THE RE-EMERGING SOUTHERN VOICE
"Rodney," "Blue Collar TV" and the WB's successful comedy "Reba," starring country music star Reba McEntire, point to a re-emerging Southern voice on television. It's a voice that has rarely been heard in prime time since "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Green Acres" and "Hee Haw" ruled the airwaves more than 30 years ago.
In 1971, CBS pulled those classic shows from its schedule and turned toward more urban-directed ones like "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "All in the Family." That reconfiguration changed the prime-time landscape, said Ron Simon, television curator at the Museum of Television & Radio. "Advertisers wanted to reach young, urban, sophisticated viewers," he said. "The type of audience that shows like 'Hee Haw' reached was not what the networks and advertisers were looking for." So they stopped trying to reach a mass audience and began directing their programming toward a more specific and, they believed, more lucrative market.
Lately, though, the enormous popularity of reality television has demonstrated that viewers enjoy watching people like themselves. Reality shows have "knocked the gloss off" the medium, Foxworthy said, adding, "You don't have to be slick or suave to be on TV anymore."
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In 1971, CBS pulled those classic shows from its schedule and turned toward more urban-directed ones like "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "All in the Family." That reconfiguration changed the prime-time landscape, said Ron Simon, television curator at the Museum of Television & Radio. "Advertisers wanted to reach young, urban, sophisticated viewers," he said. "The type of audience that shows like 'Hee Haw' reached was not what the networks and advertisers were looking for." So they stopped trying to reach a mass audience and began directing their programming toward a more specific and, they believed, more lucrative market.
Lately, though, the enormous popularity of reality television has demonstrated that viewers enjoy watching people like themselves. Reality shows have "knocked the gloss off" the medium, Foxworthy said, adding, "You don't have to be slick or suave to be on TV anymore."
CLICK HERE to discuss in our forum.
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