| The Beverly Hillbillies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Paul Henning |
| Starring | |
| Opening theme | "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" played byLester Flatt andEarl Scruggs, sung byJerry Scoggins |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| No. of episodes | 274(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 26, 1962 (1962-09-26) – March 23, 1971 (1971-03-23) |
| Related | |
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American televisionsitcom that was broadcast onCBS from 1962 to 1971. It had anensemble cast featuringBuddy Ebsen,Irene Ryan,Donna Douglas, andMax Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family from theOzark Mountains who move to poshBeverly Hills, California after striking oil on their land.[1] The show was produced byFilmways and was created byPaul Henning. It was followed by two other Henning-inspired "country cousin" series on CBS:Petticoat Junction and its spin-offGreen Acres, which reversed therags-to-riches, country-to-city model ofThe Beverly Hillbillies.
The Beverly Hillbillies ranked among the top 20 most-watched programs on television for eight of its nine seasons, ranking as the No.1 series of the year during its first two seasons, with 16 episodes that still remain among the 100 most-watched television episodes in American history.[2] It accumulated seven Emmy nominations during its run. It remains in syndicated reruns, and its ongoing popularity spawned a media franchise, including a1993 film adaptation by20th Century Fox.[3]
The series starts with Jed Clampett, a poor, widowedhillbilly who lives with his daughter and mother-in-law near an oil-rich swamp in theOzark Mountains.
The opening sequence shows Jed discovering oil while shooting at a rabbit, although the first episode shows the oil being discovered by a surveyor for the OK Oil Company. The company pays Jed many millions of dollars for the right to drill on his land. Jed's cousin Pearl Bodine prods him to move to California now that he is wealthy and pressures him into taking her son Jethro along. The family moves into a mansion in upscale Beverly Hills, California, next door to Jed's banker, Milburn Drysdale, and his wife, Margaret, who is appalled by the hillbilly Clampetts.
The Clampetts bring an unsophisticated, simple, moral lifestyle to the wealthy and sometimes superficial community.Double entendres and cultural misconceptions are the core of the sitcom's humor. Plots often involve Drysdale's outlandish efforts to keep the Clampetts' money in his bank and his wife's efforts to rid the neighborhood of "those hillbillies". The family's periodic attempts to return to the mountains are often the result of Granny feeling slighted by the "city folk".
Three of the main characters – Jed, Granny and Elly May – appear in all 274 episodes. Jethro (272 episodes) is not in the last two episodes of the series, having gone into hiding to avoid an anticipated marriage proposal.
Good-natured patriarch Jed Clampett (portrayed byBuddy Ebsen) has little formal education and is naive about the world outside the rural area where he lived but has a great deal of wisdom and common sense. His forebears are revealed in series 1, episode 25, to have come to America before theMayflower arrived. However, he later denies this to avoid offending Mrs. Drysdale.
He is the widower of Granny's daughter, Rose Ellen (Buddy Ebsen was only 5 years younger than Irene Ryan). He is the son of Luke Clampett and his wife and has a sister called Myrtle. In episode 13, it is revealed that Jed's grandfather was 98 when he married Jed's grandmother, who was 18. He is usually the straight man to Granny's and Jethro's antics. Hiscatchphrase is, "Welllllll, doggies!"[4]
Daisy May Moses (portrayed byIrene Ryan in all 274 episodes), called "Granny" by all, is Jed's mother-in-law, so is often called "Granny Clampett" in spite of her last name and despite the fact that in the pilot episode Milburn Drysdale refers to her as Jed's mother. She is a descendant of the Moses clan, who feuded with another family, the Bodkins, and drove them out of Napoleon, Tennessee. In Season 9, Episode 23, Granny states that she is "fromLimestone, Tennessee".
