The Beverly Hillbillies

The Beverly Hillbillies
Image:Hillbillies1.jpg
Genre	Sitcom
Creator(s)	Paul Henning
Starring	Buddy Ebsen Irene Ryan Donna Douglas Max Baer Jr. Raymond Bailey Nancy Kulp Bea Benaderet Harriet E. MacGibbon
Opening theme	The Ballad of Jed Clampett (help·info)
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	274 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Paul Henning
Executive producer(s)	Al Simon Martin Ransohoff
Location	Bel-Air, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Running time	ca. 25 min
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	NTSC 480i
Audio format	Monaural
Original run	September 26, 1962 – May 23, 1971
Chronology
Related shows	The Beverly Hillbillies (film)
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Beverly Hillbillies was an American television program about a hillbilly family living in Southern California. It is widely considered to be the most successful sitcom of the 1960s.^{[citation needed]}

In the series, Jed Clampett strikes oil while hunting on his land. He then moves with his family to Beverly Hills, California, with the resultant wealth.

A Filmways production, the series aired on CBS from September 26, 1962 to May 23, 1971. Filmways produced 274 episodes, 106 in black-and-white (1962-1965), and 168 in color (1965-1971).

Despite being panned by some critics, The Beverly Hillbillies shot to the top of the Nielsen Ratings shortly after its premiere and stayed there for several seasons. The series did receive two Emmy nominations for Best Comedy Series as well as nominations for cast members Irene Ryan and Nancy Kulp. It was ranked in the top ten most watched prime time programs for six of its nine seasons.

The series starred Buddy Ebsen as the widowed patriarch, Jedediah Jed "JD" Clampett; Irene Ryan as his mother-in-law, Daisy "Granny" Moses; Donna Douglas as his daughter, Ellie May Clampett; and Max Baer, Jr. as his cousin's son, Jethro Bodine.

The supporting cast featured Raymond Bailey as Jed's greedy banker, Milburn Drysdale; Harriet E. MacGibbon as Drysdale's snobbish wife, Margaret Drysdale; and Nancy Kulp as Drysdale's secretary, "Miss" Jane Hathaway, who pined for the clueless Jethro. Veteran canine actor "Stretch" as Jed's bloodhound Duke. Jed's cousin Pearl Bodine (Jethro's mother, played by Bea Benaderet), also appeared in several episodes during the first season, as did Jethro's twin sister, Jethrine (played by Baer in drag).

The theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," was written by producer and writer Paul Henning and originally performed by Bluegrass artists Flatt and Scruggs. It was #44 on the music charts in 1962 and a #1 country hit. Flatt and Scruggs also had another Billboard country top ten with the comic "Pearl, Pearl, Pearl" an ode to the feminine charms of Miss Pearl Bodine that was featured in the episode "Jed Throws a Wingding", the first of several Flatt and Scruggs appearances on the show. The six main cast members participated on a 1963 Columbia Records soundtrack album which featured original song numbers in character. Additionally, Ebsen, Ryan, and Douglas each made a few solo recordings following the series' success.

Storylines

Most storylines revolved around the clash between the "uncivilized" hillbilly culture the Clampetts represented and the "civilized" American culture the Drysdales represented. The Clampetts lived as they always had, even in their large, elegant mansion, never abandoning their mountain attire or replacing the old rattletrap truck that they moved to California in. They continued to grow their own food; and Granny made lye soap and moonshine. A running joke on the series was back in the hills, the movie theaters were still showing films from the silent movie era and the Hillbillies were unaware of talking pictures or more contemporary movie stars. Granny's favorite actor is Hoot Gibson but she also has an intense crush on William S. Hart and the whole Clampett family adores Mary Pickford. Silent movie legend Gloria Swanson made a memorable guest appearance on the show as herself in an episode that featured a comic parody of a silent melodrama. (The Hillbillies did however have a television and watched soap operas and "rasslin'" on it, and apparently John Wayne sound films since they were aware of Wayne unlike other "talking" stars.)

Pearl and Granny often fought for kitchen supremacy. Pearl, on occasion, would tell Granny that "a blood cousin trumps a mother-in-law". This underscores a familial disconnect between Jethro and Granny -although they shared no bloodlines, Jethro still called her "Granny" (as did everyone else on the show including Jane and the Drysdales). Other than their kitchen wars, relations between Granny and Pearl were generally friendly. The second season began with a brief mention of Pearl having moved back to the hills (actress Benaderet had left the show to star in Petticoat Junction) and Mrs. Drysdale soon became Granny's main sparring partner.

