The Beverly Hillbillies: Striking Nielsen Gold

Riding high in Beverly Hills: Donna Douglas (Elly May), Irene Ryan (Granny), Buddy Ebsen (Jed), and Max Baer, Jr. (Jethro); from the second opening title sequence of The Beverly Hillbillies, when it was shown in color on CBS from 1965 until the series’ cancellation in 1971.

    The 1960’s were one of the most compelling and turbulent decades of 20th Century America, as evidenced by not only the civil rights movement that resulted in equal rights for African-Americans and other ethnic and racial minorities, but also the growing youth movement and the controversial Vietnam War that would end up outraging a generation of Americans.

   And yet, the 1960’s were also one of the most interesting –– and offbeat decades in television history, as escapism helped millions of viewers escape the increasingly dark realities of the outside world, if only temporarily.  Therefore, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the most popular TV shows of the 1960’s were not only offbeat in terms of originality, but also –– in some cases –– just plain goofy (but in a good way).  That certainly describes one of the most popular TV shows of that particular decade, which would outlast many of them in terms of both popularity and high Nielsen ratings, right into the early-1970’s: The Beverly Hillbillies.

   The Beverly Hillbillies, one of what a generation of viewers and critics would call the “rural sitcom,” owed both its success and enduring popularity mainly to its immediate forbearers –– most notably, The Real McCoys and The Andy Griffith Show; some of the episodes of both TV series were written by veteran film and TV writer/producer Paul Henning, who also had great success writing and producing The Bob Cummings Show in the 1950’s.

   When it came time to create The Beverly Hillbillies, Henning –– a native of Independence, Missouri who once encountered future U.S. president Harry Truman (another native of Independence) long before entering show business –– found inspiration in the camping vacations he took in the Ozark Mountains, particularly the local residents who lived in the four states where the Ozarks are located, including Missouri.  But in developing the TV series, Henning decided to go a bit further by having a family of hillbillies –– the Clampetts –– become extremely wealthy after discovering oil in the hills of Tennessee, then moving them out west to live in a lavish mansion in Beverly Hills, California.  To further convince CBS and Filmways –– who joined forces to produce The Beverly Hillbillies–– Henning, who was a radio singer prior to becoming a writer/producer, wrote what would become the show’s theme song –– “The Ballad Of Jed Clampett” –– telling how the Clampetts became rich and ended up in southern California.  To quote a familiar cliché, the rest is history.

   To play widowed patriarch Jed Clampett, Henning cast veteran film and TV actor Buddy Ebsen, whose career went back to the 1930’s, when he proved his dancing talents in a number of popular movie musicals of that period (and who almost got the role of the Tin Man in The Wizard Of Oz [MGM, 1939]); Ebsen was also no stranger to TV –– before taking on the role of Jed Clampett, the actor was best known to 1950’s TV audiences as Davy Crockett’s sidekick Georgie Russell on several episodes of Walt Disney’s Disneyland TV series.  Though Ebsen would later play private detective Barnaby Jones in the 1970’s TV mystery series of the same name, he would always be associated with the role of the good-natured (and –– more often than not – wiser) Jed Clampett.

   Henning then cast veteran character actress Irene Ryan as Jed’s mother-in-law Daisy “Granny” Moses, the self-styled mountain doctor who preferred using her herbs, potions, and tonics to help cure the Clampetts whenever they were ailing instead of modern-day procedures (at least those that existed in the 1960’s) –– and who wasn’t completely harmless for an elderly grandmother, as several generations of TV viewers who’ve watched the series in reruns already know by now.  Actress Donna Douglas –– who appeared in the 1960 Twilight Zone episode “Eye Of The Beholder” (as well as the Rock Hudson/Doris Day film comedy Lover Come Back [Universal, 1961], co-written by Henning) –– was cast as Jed’s beautiful tomboy daughter Elly May, an all around animal lover who could more than hold her own against any male in physical combat (and any other sports), though she left much to be desired when it came to cooking.  Max Baer, Jr., son of the famous boxer, was cast as Jed’s naive and totally clueless nephew Jethro Bodine, who claimed to be a genius (even after graduating from the sixth grade in Beverly Hills in later seasons) in just about everything, but proved to be anything but –– though his appetite for food would prove to be bigger than both his I.Q. and ego combined.  (Baer also played Jethro’s twin sister Jethrine during the show’s first season [and in drag, no less] –– her voice was provided by Henning’s daughter Linda, who would go on to star in Petticoat Junction, which debuted on CBS the following season [1963-64]).  Rounding out the cast was character actor Raymond Bailey as Milburn Drysdale, the cunning skinflint president of the fictional Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills, who would wind up not only having the Clampetts as their richest depositors, but also as their next-door neighbors –– and actress Nancy Kulp as Mr. Drysdale’s bank secretary Jane Hathaway, who was far more rational and sensible than her boss, and who had a not-so secret crush on Jethro; both Bailey and Kulp appeared in nearly all of The Beverly Hillbillies’ episodes during its first seven seasons –– and would graduate to full-time regulars by the start of its seventh season in 1968-69.

Raymond Bailey as Milburn Drysdale, and Nancy Kulp as Jane Hathaway, from the revised opening title sequence of The Beverly Hillbillies TV series, circa 1968.

