The Beverly Hillbillies is an American television sitcom. Panned by many entertainment critics of its time, it quickly became a ratings success for CBS. The series was about a hillbilly family transplanted to Beverly Hills, California after finding oil on their land. A Filmways production, the series aired on CBS from September 26 , 1962 – September 7 , 1971 and comprises 274 episodes—106 in black-and-white (1962–1965) and 168 in color (1965–1971). The show starred Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett, Irene Ryan as Daisy May "Granny" Moses, Donna Douglas as Elly May Clampett and Max Baer, Jr. as Jethro Bodine. It, and country-cousin series Green Acres, are the most syndicated "fish out of water" shows to date, and were followed by similarly-themed shows such as "McCloud", "The Nanny", "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", and "Doc". It ranked among the top 12 most watched series on television for seven of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the #1 series of the year, with a number of episodes that remain among the most-watched television episodes of all time
Overview
The Beverly Hillbillies series, starts with the OK Oil oil Company learning of an inadvertent strike in Jed Clampetts Ozark swamp land. Patriarch Jed moves with his family to the wealthy Los Angeles County city of Beverly Hills, California, where he brings a moral, unsophisticated, and minimalistic lifestyle to the swanky, self-obsessed, community. The theme song introduces the viewer to the world's only fortuitous hunting accident- whereby Jed shoots at game but instead hits "black gold". Lasting nine seasons and accumulating seven Emmy nominations, it remains in syndication on several cable stations including TV Land.
The Hillbillies themselves were Buddy Ebsen as the widowed patriarch Jed "J.D." Clampett; Irene Ryan as his ornery mother-in-law, Daisy May "Granny" Moses; Donna Douglas as his curvaceous, tom-boy daughter Elly May Clampett; and Max Baer Jr. as Jethro, the brawny, half-witted son of his cousin Pearl Bodine. Pearl (played by Bea Benaderet) appeared in several episodes during the first season, as did Jethro's twin sister Jethrine, played by Baer in drag, using Linda Kaye Henning's voiceover. Pearl was the relative who prodded Jed to move to California, after being told his modest property could yield a new breed of money, "million dollars".
The supporting cast featured Raymond Bailey as Jed's greedy,unscrupulous banker Milburn Drysdale; Harriet E. MacGibbon as Drysdale's ostentacious wife Margaret Drysdale; and Nancy Kulp as "Miss" Jane Hathaway, Drysdale's scholarly, "plain-Jane" secretary, who pined for the clueless Jethro.
While Granny frequently mentioned that she was from Tennessee, the series never specified the state from which the Clampetts moved to California. However, they often referred to nearby towns such as Joplin, Branson, Springfield and Silver Dollar City, all of which are in southwest Missouri. In episode 8, of season 8, "Manhattan Hillbillies", Granny tells the Police Officer in Central Park that her family comes from Taney County, (SW Missouri). Early episodes also contained several references to Eureka Springs, which is in northwest Arkansas. All of the communities are in the Ozark Mountains. The show's producer Paul Henning is from Independence, Missouri and donated 1,534 acres for the Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area near Branson.
Animal trainer Frank Inn provided animals for all three of Hennings' hit shows, which included "Elly May's critters", such as chimp "Alfie" who portrayed "Cousin Betsy", and "Stretch", Jed's hunting bloodhound dog AKA "Duke". Inn also provided animals for Hennings' two other shows, which featured such favorites as "Higgins" ("Dog" and later "Benji") and the several hogs who played "Arnold Ziffle".
A three-act stage play based on the pilot was written by David Rogers in 1968.
Theme music
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. The song was sung by Jerry Scoggins (backed by Flatt and Scruggs) over the opening and end credits of each episode. It was #44 on the music charts in 1962 and a #1 country hit. Flatt and Scruggs also had another Billboard country top ten hit with the comic "Pearl, Pearl, Pearl," an ode to the feminine charms of Miss Pearl Bodine who 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 show's success, including Ryan's 1966 novelty single, "Granny's Miniskirt".
The series generally featured no country music beyond the bluegrass banjo theme song, although country star Roy Clark and the team of Flatt and Scruggs occasionally played on the program. Pop singer Pat Boone appeared on one episode as himself, with the premise that he hailed from the same area of the country as the Clampetts (Boone is, in fact, a native of Jacksonville, Florida although he spent most of his childhood in Tennessee).
Popularity
Written-off as lowbrow by some critics, the show shot to the top of the Nielsen Ratings shortly after its premiere and stayed there for several seasons. During its first two seasons, it was the number one program in the U.S. 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 the most 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.
The series received two Emmy nominations for Best Comedy Series (1963, 1964) as well as nominations for cast members Irene Ryan (twice nominated as Best Series Actress, 1963, 1964) and Nancy Kulp (nominated for Best Comedy Series Supporting Actress, 1966)].
Nielsen ratings
- 1962-1963: #1
- 1963-1964: #1
- 1964-1965: #12
- 1965-1966: #8
- 1966-1967: #9
- 1967-1968: #12
- 1968-1969: #10
- 1969-1970: #18
Influence on other television shows
Because of the show's high ratings, CBS asked creator Paul Henning to pen two more folksy comedies, spawning a mini-genre of rural sitcoms during the 1960s. Petticoat Junction featured an extended family, including three pretty young women of marrying age, running a small hotel in the isolated rural town of Hooterville. Green Acres flipped the Clampetts' fish-out-of-water concept by depicting two city sophisticates moving to Hooterville, which was populated by oddball country bumpkins.
Certain actors appeared on more than one of these series:
- Bea Benaderet, who had played Jethro's mother during the first season of The Beverly Hillbillies, was the mother of the family on Petticoat Junction .
- Linda Kaye Henning, who provided the voiceover for the Beverly Hillbillies character Jethrine, portrayed Benaderet's daughter Betty Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction (the only female who remained all seven seasons).
- Edgar Buchanan, who starred in all 222 episodes of Petticoat Junction and guest-starred in 17 episodes of Green Acres, also guested in three episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, always as the character Uncle Joe Carson.
- Charles Lane (actor) played Homer Bedloe, vice president of the C. & F. W. Railroad, on both shows.
- Sam Drucker, played by Frank Cady, of both Petticoat Junction and Green Acres, also appeared in several episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies .
- Several animal actors trained by Frank Inn, including Higgins the dog, also moved between series as needed.
Despite the actor cross-overs and the character Uncle Joe Carson's multiple appearances (which made it clear that the three shows were set in the same fictional universe), the two Hooterville series retained identities that were distinct from The Beverly Hillbillies .
Cancellation and "the Rural Purge"
Nielsen ratings for the 1970-71 season show that the bottom had dropped out for the perennial Top 30 series, but was still fairly popular when it was canceled in 1971 after 274 episodes. The CBS network, prompted by pressure from advertisers seeking a more sophisticated urban audience, decided to refocus its schedule on several "hip" new urban-themed shows, and to make room for them, all of CBS's rural-themed comedies were simultaneously canceled, despite some considerable Nielson ratings. This action came to be known as "the Rural Purge". Pat Buttram, who played Mr. Haney on Green Acres, famously remarked that, "It was the year CBS killed everything with a tree in it."
In addition to The Beverly Hillbillies, (rated #18) the series that were eliminated included, Green Acres , Mayberry R.F.D. (rated #15) 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 ea
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