon in tall men), which had been exacerbated by the action scenes that were more common in the earlier seasons. In the last few seasons, there were quite a lot of episodes that centered on other characters, with Marshal Dillon appearing only in the opening and closing scenes. I don't know that they "front-loaded" an entire season at a time, but I believe they would film several episodes worth of those brief wraparound scenes involving Arness in a day or two so that he would have more down time to rest between major shooting days.

 

[Mike Stroud]

What's the story behind 'Born Innocent'? Was that the main cause of the so-called '8 PM Family Hour' being put in place in '75?

There was a graphic scene where Linda Blair gets raped with a broomstick. When it was rebroadcast several months later it was sloppily edited out (you can see where the film was spliced).

Not too long after that someone else was raped in the same way and the suspects said they got the idea from watching the movie. One year later, the "Family Hour" was introduced. And a lot of series such as "Starsky & Hutch", "Baretta", and "Hawaii Five-O" had the violence toned down somewhat, while series like "S.W.A.T." and "The Rookies" got the axe.

Yes, violence on TV was a main reason that, after years of research and planning, the FCC mandated non-violent and non-sexual content for the 8 to 9 p.m. time period beginning in September 1975. Perhaps the Born Innocent-inspired incident was rather the catalyst, rather than the sole cause (big difference) for the Feds to put down the hammer. The "family hour" was in keeping, by and large, with decisions the Commission had made over the past few years at reducing the amount of violence on the small screen.

Aaron Spelling, producer of Rookies and S.W.A.T., turned later in the decade to sex as his main drawing card on the likes of Charlie's Angels, Love Boat, and eventually Dynasty. In fact, S.W.A.T. only lasted parts of two seasons (began mid-season 1974-75); it would have been utterly stupid to gut a show like that of its main premise, that of a force specially designed to extirpate crime by stronger-than-normal means. That show was in fact a spinoff of Rookies.

 

[TexasTom]

Yes, violence on TV was a main reason that, after years of research and planning, the FCC mandated non-violent and non-sexual content for the 8 to 9 p.m. time period beginning in September 1975. Perhaps the Born Innocent-inspired incident was rather the catalyst, rather than the sole cause (big difference) for the Feds to put down the hammer. The "family hour" was in keeping, by and large, with decisions the Commission had made over the past few years at reducing the amount of violence on the small screen.

A side note -- the "family hour" was actuall two hours. It ran from 7 to 9 PM in the Eastern and Pacific time zones, and 6 to 8 PM in the Central and Mountain zones.

And it was that first hour that was actually the reason for much of the Hollywood opposition to the "family hour" -- because that hour was non-network time that was filled on many stations by off-network reruns. The TV studios were very worried that if the "family hour" stuck, it would reduce prices for off-network shows that ran after 9 PM in first run and wouldn't be considered appropriate for airing between 7 and 8 PM during the family hour.

 

[wbhist]

Regarding "Gunsmoke", I imagine James Arness had had enough by that time. Wasn't his deal in the latter years of "Gunsmoke" kind of like Fred MacMurray's near the end of "My Three Sons"; specifically, they front-loaded all of their scenes for the entire season so they could hit the golf course?

Arness, from what I recall, was by then suffering from some painful knee problems (not uncommon in tall men), which had been exacerbated by the action scenes that were more common in the earlier seasons. In the last few seasons, there were quite a lot of episodes that centered on other characters, with Marshal Dillon appearing only in the opening and closing scenes. I don't know that they "front-loaded" an entire season at a time, but I believe they would film several episodes worth of those brief wraparound scenes involving Arness in a day or two so that he would have more down time to rest between major shooting days.

I.I.N.M., Arness also suffered over the years from the effects of wounds he sustained during World War II at the battle of Anzio, while serving in the 3rd Infantry Division. (Another future star who received wounds in WWII, which ties in to this "rural purge" - given his long association with Jackie Gleason - was Art Carney, at the battle of Normandy, from shrapnel, which was how one of his legs became shorter than the other.)

 

[wbhist]

"Another factor that contributed to CBS's cancellation of Skelton (and of Jackie Gleason) was the increasing cost of both shows and--because of their older demographics--a diminishing pool of potential advertisers. Gleason's best ratings were always in the Northeast, yet he's sometimes included in the "rural purge."

