Carter Country

Not to be confused with Carter County.

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.

Carter Country
Victor French and Kene Holliday.
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Phil Doran Douglas Arango
Developed by	Bud Yorkin Saul Turteltaub Bernie Orenstein
Written by	Douglas Arango Phil Doran David Garber Kevin Hartigan Barry Meadow
Directed by	Peter Baldwin Bud Yorkin
Starring	Victor French Kene Holliday Richard Paul Harvey Vernon Barbara Cason Vernee Watson Guich Koock
Composer	Pete Rugolo
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	44
Production
Executive producers	Austin Kalish Irma Kalish Bernie Orenstein Saul Turteltaub Bud Yorkin
Producer	Douglas Arango
Production company	Turteltaub-Orenstein-Yorkin Productions (TOY)
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	September 15, 1977 (1977-09-15) – August 23, 1979 (1979-08-23)

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. 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 Puckett. 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.

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. The second season ranked 70th out of 114 shows, with an average 15.6/27 rating/share.

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.

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 (1977-09-15)
2	2	"Beating the Pounds"	Peter Baldwin	Al Gordon & Jack Mendelsohn	September 22, 1977 (1977-09-22)
3	3	"Out of the Closet"	Peter Baldwin	Douglas Arango & Phil Doran	September 29, 1977 (1977-09-29)
4	4	"The Fireside Burnside Budget Chat"	Peter Baldwin	George Arthur Bloom	October 6, 1977 (1977-10-06)
5	5	"Baker Buys a House: Part 1"	Peter Baldwin	S : Mark Fink; T : Al Gordon & Jack Mendelsohn	October 20, 1977 (1977-10-20)
6	6	"Baker Buys a House: Part 2"	Peter Baldwin	S : Mark Fink; T : Al Gordon & Jack Mendelsohn	October 27, 1977 (1977-10-27)
7	7	"Bye, Bye Baker"	Peter Baldwin	Kevin Hartigan & David Garber	November 3, 1977 (1977-11-03)
8	8	"Senior Citizen Siege"	Peter Baldwin	Kevin Hartigan & David Garber	November 17, 1977 (1977-11-17)
9	9	"Chicks and Turkeys"	Peter Baldwin	David Pollock & Elias Davis	November 24, 1977 (1977-11-24)
10	10	"Chief to Chief"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	December 1, 1977 (1977-12-01)
11	11	"Union vs. the Confederacy"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	December 8, 1977 (1977-12-08)
12	12	"A-Hunting We Will Go"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	December 15, 1977 (1977-12-15)
13	13	"By the Light of the Moonlight"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	December 22, 1977 (1977-12-22)
14	14	"The Physical"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	January 5, 1978 (1978-01-05)
15	15	"Roy's Separation"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	January 12, 1978 (1978-01-12)
16	16	"Red Armstrong, Goodbye"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	January 19, 1978 (1978-01-19)
17	17	"Ballots for Burnside"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	January 26, 1978 (1978-01-26)
18	18	"The Chief's Dressing Down"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	February 2, 1978 (1978-02-02)
19	19	"All About Floyd"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	February 9, 1978 (1978-02-09)
20	20	"Roy Pays His Taxes"	Peter Baldwin	Unknown	February 23, 1978 (1978-02-23)
21	21	"Roy's Encounter"	Peter Baldwin	Alan Eisenstock & Larry Mintz	May 9, 1978 (1978-05-09)
22	22	"Baker Saves a Life"	Peter Baldwin	Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman	May 16, 1978 (1978-05-16)

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 (1978-09-23)
24	2	"The Tracy Report"	Peter Baldwin	Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman	September 30, 1978 (1978-09-30)
25	3	"The Selling of the Mayor: Part 1"	Peter Baldwin	Phil Doran & Douglas Arango	October 21, 1978 (1978-10-21)
26	4	"The Selling of the Mayor: Part 2"	Peter Baldwin	Phil Doran & Douglas Arango	October 28, 1978 (1978-10-28)
27	5	"Poor Butterfly"	Peter Baldwin	Marty Brill & Barry Meadow	November 11, 1978 (1978-11-11)
28	6	"Gambler's Unanimous"	Peter Baldwin	Mark Fink	November 25, 1978 (1978-11-25)
29	7	"Roy Makes the Grade"	Peter Baldwin	Haskell Barkin	December 2, 1978 (1978-12-02)
30	8	"Hurricane Jasper"	Peter Baldwin	S : Jack Turley; S/T : Martin Rips & Joseph Staretski	December 16, 1978 (1978-12-16)
31	9	"Firing of a Harley"	Peter Baldwin	Saul Turteltaub & Bernie Orenstein	December 23, 1978 (1978-12-23)
32	10	"Owed to Billy Joe"	Peter Baldwin	Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf	January 6, 1979 (1979-01-06)
33	11	"The Russians Are Coming"	Gary Shimokawa	David Braff & Nick Thiel	January 13, 1979 (1979-01-13)
34	12	"Happy Anniversary"	Peter Baldwin	Bruce Kalish & Philip John Taylor	March 29, 1979 (1979-03-29)
35	13	"Teddy the Tiger"	Peter Baldwin	Phil Doran & Douglas Arango	April 5, 1979 (1979-04-05)
36	14	"New Kid in Town"	Peter Baldwin	Austin & Irma Kalish	April 12, 1979 (1979-04-12)
37	15	"Baker's First Day"	Peter Baldwin	Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman	April 19, 1979 (1979-04-19)
38	16	"The Last Dinosaur"	Peter Baldwin	Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf	April 26, 1979 (1979-04-26)
39	17	"The Big Move: Part 1"	Peter Baldwin	Mark Fink	May 10, 1979 (1979-05-10)
40	18	"The Big Move: Part 2"	Peter Baldwin	Michael S. Baser & Kim Weiskopf	May 17, 1979 (1979-05-17)
41	19	"The Big Move: Part 3"	Peter Baldwin	Richard Powell	May 24, 1979 (1979-05-24)
42	20	"Teddy's Folly"	Peter Baldwin	Phil Doran & Douglas Arango	May 31, 1979 (1979-05-31)
43	21	"The Prisoner of Clinton Corners"	Peter Baldwin	Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman	June 7, 1979 (1979-06-07)
44	22	"The Abominable Showman"	Peter Baldwin	Mort Scharfman & Harvey Weitzman	June 21, 1979 (1979-06-21)

External links

• Carter Country at IMDb