Granny has an abrasive personality and is quick to anger but is often overruled by Jed. She is a devoutConfederate and fancies herself aBaptist Christian ("dunked, notsprinkled"). A self-styled "M.D." ("mountain doctor"), Granny uses her "white lightning" brew as a form ofanesthesia when performing painful treatments such asleeching or tooth pulling. She often refers to the concoction as "rheumatize medicine". Like the other Clampetts, she is known to take things literally, having thought Mrs. Drysdale had turned herself into a bird usingblack magic (astrology) and mistook an escapedkangaroo for a giantjackrabbit (but failed to convince anyone of its existence).
Paul Henning discarded the idea of making Granny Jed's mother, which would have changed the show's dynamics, making Granny the matriarch and Jed her subordinate.
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Elly May (portrayed byDonna Douglas in all 274 episodes), the only child of Jed and Rose Ellen Clampett, is a mountain beauty with the body of apin-up girl and the soul of atomboy. In an early episode, Jed tells Elly May that she is the spitting image of her mother. She can throw afastball and "wrassle" most men to a fall, and she can be tender with her friends, animals, and family. She says once that animals can be better companions than people, but as she grows older, she allows that "fellas kin be more fun than critters." In addition to the family dog, Duke (an oldBloodhound), a number of pets live on the Clampett estate thanks to Elly May's love of animals.
She is a terrible cook and family members cringe whenever she takes over the kitchen. Elly May is easily in her 20s, but Granny usually promotes her age as "14" since an unmarried mountain woman as old as Elly May is considered anold maid.
In the 1981 reunion TV movie, Elly May is the head of a zoo.
Jethro (portrayed byMax Baer Jr. in 272 episodes) is the dim-witted son of Jed's cousin, Pearl Bodine (in a customary practice, he addresses Jed – his once-removed elder cousin – as "Uncle Jed", just as his second cousin, Elly May, addresses Jethro's mother as "Aunt Pearl"). Pearl's mother and Jed's father were siblings.[5] Jethro drives the Clampett family to their new home in California and stays on with them to further his education. In the first season, he is in the fifth grade, having spent three years in the fourth grade and two years in the first grade. The others boast of Jethro's "sixth-grade education". Jethro often speaks enthusiastically of his abilities in "cipherin'" (1 and 1 is 2, 2 and 2 is 4), and "gazintas" (4 gazinta 8 2 times, 3 gazinta 12 4 times), and he is ignorant about nearly every aspect of modern California life. In one episode, he attends a local secretarial school and is so disruptive that he is given a diploma at the end of the day to keep him from returning. In real life, Max Baer Jr. has abachelor's degree in business administration, minoring in philosophy, fromSanta Clara University.[6][7]
Many story lines involve Jethro's endless career search. He considers becoming a brain surgeon, a fry cook, a millwright, a street car conductor, a spy, a telephone lineman, asoda jerk, a chauffeur, aUSAF general, a sculptor, a restaurant owner, a psychiatrist, a bookkeeper for Milburn Drysdale's bank, a talent agent for "cousin" Bessie and "Cousin Roy" (see below), and a Hollywood producer. More often than not, his goal is merely to meet pretty girls. Miss Hathaway has a crush on him, but he is oblivious to this. Of all the Clampett clan, he is the most eager to embrace city life. Jethro has a huge appetite—in one episode, he eats a jetliner's entire supply of steaks, in another he tries to set himself up as a Hollywood agent for cousin "Bessie" the chimpanzee—with a fee of 10,000 bananas for Bessie and 1,000 for him. When "Cousin Roy" (Roy Clark) comes from "the hills" to Beverly Hills to become a country music star, Jethro refuses to be his agent when Roy becomes a success. Jethro does not appear in the third- or second-to-last episodes, but Baer remains billed in the title credits.