Although both Douglas and Baer were well in their twenties when the series started, during the first years of the series at least their characters are supposed to be teenagers. Elly May is enrolled in an elite girls' school in season one although no further mention is made of her education in later episodes. Jethro is enrolled in a sixth-grade class with of course much younger students for a couple episodes and a few later episodes suggest he is still in school.

A running theme during the series involved the outlandish efforts Mr. Drysdale took to keep the Clampetts in Beverly Hills (and their money in his bank). Such desires to return to the mountains were often prompted by Granny after some perceived slight she received from the "city-folk" around them. Drysdale went so far as to recreate the log cabin the Clampetts lived in and place it right next to the swimming pool (or "cement pond", as they called it) and the still Granny had installed to make moonshine (which she slyly refers to as "roomatiz medicine"). Another time Drysdale bought the Silver Dollar City "bank" to keep the Clampett's money in Beverly Hills. Once Drysdale hired movie stuntmen to play fake Native Americans "attacking" the Clampett mansion after Jed and Jethro decide to negotiate oil leases with real Native Americans. One inside joke is that whenever Jed pulled money out of his pocket Drysdale's blood pressure would rise-likewise whenever it seemed that the Clampetts would withdraw their money from his bank, Drysdale's face would turn green.

Drysdale's favorite comic book hero is called "Superbanker."

Another frequent source of humor dealt with Jethro's endless career search, which included such diverse vocations as soda jerk, brain surgeon, Hollywood celebrity and secret agent/spy. Jethro coveted movie star fame, and relished becoming a "playboy" like Elly's sometimes beau Dash Riprock. Jethro's stupidity usually caused such career attempts to fail spectacularly, as when he decided to open a "topless" restaurant, where the waitresses did not wear hats. The one time Jethro almost succedes in anything is when "Cousin Roy" {Roy Clark} wants Jethro to support Roy be a country singer; Jethro refuses and loses as usual.

Misunderstandings were the general source of humor in the program — either the Clampetts did not understand something they had never encountered before, or various city dwellers could not comprehend something the Clampetts are talking about, as when some businessmen hear Jed talking about "crawdads" and think he's discussing some new military vehicle, which they would like to invest in.

The Hillbillies went back to the hills for Christmas during the first season but did not return until season eight when several episodes were filmed on location at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. During this period Shug Fisher as Jed's eccentric little pal "Shorty" and Elvia Allman as Granny's arch nemesis Elverna Bradshaw joined the cast as semi-regulars.

Some of the later episodes are positively bizarre, as when the Clampetts encounter a group of hippies living in Griffith Park — they praise granny for wanting to "smoke crawdads" — and Jethro dresses as General Patton and drives around in a tank, with Mr. Drysdale dressed in a World War I German officers uniform.

Although the series generally featured no country music beyond the theme song, the series is often linked to the country music genre, although Roy Clark and Flatt and Scruggs were the only country stars to ever appear on the program. Pop singer Pat Boone appeared on one episode as himself with the premise that he hails from the same area as the Clampetts.

Characters and Critters

Although having little formal education, Jed had good common sense, Granny had insights into human nature, and Elly May was a strong capable girl. She could throw a fastball and even wrestle her cousin (or any other man) to a fall. However Jethro was incredibly ignorant and self centered. Granny styled herself an "M.D." — "mountain doctor" — claiming to have a complete knowledge of herbs, potions and tonics. Elly May had a deep rapport with all animals and adopted a great diversity including numerous dogs, cats, deer, possums, goats, raccoons and chimpanzees as her "critters". One chimp named "Cousin Bessie" wore a dress and was prominently featured in many Hillbillies episodes.

Elly May was as stunningly beautiful as she was naïve, and was squired about by eager young Hollywood actors with stage names like "Dash Riprock" and "Bolt Upright." (Obvious puns on the actors Rock Hudson and Rip Torn.) Dash Riprock was a particularly interesting character who made several appearances — he was torn between his attraction to Elly and some sympathy for Jethro and his fear of "those crazy Clampetts." (Mr. Drysdale at one point threatens to put him in a television show entitled "Crabman," an obvious parody of the then-popular Adam West Batman program, if he doesn't continue going out with Elly May.)

