Carter Country is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 15, 1977 to August 23, 1979. It starred Victor French and Kene Holliday. A young Melanie Griffith appeared in two episodes.
Synopsis
Carter Country is set in the fictional small town of Clinton Corners in Georgia (presumably near Plains, Georgia, the town from which U.S. President Jimmy Carter hailed, thus the title) and features French as police chief Roy Mobey and Holliday as city-bred, college-educated Sergeant Curtis Baker.
Richard Paul as Mayor Teddy Burnside, Harvey Vernon as racist officer Jasper DeWitt, and Barbara Cason as town employee Cloris Phebus rounded out the cast. DeWitt was shown to be a member of the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan and he often made disparaging comments against minorities, but was still a loyal and honest law enforcement officer. In several episodes, it is hinted that his racist attitude is an act and that he joined the KKK in order to keep an eye on their activities[citation needed]. Separate from his racism, DeWitt resents Baker for taking the sergeant's position, to which DeWitt felt entitled due to his tenure.
Additional comic support was provided by Texas-born actor Guich Koock who played the part of goofy deputy Harley. Vernee Watson rounded out the cast as the mayor's educated secretary and Baker's love interest. The plot centered around the stereotypical racism of the Deep South, and was often characterized as being an irreverent, comedic version of the movie In the Heat of the Night, especially with the aspect of an educated, African American man coming to a small, southern town to work as a police officer.[2]
The character of Mayor Burnside coined a minor catchphrase with his manic "Handle it, Roy, handle it!", used when delegating various details to Chief Mobey such as fixing a parking ticket. If Mobey protested or asked any further questions, Burnside would stifle further discussion with a dismissive hand gesture and a further "Handle it, handle it, handle it!" Burnside often introduced himself to members of the public as "Teddy Burnside, your mayor by a landslide."
Ratings
The first season ranked 32nd out of 104 shows, and averaged a 19.6 rating.[3] The second season ranked 70th out of 114 shows, with an average 15.6/27 rating/share.[4]
Popular culture
Mayor Burnside's catchphrase "Handle it, Roy, handle it!" was repeated by rapper Greg Nice for the 1992 Gang Starr/Nice & Smooth hip hop song DWYCK.[5]
Episodes
Season 1: 1977–78
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Hail to the Chief" | Bud Yorkin | Douglas Arango & Phil Doran | September 15, 1977 |
| 2 | 2 | "Beating the Pounds" | Peter Baldwin | Al Gordon & Jack Mendelsohn | September 22, 1977 |
| 3 | 3 | "Out of the Closet" | Peter Baldwin | Douglas Arango & Phil Doran | September 29, 1977 |
| 4 | 4 | "The Fireside Burnside Budget Chat" | Peter Baldwin | George Arthur Bloom | October 6, 1977 |
| 5 | 5 | "Baker Buys a House: Part 1" | Peter Baldwin | S : Mark Fink; T : Al Gordon & Jack Mendelsohn | October 20, 1977 |
| 6 | 6 | "Baker Buys a House: Part 2" | Peter Baldwin | S : Mark Fink; T : Al Gordon & Jack Mendelsohn | October 27, 1977 |
| 7 | 7 | "Bye, Bye Baker" | Peter Baldwin | Kevin Hartigan & David Garber | November 3, 1977 |
| 8 | 8 | "Senior Citizen Siege" | Peter Baldwin | Kevin Hartigan & David Garber | November 17, 1977 |
| 9 | 9 | "Chicks and Turkeys" | Peter Baldwin | David Pollock & Elias Davis | November 24, 1977 |
| 10 | 10 | "Chief to Chief" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | December 1, 1977 |
| 11 | 11 | "Union vs. the Confederacy" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | December 8, 1977 |
| 12 | 12 | "A-Hunting We Will Go" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | December 15, 1977 |
| 13 | 13 | "By the Light of the Moonlight" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | December 22, 1977 |
