Elizabeth meriwether: but the characters were caricatures of rural people and it became very hokey. marsha: you looking at people sitting in their, high rise offices in new york. showing the north, what they thought people in the south were. daniel de vise: they all had pretty high ratings and cbs became known as the country broadcasting system. sara k. eskridge: but in the late 60s. the ratings and demographic tools improve significantly. and networks were able to see the ages, the education level. what kinds of jobs, ah, the people who were viewing the shows have. jennifer keishin armstrong: so, the more they could refine that, the more the advertisers wanted young, professional, wealthy people. jim mckairnes: in 1970, cbs begins what is both affectionately and derogatorily known as the rural purge. jeff garlin: they canceled all those shows that had huge ratings on cbs.
Eddie: look at that floor, that s solid oak. sheryl: green acres was about a man and a woman living on fifth avenue. and he decides he s going to be a farmer. lisa: hey, oliver! oliver: yeah? lisa: there is someone here to see you from the state dept. oliver: i ll be right down. [smash] lisa: darling, mr. kimball would have waited, you should have used the ladder. bill carter: green acres. is the kind of show america loves. and cbs thinks, well, we can do more of these rural characters. [train whislte] vicki: yeah, the rural comedies, petticoat junction. vicki: i mean, some really, really silly, funny stuff. horse: hee hawww!! elizabeth meriwether: but the characters were caricatures of rural people and it became very hokey. marsha: you looking at people sitting in their, high rise offices in new york. showing the north,
Tina fey: the andy griffith show. that was another whole camp. aunt bea: here you are. tina fey: the comfort food aspect of sitcoms. aunt bea: you do like pickles, don t you? barney: sure! who don t? drew carey: andy griffith was a small-town sheriff. he didn t have a lot of money. and they were kind of simple. aunt bea: i m going to enter the competition after all. yessir, i m going to enter these pickles. opie: these? barney: these? andy: these? aunt bea: these. emily vanderwerff: that was like a fantasy of a world and an america in which race and class just kind of didn t exist. andy: ms. jennifer, ms. clarivel. marsha: it was probably the whitest show on television. i mean, there are no black people in mayberry. if they are, they re passing through. and if you blinked, you missed them. opie: they re ok, pa, they all flew off ok. guess i did a good job huh, pa?
You know something baby, if i had worked for them a few more hours, i d end up owing them $10. jimmie walker: he was doing anything he could to work and make money to pay the rent and put food on the table. aramide tinubu: then, in the mid 70 s, things begin to shift with the jefferson s well, we re moving on up, moving on up, to the east side, moving on up. tracy morgan: the jeffersons was groundbreaking. successful black man. you never really saw that. eric mccormick: it was an explosive thing for norman lear to say: wake up. now this. diane: both of you live here? george: some place, ain t it? diane: yeah, i didn t know the jeffersons had a couple. george: couple a what? diane: a maid and a butler. you two. marsha: we re talking people who are living above their station. george: hold it, diane. we are the jeffersons.
Diane: you right, louise, he is a great joker. louise: he s not joking diane. marsha: really aside from wardrobe and in the places, they lived, they were still black. because no matter how much money you have, no matter where you live, blackness is its own class. diane: how can you afford to live in a place like this? you ain t tall enough to be no basketball player. [ applause ] the day you get your clearchoice dental implants makes every day a confident day. a never-hide-my-smile day. a life-of-the-party day. a take-on-the-world day. a believe-in-myself day. a flash-my-new-teeth day. because your clearchoice day is the day you get your confidence back for good.