Occasionally characters from the hills made appearances — Lafe Crick, a lazy and boorish yet oddly charismatic fellow who was hoping to help himself to a bit of the Clampett fortune, appeared at one point, fooling everyone about his attentions except Granny and Jed. Additionally, the ukelele-strumming Jazzbo Depew appears to woo Jethrine Bodine in a few episodes.

Jethro called himself "Beef Jerky," imagining himself a playboy and sophisticated man-about-town. He was particularly proud of his education: he spent 12 years at school — before passing the sixth grade. After that, he decided to go to college. He managed to enroll late in the semester at a local secretarial school due to his financial backing, and earned his diploma by the end of the day because he didn't understand what was going on in class and was too disruptive. Jethro would never succeed in any career he ever tried {See above}, in the TV Movie of the "The Beverly Hillbilles" with the original cast-Jethro finally found a career he best suited for--becoming a Hollywood Studio mogul!!

The Drysdales were also pretty foolish. Although Mrs. Drysdale had obvious disdain for their neighbors, Mr. Drysdale was willing to do anything to keep them next door so as to not lose control of their millions in his bank. Episodes in 1962 and 1966 featured his ne'er-do-well stepson, Sonny (played by Louis Nye), a Mama's Boy whose "career" was going to college. Sonny was at one point a potential husband for Elly May. When he jilted her, there was nearly a feud. All the while, Mrs. Drysdale led outlandish campaigns to rid her city of the uncouth hillbillies.

Between Mrs. Drysdale and Mr. Drysdale was a subtle social commentary on class. Mrs. Drysdale had antebellum aristocratic views on class: Desiring social inclusion with people who were born of pure blood. To her, the most desirable people were those whose ancestors had been among the first settlers of colonial America, and had a xenophobic dislike of immigrants and interlopers, which she saw the Clampetts as the worst example of. Ironically, it was revealed in one episode that while Mrs. Drysdale was descended from the Mayflower, the Clampetts had actually arrived at the founding of Jamestown. Mrs. Drysdale's worldview was turned upside down when she was told "When your ancestors arrived on the Mayflower, Mr. Clampett's were there waiting for them." Mr. Drysdale, on the other hand, has a view of wealth which is much more practical than his wife: He clings to people with money and has far more respect for the Clampetts, despite their backwards ways, than he does for Mrs. Drysdale's son Sonny who doesn't believe in getting his hands dirty with work. Mr. Drysdale's reverence for the Clampetts is so great that despite the fact that they have a backwards approach on life, he sees everything they do as unquestionably right (because they have money) and bends over backwards to rearrange the rest of the world to cater to their whims. For instance, when Jethro wants to enroll in an elite boarding school, the headmistress has problems with the situation for several obvious reasons, but Mr. Drysdale leverages his deed on the school mortgage as clout to force the school to admit Jethro.

Jed's Bloodhound Duke, played by the canine actor "Stretch" [1], was also a constant thorn in Mrs. Drysdale's side. In addition to his baying and digging, he made her French Poodle Claude a cuckold, by fathering the puppies of his intended mate.

Running Jokes

The show relied on running jokes to maximize on the humorous potential of the "culture clash." Some of these were designed to show how the Hillbillies were in fact, wiser than their Hollywood counterparts:

