Thread by @gbullard

A few words on Hee Haw, following Roy Clark's passing…

It is, possibly, one of the most interesting and important shows in American television history.

Really.

I'm not talking about its jokes or production. Many other things made it interesting and important.

Here goes…

It debuted on CBS in 1969. It was a country version of Laugh-In, created by two Canadians.

The pitch seems pretty crass. CBS's comedy lineup was heavy on rural shows (Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Mayberry RFD). And Laugh-In was a rising hit. Why not combine them?

The creators hired some heavy hitters in Canadian comedy, then looked for writers and actors with southern backgrounds. Junior Samples and Lulu Roman, who weren't famous, get attention. But the cast had a lot of notable talent, Clark especially.

Clark was one of the best instrumentalists of the genre. Check out this old clip from before Hee Haw:

Or this, from a 1979 Hee Haw with Clarence Gatemouth Brown, who was also a stellar instrumentalist:

Hee Haw debuted in the summer of 1969. Every critic hated it. Here's the NYT.

But it was a hit. After CBS canceled the Smothers Brothers due to censorship issues, Hee Haw took its place.

What optics! The Smothers Brothers took on the Nixonian establishment. By not being political in any way at this time, Hee Haw seemed conservative by comparison. A critic said it was “the Spiro Agnew of the CBS lineup," designed for the silent majority.

Also, on ABC, Johnny Cash launched a variety show. Critics loved it. It had music beyond only country and there were some topical conversations.

Both shows were filmed in Nashville, too, which was very unusual for national programs at the time. Cash's show didn't last long…

…Hee Haw almost didn't either—CBS got rid of all the country shows in a move later called The Rural Purge.

This wasn't just a matter of taste. Ratings technology had advanced and found that older, more rural audiences were watching these shows. The network wanted young viewers.

Hee Haw's last episode on CBS led into "All in the Family."

From replacing the Smothers Brothers to leading into Archie Bunker, Hee Haw seems like a weird, twangy blip.

Except it went on for 21 more years.

FCC regulations had changed to mandate that stations air some non-network programming in prime time. Also, network ownership of television syndicates was limited.

Hee Haw went into independent syndication, making new episodes in a really innovative way…

…They shot the show in sprints in a Nashville TV news station. Entire seasons took 2-3 weeks to film. All the skits were shot out of sequence, and the musicians played enough songs to appear on a few different episodes throughout the season.

There was no live audience, and while Loretta Lynn and Charley Pride may have both played in the same episode, they could have been filmed days apart. Hee Haw was maybe the most efficient show of the time.

To make this system work, the show was the first to be edited on a computer. Basically, the producers punched in codes for the skits they filmed and an early computer put it all together.

This was the late '60s, early '70s.

The show was very popular in syndication. And with only local stations to please, it went from being a crude parody into a kind of celebration. It put country music into millions of American homes that the big networks didn't want to program for.

There was another big syndicated music show at this time: Soul Train. It debuted in 1971.

Using this same syndication model, a lot of shows that networks passed on began to pop up.

By the early '90s, Hee Haw had been re-invented to not be as cornpone. The aesthetic seems like it's trying to appeal to the new wealthy white suburban southerner of the day. The kind who would soon be buying Jeff Foxworthy CDs.

Media fragmentation and this audience's changing interests eventually led to Hee Haw's cancelation. But the show was essential to shaping their identity, both to outsiders and to themselves. That's a complicated legacy for the show.

We can—and should—talk about the nuances of this legacy all day (I have and certainly will again).

Obituaries will point out how Hee Haw was cornpone. It was in a lot of ways. It looks bizarre today. But it was a lot more than a cartoon donkey or a cornfield.

Thanks for reading. I wrote about some of this history in a piece for @BitterSouth, too. bittersoutherner.com/the-weird-hist…

If anyone’s interested, I have some artifacts from my research into Hee Haw to share.

(Wow, I didn’t think I’d ever use that phrase.)

In 1990, it was reported that Marla Maples had claimed to have appeared on Hee Haw. She hadn't. But the show's producer said he would have her on if she brought along a special guest. They never made it happen. Here's a UPI report on it: upi.com/Archives/1990/…

Here are some trade publication ads pushing the show in syndication. Notice the other syndicated shows — Lawrence Welk, game shows, and sitcom reruns. Syndication was home to shows that draw older audiences.

Here's a page from the Congressional Record, when Hee Haw was honored on the Senate floor. The producers also got a few honorariums from the state of Tennessee for promoting television production in Nashville.

Hee Haw used a lot of country stereotypes, including the sexualized farmer's daughter trope. This dates back to the earliest printed hillbilly humor, and continued into the '60s with Elly Mae on the Beverly Hillbillies. On Hee Haw, there were women called "The Hee Haw Honeys."

The show didn't allow cursing, but it did feature women in very skimpy costumes. Here's a trade press ad prominently featuring the "honeys" while also promoting the show for appealing to families.

The show's creators attempted a "honeys" spinoff. It didn't go far.

Here's a trade press ad from the late '80s, pointing out that George H.W. Bush said he watched Hee Haw.

Producer Sam Lovullo, who helped launch the show, died last year. I spoke with him several times for research. At one point, he sent me a package of photos and documents, including this picture of Sammy Davis Jr. backstage with Minnie Pearl.

Bringing this back to Roy Clark. Here's a clip from that episode.

Hee Haw drew comparisons to The Johnny Cash Show, on ABC. The two were on in the same years and both were filmed in Nashville. But there were crossovers. Here's Roy on the Cash Show, which, unlike Hee Haw, had a live audience.

And here's Cash on Hee Haw in 1974. By this time, Cash's show was canceled and Hee Haw was in syndication.

There was one other country variety show at this time: The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. It began as a summer replacement for the Smothers Brothers (whose time slot later went to Hee Haw), and lasted one season beyond the Rural Purge on CBS.

Here’s another page from the documents Lovullo sent. It seems like part of his media clips file. It includes another mention of Hee Haw in the Senate. And, at the bottom, another reference to the time he invited Donald Trump to appear on the show