Rural purge

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.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.