• Granny fancied herself an "M.D." which stood for mountain doctor (instead of medical degree) and had very archaic methods of treating medicine but sometimes they seemed to work. She correctly diagnosed Mr. Drysdale as having high blood pressure. Granny relied heavily on alcohol as a treatment (giving someone a "shot" to cure a disease referred to a shot of alcohol).
• Granny also had an uncanny knack for predicting the weather (specificially, when it was going to rain) using seemingly archaic methods that were in fact more accurate than the weather reports.
• Jethro, despite being the least intelligent member of the family, was steadfast in his insistence that he was a genius because he had a sixth grade education and felt that he was qualified for a future career as a brain surgeon. The family seemed to support the notion that Jethro was indeed highly educated and should be treated as such but they sometimes caught on to their lack of common sense.He also belived that he would become a playboy if not a surgeon, leading Jed would often say "Someday, I gotta have a long talk with that boy."
• Jethro had a "six-foot belly" and a humongous appetite.
• Elly May had poor culinary skills; the results were not only inedible but, when the clan discreetly fed her meals to the backyard plants as so not to hurt her feelings, the plants died.
• Jethro and Jed felt that by whittling on their front porch they could attract dates just as in the hills.
• Mr. Drysdale would do practically anything to keep the Clampetts happy, because they were the bank's #1 depositer, so that their money would be kept in his bank. The ridiculous lengths that he went through to please the Clampetts, were often the source of the confusion that enabled a simple premise to be stretched out over a half-hour plot.
• Elly May could win in a fight against Jethro and would easily be tempted into a fight often.
• Granny would push for Elly May to get married because at 19 she'd be an old maid.
• Mrs. Drysdale was perceived by the Clampett family to be an alcoholic in need of treatment, when in fact she just didn't like them.
• The family was fascinated by their swimming pool which they called a "cement pond" (and pronounced SEE-ment pond), but they never seemed to grasp its intended use (Granny sometimes did the laundry in it).
• The Clampetts never discovered the source of the sound that took place a few times prior to someone showing up at the front door (the doorbell).
• The family used the billiard table for "fancy-eating" — they even used pool cues as "pot-passers."
• Mr. Drysdale was notoriously cheap and would promise staffers and his assistant Ms. Hathaway a raise in exchange for helping him out of a jam and then cheat his way out of it once the task was complete.

The family tree

There are a number of episodes in which the family relationships between the various characters is discussed. Based on these episodes, a family tree of the Clampetts and Bodines would probably look like:

                           C------X
                             /  \
                     G-M   X-C   c-X   B-X
                      |     |     |     |
                      R-----J     P-----B
                         |          | |
                         e          j k

G - Daisy May ... (Granny Moses)
M - ... Moses (Mr. Moses, Grannys husband)

J - Jedediah D. Clampett (Jed)
R - Rose Ellen Moses (deceased)
e - Ellie May Clampett

P - Pearl ...
j - Jethro Bodine
k - Jetherene Bodine

C - A Clampett male
c - A Clampett male or female
B - A Bodine male

X - unknown name

One of a breed

The Beverly Hillbillies never took itself too seriously. It was a farce, pure and simple, with plenty of slapstick and word-play. After its run, one TV critic called the premise of the show "one joke, nine years."

It was still fairly popular when it was canceled in 1971 after 274 episodes, but CBS, prompted by pressure from advertisers seeking a more sophisticated urban audience, decided to refocus its schedule on several "hip" new urban themed shows. CBS' other rural-themed comedies were also canceled, "any show with a tree," including Green Acres, Mayberry R.F.D. and Hee Haw, the latter of which was resurrected in first-run syndication, where it ran for another 21 years. Petticoat Junction had been canceled a year earlier due to declining ratings since the death of star Bea Benaderet. The CBS television network after these cancellation began to air more urban comedies with greater social commentary, such as All in the Family

Reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies are still televised daily around the world in syndication. The show is distributed by CBS Paramount Television.

The Hillbillies on video

The first two seasons of the series are in the public domain (their copyrights having not been renewed by CBS, which bought the rights to the series shortly after its cancellation). As a result, these episodes have been unofficially released on home video and DVD on many low-budget labels, and shown on low-power television stations and low-budget networks in 16mm prints. In many video prints of the public domain episodes, the original theme music is replaced by generic music due to copyright issues.

However, before his death, Paul Henning, whose estate now holds the original film elements to the "public domain" episodes, authorized MPI Home Video to officially release the best of the first two seasons on DVD, the first "ultimate collection" of which was released in the fall of 2005. These collections include the original, uncut versions of the season one episodes, complete with their original theme music and opening sponsor plugs. Vol. 1 included, among its bonus features, the alternate, unaired version of the pilot film, "The Hillbillies Of Beverly Hills" (the version of the episode that sold the series to CBS), and the "cast commercials" (cast members pitching the products of the show's sponsors) originally shown at the end of each episode.

For many years, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (under license from CBS) officially released select episodes of "Hillbillies" on videocassette until Paramount (through post-1994 parent Viacom's merger with CBS) took over the video rights. Earlier in 2006, Paramount announced plans to release the copyrighted episodes in boxed sets through CBS DVD later that year. The release is yet to occur as of March 2007.

