Reality TV revived the rural content motif that networks had abandoned in the 1970s

Evidence

Bunim and Murray, having discovered the potential of naturally ridiculous people, would go on to produce The Simple Life, centered on a dim-witted heiress named Paris Hilton making her way on a farm, a revival of the “rural” motif that Fred Silverman had thrown overboard in the 1970s. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 836

Categorization

• XREF: Directly ties to Silverman’s rural-purge era covered in earlier chapters of this book — a cyclical pattern in network content. — connects to: CBS purged rural-themed shows for urban and socially conscious programming in 1970-71 — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 582; Network TV lost young viewers because its rural shows stayed locked to 1950s taste — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 576