John Aylesworth

John Bansley Aylesworth (August 18, 1928 – July 28, 2010) was a Canadian television writer, producer, comedian, and actor, best known as co-creator of the American country music television variety show Hee Haw, which appeared on network television for two years and then ran for decades in first-run syndication.

Aylesworth was born on August 18, 1928, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and performed on radio as a child. He left high school before graduating and went into the advertising business as a writer, working together with Frank Peppiatt. His wife recalled that they "were total cutups at the agency" and were approached by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation based on their reputation to write sketches for the late night variety program After Hours. At this point they officially became the comedy team of Peppiatt and Aylesworth. They also wrote and performed on the CBC programs The Big Revue and On Stage and Aylesworth created Front Page Challenge, a current events and history game show that ran on CBC Television from 1957 to 1995.

Aylesworth and Peppiatt relocated to the United States in 1958 and got work writing for The Andy Williams Show. They had worked together on The Jimmy Dean Show and wondered why a show hosted by a Country music star didn't feature the Country music more prominently. Aylesworth's 2010 book The Corn Was Green: The Inside Story of Hee Haw published by McFarland & Company told how he and Peppiatt came up with the idea for Hee Haw after seeing "country banter" between Charley Weaver and Jonathan Winters on The Jonathan Winters Show, and seeing that the shows atop the Nielson ratings included The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Green Acres and Petticoat Junction, along with Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and the duo conceived immediately of the format of Country variety. Originally a summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Hee Haw was an immediate ratings winner throughout that first summer and was permanently added to the CBS schedule in December 1969. Co-hosted by Roy Clark and Buck Owens, the hour-long program featured regulars Archie Campbell, Grandpa Jones, Minnie Pearl, Junior Samples, Lulu Roman and Gordie Tapp.

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