beverly hillbillies

The Beverly Hillbillies was an American television sitcom about a hillbilly family living in Southern California in the 1960s.

The patriarch strikes oil while hunting on his land near a fictionalized hamlet called Bugtussle in the Ozark Mountains. He then listens to the advice of friends, neighbors and extended family members, and 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. 106 were in black-and-white (1962-1965), 168 in color (1965-1971), for a grand total of 274 episodes.

Despite its 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 for Best Comedy Series as well as nominations for cast members Irene Ryan and Nancy Kulp. It was high in the ratings throughout most of its run.

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, Elly 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, Ballad of Jed Clampett (help·info), 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 another Billboard country top ten with the comic "Pearl, Pearl, Pearl" and 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.

Unusual 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 were 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 Pearl had 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.

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 promeniently featured in many Hillbillies episodes.

Another running joke was her 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.

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. One running joke was "the six foot stomach" and his appetite. Another running joke was that when Elly and Jethro would get into a fight, Jethro would always lose.

The family was fascinated by their swimming pool which they called a "cement pond", but never seemed to grasp its intended use (Granny sometimes did the laundry in it). Another running joke was that they never discovered the source of the sound that took place a few times prior to someone showing up at the front door (the doorbell). Similarly, the family used the billiard table for "fancy-eating" — they even used pool cues as "pot-passers."

The Drysdales were also pretty foolish. Although Mrs. Drysdale's 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.

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.

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
e - Ellie May Clampett

P - Pearl ...
j - Jethro Bodine
k - Jethrine 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, 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.

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. Paramount (through CBS DVD) has announced plans to release the copyrighted episodes in box sets for late 2006.

Frequently used malapropisms, colloquial terms and phrases

• Cee-ment pond (the swimming pool)
• Critters (any animal par.Elly May's assorted pets)
• A bil-yerd (The stuffed rhino-head in the billiard room)
• Fancy eatin' room (the billiard room)
• Fancy eatin' table (the billiard table)
• 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
• varmits, 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.

Complete theme song

The Ballad of Jed Clampett

as performed by Jerry Scoggins

"Come and listen to my story 'bout a man named Jed,

a poor mountaineer, barely kept his fam'ly fed.

And Then one day he was shootin' at some food,

con'net from the ground come a bubblin' crude,

oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know ol' Jed's a millionaire.

The kinfolk said, Jed, move away from there.

They said, Californy is the place you wanna be,

so they loaded up the truck and they moved down Beverly,

Hills that is, swimmin' pools, movie stars.

Ol' Jed bought a mansion, lawdy it was swank,

next-door neighbor was pres'dent of the bank.

But Lotsa folks objected, but the banker found no fault,

'cause ol' Jed's millions was a-layin' in the vault,

cash that is, capital gains, depletion money.

For now it's time to say goodbye to Jed and all his kin, and

they would like to thank you folks for kindly droppin' in.

You're all invited back next week to this locality,

to have a heapin' helpin' of their hospitality,

hillbilly that is, set a spell, take your shoes off,

y'all come back now, ya hear?"

Trivia

• 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.
• Max Baer, Jr. plans to open "Jethro's Beverly Hillbillies Mansion & Casino" in Carson City, Nevada.
• The Beverly Hillbillies program was also linked with Petticoat Junction and Green Acres and "Casey Jones" due to cross appearances of characters/actors between the shows. For example Sam Drucker (portrayed by Frank Cady) appeared on all three programs. A similar universe existed between the programs The Golden Girls, Empty Nest and Nurses. As well as Seinfeld, Mad About You and Friends.
• Saturday Night Live presented a skit about "The Bel Arabs", a Bedouin family who moved to Bel Air, California, after striking oil. The skit included a revised version of "The Ballad of Jed Clampett".
• 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.
• Saturday Night Live did a spoof of "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" — substituting President William Clinton's name for that of Jed Clampett.
• On an episode of Green Acres, Mr. Haney tries to sell Mr. Douglas a colored photograph of "The Beverely HillBillies" a crossover inside joke.
• In one episode, Mr. Drysdale reveals that he was born in Tennessee. After receiving hearty approval from the Clampetts, he mentions that his mother was part of the Bodkins clan, the archnemeses of the Moses clan. Granny then chases him off with a gun.
• Dell Comics published a short-lived comic book based on the show.
• Nickelodeon has recently created a small controversy[2] by editing out three references to marijuana which occur in some of the later episodes of the show — in one, Jethro calls marinara sauce "marijuana sauce." In another, the Clampetts encounter a group of hippies in Griffith Park, when Granny follows up a statement that she'd like to "smoke crawdads" by saying that first, she needs "a little pot [in which to cook]." The last occurs when a deputy says that Elly May's bear "probably smoked pot."

See also

• In 1993 a movie comedy based on the series was released. The Beverly Hillbillies (motion picture).

External links

• The Beverly Hillbillies at the Internet Movie Database
• The High Art of the Beverly Hillbillies Analysis and extensive photo galleries
• Lyrics to "The Ballad of Jed Clampett"
• Encyclopedia of Television
• Classic TV Shows
• Television Heaven
• Morty's TV Showcase The Beverly Hillbillies
• The Beverly Hillbillies and Buick?
• Strike The Root — The Beverly Reali-billies
• Elly May's Fabulous Shih-Tzu Fashion and Photo Gallery at www.squeakycarrot.com