As of 2025, Baer is the only surviving main cast member.[8]
Milburn Drysdale (portrayed byRaymond Bailey in 247 episodes) is the Clampetts' banker, confidant, and next-door neighbor. He is obsessed with money and to keep the Clampetts' $96,000,000 (in 1969; equivalent to $823,143,376 in 2024) in his Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills, Mr. Drysdale will go to great lengths to cater to their wishes. He often forces others, especially his long-suffering secretary, to help fulfill their outlandish requests. He is a descendant of the Bodkins family from Tennessee. It is revealed in the first season that Granny's clan, the Moses family, feuded with the Bodkins family and drove them from Napoleon, Tennessee. A recurring comedic scene shows Drysdale angrily answering his phone only to find Jed on the other end of the line, at which point Drysdale's demeanor instantly changes to one of good humor and accommodation.
Jane Hathaway (portrayed byNancy Kulp in 246 episodes), whom the Clampetts address as "Miss Jane", is Drysdale's loyal, well-educated, efficient secretary at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills. She is genuinely fond of the family and tries to shield them from her boss's greed. Miss Hathaway frequently has to "rescue" Drysdale from his schemes, receiving little or no thanks for her efforts. The Clampetts consider her family; even Granny, the one most averse to living in California, likes her. Jane has a crush on Jethro for most of the series' run. In 1999,TV Guide ranked Jane Hathaway number 38 on its list titled "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time".[9]
The following characters fromPetticoat Junction andGreen Acres made guest appearances in this show starting in season 7 and listed in order of appearance:
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Rank | Rating | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||||
| 1 | 36 | September 26, 1962 (1962-09-26) | May 29, 1963 (1963-05-29) | 1 | 36.0 | |
| 2 | 36 | September 25, 1963 (1963-09-25) | June 10, 1964 (1964-06-10) | 1 | 39.1 | |
| 3 | 34 | September 23, 1964 (1964-09-23) | June 9, 1965 (1965-06-09) | 12 | 25.6 | |
| 4 | 32 | September 15, 1965 (1965-09-15) | May 18, 1966 (1966-05-18) | 7 | 25.9[10] | |
| 5 | 30 | September 14, 1966 (1966-09-14) | April 19, 1967 (1967-04-19) | 7 | 23.4[11] | |
| 6 | 30 | September 6, 1967 (1967-09-06) | April 3, 1968 (1968-04-03) | 12 | 23.3 | |
| 7 | 26 | September 25, 1968 (1968-09-25) | March 26, 1969 (1969-03-26) | 10 | 23.5 | |
| 8 | 26 | September 24, 1969 (1969-09-24) | March 18, 1970 (1970-03-18) | 18 | 21.7 | |
| 9 | 24 | September 15, 1970 (1970-09-15) | March 23, 1971 (1971-03-23) | — | — | |
The show'stheme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett", was written by producer and writer Paul Henning[12] and originally performed bybluegrass artistsFoggy Mountain Boys, led byLester Flatt andEarl Scruggs. The song is sung by Jerry Scoggins (backed by Flatt and Scruggs) over the opening and end credits of each episode. Flatt and Scruggs subsequently cut their own version of the theme (with Flatt singing) forColumbia Records; released as a single, it reached number 44 on theBillboard Hot 100 pop music chart and number one on theBillboard Hot Country chart (the lone country chart-topper for the duo).
As was customary in the early 1960s, the show's advertising sponsors were woven into bumpers involving the cast. To this end, the show sometimes included extra verses of the theme song aboutWinston cigarettes andKellogg's cereals.[13]
Perry Botkin composed many songs forThe Beverly Hillbillies. Botkin's upbeat tune fromMurder by Contract, played during scenes of sunny LA, signaled scenes at the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills.
The six main cast members participated on a 1963 Columbia soundtrack album, which featured original song numbers in character. Additionally, Ebsen, Ryan, and Douglas each made a few solo recordings following the show's success, including Ryan's 1966 novelty single, "Granny's Miniskirt".
The series generally features nocountry music beyond the bluegrass banjo theme song, although country star Roy Clark and the team of Flatt and Scruggs occasionally play on the program. Pop singerPat Boone appears in one episode as himself, under the premise that he hails from the same area of the country as the Clampetts, although Boone is a native ofJacksonville, Florida.