| 14 | 14 | "The Physical" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | January 5, 1978 |
| 15 | 15 | "Roy's Separation" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | January 12, 1978 |
| 16 | 16 | "Red Armstrong, Goodbye" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | January 19, 1978 |
| 17 | 17 | "Ballots for Burnside" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | January 26, 1978 |
| 18 | 18 | "The Chief's Dressing Down" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | February 2, 1978 |
| 19 | 19 | "All About Floyd" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | February 9, 1978 |
| 20 | 20 | "Roy Pays His Taxes" | Peter Baldwin | Unknown | February 23, 1978 |
| 21 | 21 | "Roy's Encounter" | Peter Baldwin | Alan Eisenstock & Larry Mintz | May 9, 1978 |
| 22 | 22 | "Baker Saves a Life" | Peter Baldwin | Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman | May 16, 1978 |
Season 2: 1978–79
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 1 | "One of Our Chiefs Is Missing" | Peter Baldwin | Austin & Irma Kalish | September 23, 1978 |
| 24 | 2 | "The Tracy Report" | Peter Baldwin | Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman | September 30, 1978 |
| 25 | 3 | "The Selling of the Mayor: Part 1" | Peter Baldwin | Phil Doran & Douglas Arango | October 21, 1978 |
| 26 | 4 | "The Selling of the Mayor: Part 2" | Peter Baldwin | Phil Doran & Douglas Arango | October 28, 1978 |
| 27 | 5 | "Poor Butterfly" | Peter Baldwin | Marty Brill & Barry Meadow | November 11, 1978 |
| 28 | 6 | "Gambler's Unanimous" | Peter Baldwin | Mark Fink | November 25, 1978 |
| 29 | 7 | "Roy Makes the Grade" | Peter Baldwin | Haskell Barkin | December 2, 1978 |
| 30 | 8 | "Hurricane Jasper" | Peter Baldwin | S : Jack Turley; S/T : Martin Rips & Joseph Staretski | December 16, 1978 |
| 31 | 9 | "Firing of a Harley" | Peter Baldwin | Saul Turteltaub & Bernie Orenstein | December 23, 1978 |
| 32 | 10 | "Owed to Billy Joe" | Peter Baldwin | Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf | January 6, 1979 |
| 33 | 11 | "The Russians Are Coming" | Gary Shimokawa | David Braff & Nick Thiel | January 13, 1979 |
| 34 | 12 | "Happy Anniversary" | Peter Baldwin | Bruce Kalish & Philip John Taylor | March 29, 1979 |
| 35 | 13 | "Teddy the Tiger" | Peter Baldwin | Phil Doran & Douglas Arango | April 5, 1979 |
| 36 | 14 | "New Kid in Town" | Peter Baldwin | Austin & Irma Kalish | April 12, 1979 |
| 37 | 15 | "Baker's First Day" | Peter Baldwin | Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman | April 19, 1979 |
| 38 | 16 | "The Last Dinosaur" | Peter Baldwin | Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf | April 26, 1979 |
| 39 | 17 | "The Big Move: Part 1" | Peter Baldwin | Mark Fink | May 10, 1979 |
| 40 | 18 | "The Big Move: Part 2" | Peter Baldwin | Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf | May 17, 1979 |
| 41 | 19 | "The Big Move: Part 3" | Peter Baldwin | Richard Powell | May 24, 1979 |
| 42 | 20 | "Teddy's Folly" | Peter Baldwin | Phil Doran & Douglas Arango | May 31, 1979 |
| 43 | 21 | "The Prisoner of Clinton Corners" | Peter Baldwin | Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman | June 7, 1979 |
| 44 | 22 | "The Abominable Showman" | Peter Baldwin | Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman | June 21, 1979 |
References
- ^ "Carter Country". IMDb. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ^ "Carter Country". TV Guide. OpenGate Capital(magazine) CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ^ https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/78-OCR/1978-05-01-BC-OCR-Page-0036.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/79-OCR/BC-1979-06-18-OCR-Page-0056.pdf#search=%22rounding%20up%20the%20ratings%22 [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Gang Starr (2018-05-03). "DWYCK". YouTube. Universal Music Group. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
