These beloved shows couldn’t escape the network ax after 1971.
Throughout the 1970–71 season, television was radically changing. New urban sitcoms like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family debuted to strong ratings and critical fanfare. This spelled trouble for the aging rural and family-oriented shows that weren’t as attractive to advertisers.
It all came to a head in the spring of 1971 with the “rural purge.” The networks, especially CBS, canceled dozens of shows in order to drastically change its primetime lineup. The likes of this shake-up haven’t been seen since.
Actor Pat Buttram of Green Acres famously said of the change, “CBS canceled everything with a tree — including Lassie.” While we can look back now and enjoy the classic sitcoms and Westerns, if you were a massive fan at the time, the rural purge was devastating.
Let’s take a look at some of the victims. Do you wish any of these had more episodes?
1. Petticoat Junction (1970)
The cancellation of Petticoat Junction can be seen as the first casualty or an omen, depending on how you look at it. Despite improving ratings during the series’ seventh and final season, CBS axed the rural sitcom and replaced it with The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The next year, dozens of other shows will meet the same fate.
2. Green Acres (1971)
The success of edgy, urban sitcoms like the Mary Tyler Moore Show prompted CBS to massacre its primetime lineup in 1971. Despite winning its timeslot on Tuesday nights that year, Green Acres bought the farm after its sixth season. There was no series finale — instead, the last couple of episodes to air were backdoor pilots.
3. The Beverly Hillbillies (1971)
Perhaps this was the biggest casualty of the rural purge. At one point in time, The Beverly Hillbillies was a wildly successful sitcom. It was the top-rated show in the early 1960s, averaging an astonishing 57 million viewers each week. But all of that didn’t matter to CBS in 1971 when it canceled the sitcom after nine seasons.
4. Mayberry R.F.D. (1971)
The rural purge even claimed the town of Mayberry. CBS cancels Mayberry R.F.D. after a brief run of three seasons. The sitcom was a direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show, meaning audiences could no longer visit the fictional North Carolina hamlet after eleven years on primetime television.
5. Lassie (1971)
You know it’s bad when even Lassie isn’t spared. After an incredible 17-season run, the show about the heroic dog was finally put to sleep (figuratively!) to make room for other programming. Even though the show didn’t break the top 30 during the end of its run, it still had a loyal fan base.
6. Hogan’s Heroes (1971)
We know what you’re thinking. Hogan’s Heroes took place in 1940s Germany, why is it lumped together with The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction? The answer is simple. CBS didn’t find its brand of humor in line with hip urban sitcoms, so the series was unceremoniously canceled after six seasons.
7. Hee Haw (1971)
You know that if shows like Hogan’s Heroes were getting canceled, then Hee Haw was on the top of the kill list. The unapologetically rural-themed variety show only ran for two seasons on CBS before it entered syndication for twenty years. Not bad for a victim of the rural purge.
8. Bonanza (1973)
It took a couple of years after the initial purge, but soon enough the country’s most iconic Westerns were fair game for the networks to cancel. NBC did away with Bonanza in 1973, 14 years after it first debuted on primetime television.
9. Gunsmoke (1975)
The rural purge came to an end five years after it started when Gunsmoke fired its last shot 1975. The Western series lasted an incredible 20 seasons, meaning a whole generation of Americans had never been able to remember a time when the series wasn’t on primetime television.