The 1989 filmUHF featured a"Weird Al" Yankovic parody music video, "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*", combining "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" and English rock bandDire Straits' 1985 hit song "Money for Nothing".
The Beverly Hillbillies received generally poor reviews from contemporary critics.The New York Times called the show "strained and unfunny";Variety called it "painful to sit through".[14]Gilbert Seldes wrote inTV Guide, "The whole notion on whichThe Beverly Hillbillies is founded is an encouragement to ignorance... But itis funny. What can I do?"[15][16] CBS executivesWilliam S. Paley andFrank Stanton also disliked the show but did not interfere with the decisions of network headJames T. Aubrey, whose preference for "hick-coms" such asHillbillies made CBS the dominantBig Three television network.[17][18]
Regardless of the poor reviews, the show shot to the top of theNielsen ratings shortly after its premiere[17][18] and stayed there for several seasons. During its first two seasons, it was the number-one program in the US; during its second season, it earned some of the highest ratings ever recorded for a half-hour sitcom. The season-two episode "The Giant Jackrabbit" also became the most-watched telecast up to the time of its airing and remains themost-watched half-hour episode of a sitcom, as well. The series enjoyed excellent ratings throughout its run, although it had fallen out of the top 20 most-watched shows during its final season.
In 1997, the season-three episode "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" was ranked number 62 on "TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time".[19] Film professorJanet Staiger wrote that "the problem for these reviewers [who disliked the show] was that the show confronted the cultural elite's notions of quality entertainment".[14] Media scholarRobert Thompson ofSyracuse University describedHillbillies as "the clash of folk art and greedy consumerism".[18]
| Season | Time | Rank | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1962–63) | Wednesday at 9:00–9:30 pm | 1 | 36.0 | |
| 2 (1963–64) | 39.1 | |||
| 3 (1964–65) | Wednesday at 8:30–9:00 pm | 12 | 25.6 | |
| 4 (1965–66) | 7 | 25.9 | Tied withBewitched | |
| 5 (1966–67) | 23.4 | Tied withDaktari andBewitched | ||
| 6 (1967–68) | 12 | 23.3 | ||
| 7 (1968–69) | Wednesday at 9:00–9:30 pm | 10 | 23.5 | |
| 8 (1969–70) | Wednesday at 8:30–9:00 pm | 18 | 21.7 | |
| 9 (1970–71) | Tuesday at 7:30–8:00 pm | Not in the Top 30 | ||
The show was canceled in the spring of 1971 after 274 episodes. The CBS network, prompted by pressure fromadvertisers seeking a more sophisticatedurban audience, decided to refocus its schedule on new urban-themed shows and, to make room for them, the two remaining series of CBS's rural-themed comedies were canceled.[22] This action came to be known as "theRural purge".Pat Buttram, who played Mr. Haney onGreen Acres, famously remarked, "It was the year CBS cancelled everything with a tree—including Lassie."[23]
In 1981,Return of the Beverly Hillbillies television film, written and produced by series creator Henning, was aired on the CBS network. Irene Ryan had died in 1973, and Raymond Bailey had died in 1980. The script acknowledged Granny's passing, but featuredImogene Coca as Granny's mother. Max Baer decided against reprising the role that both started and stymied his career, so the character of Jethro Bodine was given to another actor, Ray Young.
The film's plot had Jed back in his old homestead in Bugtussle, having divided his massive fortune among Elly May and Jethro, both of whom stayed on the West Coast. Jane Hathaway had become a Department of Energy agent and was seeking Granny's "White Lightnin'" recipe to combat theenergy crisis. Since Granny had gone on to "her re-ward", it was up to Granny's centenarian "Maw" (Imogene Coca) to divulge the secret brew's ingredients. Subplots included Jethro playing an egocentric, starlet-starved Hollywood producer, Jane and her boss (Werner Klemperer) having a romance, and Elly May owning a large petting zoo. The four main characters finally got together by the end of the story.
