Desi Arnaz

Question: Here's an argument you can settle. I know that for a while hick sitcoms were huge on TV, but I had an argument with a friend about the trend. Wouldn't you say it was The Andy Griffith Show that started them all? Thank you for your help. I know you won't let me down.

Answer: The Andy Griffith Show is the show that's remembered for breaking the rural-comedy trend wide open after it debuted in 1960, Randall, but the comedy that defied the experts who thought folks in the big markets didn't want to watch their country-folk cousins came along three years earlier: The Real McCoys, which was a runaway hit for ABC before jumping to CBS for a final season in 1962.

Funny thing was, the champions of hayseed humor weren't from anywhere near the territory. Irving Pi read more