Fans of the Hillbillies on message boards such as IMDB^[1] are asking other fans who haven't already done so to vote for the Hillbillies Dvds on Tvshowsondvd.com

Malaprops and colloquialisms

• Cee-ment pond (the swimming pool)
• Critters (any animal par.Elly May's assorted pets)
• Double-naught spy (Jethro's version of the James Bond '00' spies)
• A bil-yerd (The stuffed rhino-head in the billiard room)
• Stars and Bars (A Confederate Flag)
• Fancy eatin' table (the billiard table)
• Faversham (name of a character mistaken as a greeting)
• fay-ver-rite (how the Hillbillies pronounced favorite)
• Pot passers (pool cues)
• Fancy leather lunch boxes (briefcases)
• Feelin' lower than a well digger's heel
• Frisky as a flea on a fat dog
• Green (naive, gullible, easily deceived)
• He was only greenin' ya! (He was only fooling you!)
• If brains were lard, his wouldn't grease too big a pan
• P-new-moe-nie (pneumonia)
• Polecat (a skunk)
• Pretty as a bag filled with striped candy
• Pretty as fresh-churned butter
• Pretty as a mess o' fried catfish
• Rootin' around like a hog in a new pen
• Set a spell (sit for a while)
• Spark/sparkin' (court/courting, date/dating)
• Squawking like a two-pound chicken laying a three-pound egg
• Varmints, slang for animals, usually used by Granny in terms of anger
• Vittles (victuals; food)
• We-e-e-ll doggies! (Jed's characteristic expression of impressed astonishment)
• You're green enough to stick in the ground and grow.
• You're totin' water with a leaky bucket.
• Deep fried in possum fat (a method of cooking)
• You're dropping your bucket down an empty well.
• I'm gonna fetch my shotgun.
• One of these days I've got to have a long talk with that boy.
• Fixin' (getting ready to do something)
• Directly (as soon as possible)

Trivia

• The episode "The Giant Jackrabbit", which originally aired January 8, 1964, was the most watched episode of a show up till that time and even today remains the most watched half-hour sitcom episode ever.
• The main sponsor of the series was Kelloggs. A Kellogg's billboard was seen in the opening credits for several years, the cast made commercials for the cereals, and even during actual episodes of the show "Corn Flakes" were frequently referred to if not by brand name although the Kellogg's box is visible in several episodes.
• For a time, The Beverly Hillbillies was sponsored by Winston cigarettes, and the actors Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan and Nancy Kulp appeared in commercials for the brand, smoking Winstons and reciting the jingle "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should."
• Exterior shots of the Clampetts' mansion were filmed at the Kirkeby Mansion, located at 750 Bel Air Road, Bel Air.
• While the series remained comedic, during its run in the late 1960 and early 1970s the show did integrate various social issues such as feminism, beatniks, hippies, the youth movement and even civil rights (although during its run, the show never had a continuing minority character as part of the main or supporting casts). The greedy Mr. Drysdale successfully blocked efforts by his bank employees to form a labor union or to get health insurance.
• On an episode of Green Acres, Mr. Haney tries to sell Mr. Douglas a color photograph of "The Beverly Hillbillies" that lights up in the dark. In another episode, the local Hooterville repertory company stages a play based on "The Beverly Hillbillies." (These were crossover inside jokes, as both series were produced by Filmways).
• The Beverly Hillbillies was also linked with Petticoat Junction due to crossover appearances of characters/actors between the shows. Several episodes had the Hillbillies visiting Hooterville, and once Sam Drucker (portrayed by Frank Cady) traveled to Beverly Hills to visit Granny. (Cady was the only actor to appear in all three series.)
• Max Baer Jr, was injured performing a stunt, future stunts were performed by Jay Luckel.
• A song by "Weird Al" Yankovic titled "Money For Nothing/The Beverly Hillbillies" is a parody of "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits (the strange title resulted from legal restrictions). Mark Knopfler himself played the guitar in this parody, which appeared in music video form in Al's 1989 movie UHF.
• Dell Comics published a short-lived comic book based on the show.
• IGT created a series of slot machines based on the show.

See also

• The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), a movie based on the series was released
• List of The Beverly Hillbillies episodes

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