Though filmed only a decade after the series finale, viewer consensus found the movie lacked the series' original spirit. Hampered by the deaths of Ryan and Bailey, and Baer's absence, only three of the six original cast members reprised their roles. A further complication was that the "Clampett mansion" (theChartwell Mansion, designed bySumner Spaulding) had become too expensive for location shooting. Henning admitted embarrassment after the finished product aired, blaming his inability to rewrite the script due to the1981 Writers Guild of America strike.[24]
In 1993, Ebsen, Douglas, and Baer reunited onscreen for the only time in theCBS-TV retrospective television special,The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies hosted by Mac Davis and written by Al Bendix,Tino Insana, and Mike Rowe while Dakin Matthews served as the field interviewer. This special was ranked as the fourth-most watched television program of the week—a major surprise given the mediocre rating for the 1981 television film. It was a rare tribute from the "Tiffany network", which owed much of its success in the 1960s to the series, but has often seemed embarrassed by it in hindsight, often downplaying the show in retrospective television specials on the network's history and rarely inviting cast members to participate in such all-star broadcasts.
The Legend of The Beverly Hillbillies special ignored several plot twists of the television film, notably that Jethro was now not a film director but a leading Los Angeles physician. Critter-loving Elly May was still in California with her animals. Jed was back home in the Hills where he declined interviews until now. He also mentioned how he got richer in the hills where he purchased some land and spends some of his days whittling. Nancy Kulp had died in 1991 and was little referred to beyond the multitude of film clips that dotted the special. When asked if he bears no grudge against Drysdale, Jed states "I never bear no grudge against any man. The way I see it, I lost some money, but Mr. Drysdale lost his freedom. I don't think I'm bad off at all." Jed then tells his interviewer that he goes into town to ring up Elly May and that Jethro brings his children around often. He then takes the man interviewing with him to meet some friends unaware that he struck oil again. The scene closes with Jed dancing to the theme song with Jerry Scoggins while Earl Scruggs andRoy Clark (who is substituting for the late Lester Flatt) playing the music. The special was released on VHS tape byCBS/Fox Video in 1995 and as a bonus feature on the Official Third Season DVD Set in 2009.
In 1974, CBS made a reportedly large cash payment settlement to employee Hamilton Morgen after Morgen sued the network. Morgen claimed CBS appropriated his submitted ideas and script for a show calledCountry Cousins to formThe Beverly Hillbillies.[25][26]
The Beverly Hillbillies is still televised daily around the world in syndication. In the United States, the show has been broadcast onMeTV,Circle,Classic Reruns TV,GAC Family andLaff and was previously onTBS Superstation,Nick at Nite,TV Land,Hallmark Channel, andSuperstation WGN.[27] A limited number of episodes from the earlier portions of the series run have turned up in thepublic domain and as such are seen occasionally on many smaller networks such asRetro TV andMyFamily TV.
MeTV airsThe Beverly Hillbillies Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. and 6:30 am, on Sundays at 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and weeknights at 9 p.m. (all Eastern/Pacific Time)
The show is distributed byCBS Media Ventures, the syndication arm ofCBS Television Studios and the CBS network. It was previously distributed by CBS Enterprises,Viacom Enterprises,Paramount Domestic Television, andCBS Paramount Domestic Television (all through corporate changes involving TV distribution rights to the early CBS library). The repeats of the show that debuted onCBS Daytime on September 5–9, 1966, as "Mornin' Beverly Hillbillies" through September 10, 1971, and on September 13–17, 1971, as "The Beverly Hillbillies" lasted up to winter 1971–72. It aired at 11:00–11:30 am. Eastern/10:00-10:30 am. Central through September 3, 1971, then moved to 10:30–11:00 am. Eastern/9:30–10:00 am. Central for the last season on CBS Daytime.[citation needed]
Fifty-five episodes of the series are in thepublic domain (all 36 season-one episodes and 19 season-two episodes), becauseOrion Television, successor to Filmways, neglected to renew their copyrights. As a result, these episodes have been released on home video and DVD on many low-budget labels and shown on low-power television stations and low-budget networks in16-mm prints. In many video prints of the public domain episodes, the original theme music has been replaced by generic music due to copyright issues.
