Robert Wood moved network prime-time programming out of TV's adolescent phase into adulthood. As president of CBS, in 1971 he broke with patterned success by jettisoning long-lived popular shows in order to attract younger audiences coveted by advertisers. At the same time, he set aside traditional standards of gentle and slightly vacuous comedy for "in your face" dialogue and contemporary situations that delighted masses, offended some, and pulled network entertainment into the post-assassination/civil rights Vietnam era.

     Wood's strategy in 1970 was to cancel rural and older-skewed classic series (Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Hee Haw) and veteran stars (Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason, Ed Sullivan, and Andy Griffith) in favor of more contemporary, urban­ oriented programming. He scheduled the challenging comedy All in the Family. developed by producer Norman Lear, which ABC had twice rejected. After a weak initial half season, in the spring of 1971, the series built a strong viewership during summer reruns and became a sensation by the fall season. Attracting massive audiences, including sought-after younger adults, and critical praise, All in the Family helped CBS to decide to add to its schedule a number of other programs from Lear's production company, including The Jef­fersons, Maude, Good limes, Sanford and Son, and One Day at a Time. Rather than farcical situation comedies (sitcoms), these shows were based on issues affecting characters as interacting persons, thus becoming "character comedies."

     Wood presided over the entertainment revolution that changed what Americans watched on evening television. Other networks emulated the move, sometimes outpacing CBS's entries in teasing audience acceptability with double entendre. But the nation's TV screens had moved to a new plateau (some cynics would claim a lower one) with Wood's determined risk taking. TV and cable in the following decades pushed forward dramatic and comedic themes from that position.

     Wood was energetic, optimistic, thoughtful, and shrewd. But his strategies never undercut people as he formed policies for the stations he managed (KNXT, Los Angeles; the CBS television stations division of owned-and-operated outlets) and the network he led (CBS-TV) from 1969 to 1976. He was the longest­ Jived and last executive totally in command of the national television fortunes of CBS Inc.

     As the industry grew more complex, he advocated shifting the programming department from network headquarters in New York City to the West Coast, where most entertainment programming was developed. After he retired from the network, his position was eventually divided into several presidencies, including TV network,  entertainment  (programming­ on the West Coast), sports, affiliate relations, sales, and marketing. Competing networks had already begun splitting network executives' responsibilities, after Wood had proposed such a structure within CBS.

     Wood was the rare network executive who was respected and liked, often with genuine affection, by broadcast colleagues, executives, staff members, local station managers, program producers, and talented actors. He dealt with each person graciously and with good cheer, caring for those with whom he worked and not taking himself too seriously. He was totally committed to his top-management responsibilities, which he handled skillfully and with enormous success. After a brief stint as an independent producer, he became president of Metromedia Producers Corporation in 1979. He died in 1986.