Was Gleason actually cancelled at all, or didn't he just walk? I've read that CBS wanted very much to bring him back and re-sign him to a multi-year deal, but Gleason decided to pack it in on his own when his contract expired at the end of his last season. He had a disagreement with CBS over the show's content going forward. CBS wanted another full season of shows in 1970-71 (and beyond) composed entirely of hour-long weekly plays (some with musical numbers, some without) based on the Honeymooners characters. It would be a commitment to several seasons of hour long Honeymooners sitcom episodes interspersed with musical plays built around the same characters--a truly large scale, exhaustive and big-budget commitment by 1970 TV standards. Gleason for his part was thinking about taking a break from weekly series TV, and if he was going to do another season, he wanted to de-emphasize the Honeymooners and do more shows based on other characters and episodes with a straight variety format--the way the show was when it started years before. When Gleason and the network couldn't come to a quick meeting of the minds on the creative issues, he decided to pack it in and go back to movies--a decision which worked out pretty well for him because he was seen frequently in starring or co-starring roles in major films over the last 17 years of his life.

William Henry III, in his book The Great One: The Life and Legend of Jackie Gleason, had a somewhat different story as to what led to the Gleason show's demise in 1970. Over the years, he had caused many headaches for CBS executives during contract negotiation periods, and the budgets for his shows went through the roof, in inverse proportion to his declining ratings (he didn't even make the Top 30 in the final season). The A&E Biography on Gleason quoted former CBS executive Mike Dann as saying the headaches Gleason had caused had, by the mid-point of the 1969-70 season, made it no longer worth it for the network to continue his show. So it was the network that dropped TJGS, in other words. Gleason, of course, had a habit of spinning such things around to make it seem like such an end was his decision. But it seemed it wasn't so much him semiretiring from that point as it was him being forced into semiretirement. In addition, a biography on Art Carney by Michael Starr noted that Gleason, in his show's final years, spent much of the money allotted for summer-replacement series development on his own offices and such, which doubtless wouldn't have pleased the network in any way.

 

[firepoint525]

overexaggerated?

"Overexaggerated"? Isn't that one of those terms that former President Bush coined, like "misunderestimated" and some of the others? ;D

 

[Mike Stroud]

Yes, violence on TV was a main reason that, after years of research and planning, the FCC mandated non-violent and non-sexual content for the 8 to 9 p.m. time period beginning in September 1975. Perhaps the Born Innocent-inspired incident was rather the catalyst, rather than the sole cause (big difference) for the Feds to put down the hammer. The "family hour" was in keeping, by and large, with decisions the Commission had made over the past few years at reducing the amount of violence on the small screen.

A side note -- the "family hour" was actuall two hours. It ran from 7 to 9 PM in the Eastern and Pacific time zones, and 6 to 8 PM in the Central and Mountain zones.

And it was that first hour that was actually the reason for much of the Hollywood opposition to the "family hour" -- because that hour was non-network time that was filled on many stations by off-network reruns. The TV studios were very worried that if the "family hour" stuck, it would reduce prices for off-network shows that ran after 9 PM in first run and wouldn't be considered appropriate for airing between 7 and 8 PM during the family hour.

The first hour was, and is, known as the Prime Time Access Rule, instituted in 1971 (and modified in 1975 to permit the networks to program at 7-8 p.m. on Sundays). Although the FCC formally abolished PTAR in 1996, the popularity of the likes of Wheel of Fortune and Entertainment Tonight have pretty much precluded the old "Big 3" from reclaiming the 7:30/6:30 slot, except for some sporting events.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

This matches what I've read, also; CBS wanted nothing but 'Honeymooners', seeing as how the last four years of his Gleason's show had been a 50-50 (or more) split between his traditional variety show, and 'Honeymooners' specials.
Seriously? Even as a kid, I thought they were lame, and my opinion didn't change when I saw them again a couple years ago on American Life.

 

[Rob Jason]

I haven't seen anyone mention The Ed Sullivan Show in this thread. It, too, was killed off that year. Was it cost-related? Demographics-related (which would put it in the "rural purge" category)? Is there a back story to this?

It was a turning point year for CBS...Imagine, "Ed Sullivan" and "beverly Hillbillies" living side-by-side with the likes of All In The Family...