Before his death, Paul Henning, whose estate now holds the original film elements to the public domain episodes, authorizedMPI Home Video to 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 first season's episodes, complete with their original theme music and opening sponsor plugs. Volume 1 has, 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. The alternate version is also the version seen on Amazon Prime Video.
With the exception of the public domain episodes, the copyrights to the series were renewed by Orion Television. However, any new compilation ofHillbillies material will be copyrighted by either MPI Media Group or CBS, depending on the content of the material used.
For many years,20th Century Fox, through a joint venture with CBS calledCBS/Fox Video, released select episodes ofHillbillies on videocassette. AfterViacom merged with CBS in 1999,Paramount home entertainment (the video division of Paramount Pictures, which was acquired by Viacom in 1994) took over the video rights.
In 2006, Paramount announced plans to release the copyrighted episodes in boxed sets throughCBS DVD later that year. The show's second season (consisting of the public domain episodes from that season) was released on DVD in Region 1 on October 7, 2008, as "...The Official Second Season". The third season was released on February 17, 2009.[28] Both seasons are available to be purchased together from major online retailers. On October 1, 2013, season four was released on DVD as a Walmart exclusive.[29] It was released as a full retail release on April 15, 2014.[30] On April 26, 2016, CBS/Paramount released the complete first season on DVD.[31] The fifth season was released on October 2, 2018.[32]
| DVD title | No. of episodes | Region 1 release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Beverly Hillbillies (Ultimate Collection) | 26 | September 27, 2005 |
| The Beverly Hillbillies (Ultimate Collection Volume 2) | 27 | February 28, 2006 |
| The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official First Season) | 36 | April 26, 2016 |
| The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official Second Season) | 36 | October 7, 2008 |
| The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official Third Season) | 34 | February 17, 2009 |
| Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (TV Movie) | — | March 12, 2013 |
| The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official Fourth Season) | 32 | April 15, 2014 |
| The Beverly Hillbillies (The Official Fifth Season) | 30 | October 2, 2018 |
A three-act stage play based on the pilot was written by David Rogers in 1968.[33]
Dell Comics adapted the series into a comic book series in 1962. The art work was provided byHenry Scarpelli.[34] The comic ran for 18 issues, ending in August 1967.[35]
Standard Toykraft released a board game based on the show calledThe Beverly Hillbillies Game.[36] In the same year,Milton Bradley released a card game calledSet Back: The Beverly Hillbillies Card Game[37] in 1963.
A set of trading cards based around the show were released by Topps[38] in 1963 and Eclipse[39] in 1993.
In 1993, a film version ofThe Beverly Hillbillies was released starringJim Varney as Jed Clampett and featuringBuddy Ebsen in a cameo asBarnaby Jones, the lead character in his long-running post-Hillbillies television series.
Based onThe Beverly Hillbillies movie, aPC computer adventure game for operating system MS-DOS was developed by Synergistic Software, Inc. and published in 1993 by Capstone Software.
In 2002,CBS planned on areality show based on the series where a lower-middle class, real-life rural family takes up residence for one year in a mansion with all the luxuries of the wealth, as it focuses on how the clan adjusts to the new life in Beverly Hills.[40][41][42] In 2003, a group of Appalachian activists[43] voiced their objections to the network's planned version of the show, eventually being joined in their protest by multipletrade unions and members of theU.S. House of Representatives.[44] The show never aired.
Max graduated from Santa Clara with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Baer received a Bachelor of Science degree in commerce from Santa Clara University, a Jesuit school in Santa Clara, Calif. He minored in philosophy, which he admits is his favorite subject, and began work on a master's degree in that field before going into the acting profession.
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