   The Beverly Hillbillies debuted on CBS on September 26, 1962 –– and from the moment the Clampetts came to Beverly Hills, TV audiences instantly fell in love with them.  The second episode introduced Henning’s “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” as performed by legendary bluegrass musicians Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and sung by Jerry Scoggins; the series’ theme song reached #44 on the music charts in 1962, as well as #1 on the country chart –– and remains one of the most famous associated with Flatt & Scruggs, who would go on to play themselves in a number of later episodes.

   Of course, many critics didn’t care much for The Beverly Hillbillies, partly because the idea of a hillbilly family becoming oil tycoons and moving out west to southern California was somewhat implausible.  But those critics were a minority compared with the millions of TV viewers who helped make the series a hit (and help place it in the Nielsen Top Ten for the majority of its nine-year run) –– and besides, audiences were too busy enjoying The Beverly Hillbillies on TV to care about the irrationality of its overall premise.  The series would even receive seven Emmy nominations during the course of its original network run, including two for Best Comedy Series — as well as a Golden Globe nomination in 1964.

   Many episodes of The Beverly Hillbilliesdealt with the Clampetts adjusting to both city life and the present day world (at least in the 1960’s), while retaining their country virtues (like wearing their regular clothes, growing their own food — and in Granny’s case, illegally making moonshine).  Other plot lines focused on Mr. Drysdale’s efforts to keep the Clampetts in Beverly Hills (simply because they were his bank’s biggest depositors) — as well as Jethro unsuccessfully taking on a variety of careers (including, respectively, a restaurant owner and secret agent), and Granny’s efforts to find a future husband for Elly May.  During a number of episodes in the series’ first season, the Clampetts returned to the hills at Christmas time — but wouldn’t return there until seven years later, during the eighth season, in which a number of episodes were filmed on location in Branson, Missouri, almost two decades before it became famous as one of the leading entertainment Meccas and most popular vacation destinations in the country.  The Beverly Hillbillieswas also among the few TV series at the time in which its various storylines lasted a finite number of episodes, and would foreshadow the storytelling techniques present in many of today’s hit TV shows.

   A variety of supporting characters appeared during The Beverly Hillbillies’ nine-year run — among them were Jethro’s mother Pearl Bodine (Bea Benaderet), who appeared in a number of first season episodes (Benaderet, whose acting credits included The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show, The Flintstones, and a number of Warner Bros.‘ Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated theatrical cartoons during the 1940’s and 1950’s, would go on to star in another Paul Henning-created TV sitcom, Petticoat Junction, the following year on CBS — she would stay with that series until several months before her death in mid-October 1968); Mr. Drysdale’s wife Margaret (Harriet MacGibbon), who was vehemently opposed to the Clampetts living next door to them; the Drysdales’ ne’er-do-well son (and would-be college student) Sonny (Louis Nye), who was unsuccessfully groomed to become Elly May’s husband; Commerce Bank secretary Janet Trego (Sharon Tate, who would end up becoming the most famous of serial killer Charles Manson’s murder victims in early-August, 1969); and film actor Dash Riprock (Larry Pennell), one of many men that Elly May briefly romanced during the series’ run.  In later seasons, the Clampetts would interact with the casts of Petticoat Junction and Green Acres (the latter being another CBS TV sitcom that Henning co-produced), when they visited Hooterville several times.  In addition, a number of popular film and TV actors made guest and/or cameo appearances during The Beverly Hillbillies’ original network run, including John Wayne, Gloria Swanson, Phil Silvers, and Sammy Davis, Jr. — as well as Pat Boone and a pre-Hee Haw Roy Clark.

   Other supporting characters who were part of The Beverly Hillbillies‘ cast were of a more furry nature — namely, the various animals that Elly May befriended, including her pet chimp Bessie, who appeared in many episodes during the series’ run; the animals were supplied by pet trainer Frank Inn, who also trained Higgins the dog (later renamed Benji) for Petticoat Junction and Arnold the pig for Green Acres.  It was thanks in part to these three TV series that Inn would become as well known as the shows’ stars, both human and animal.

   The Beverly Hillbillies’ popularity on CBS would endure into the early-1970’s — but by then, the network was already pressured by advertisers who had their eye on attracting urban audiences, believing that they had already outgrew the rural-based TV shows that helped add to CBS’s coffers during the 1960’s.  In addition, the fall of 1970 saw the debut of another CBS TV sitcom that would help change the face of the genre forever — The Mary Tyler Moore Show — and which would help end up sealing the fate of the network’s rural TV shows, including The Beverly Hillbillies, its final episode airing on May 23, 1971.  But then, it was probably enviable — since the Clampetts ended up out of place in the TV landscape now dominated by not only The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but also All In The Family and M*A*S*H, which would become rating successes for CBS during the 1970’s and early-1980’s.

   Luckily, The Beverly Hillbillies’ popularity would continue to endure, as reruns of the TV series have continued to air in both syndication and cable — and still do to this very day.  By the 1970’s, renewed interest in classic TV shows (and other forms of entertainment from the past) helped bring forth the nostalgia craze that continues to this very day, and helped sired a series of TV specials and TV-movies that reunited the casts of past TV series.  In early-October 1981, CBS aired the TV-movie The Return of The Beverly Hillbillies, with Buddy Ebsen, Donna Douglas, and Nancy Kulp reprising their famous TV roles — by the time it aired, much had changed since the TV series ended in 1971: cast members Irene Ryan and Raymond Bailey had since passed away (Ryan in 1973; Bailey in 1980), while Max Baer, Jr., who became a successful film producer (with the unexpected success of Macon County Line [1974]) and businessman not long after the show‘s cancellation, declined to reprise his TV role as Jethro.  (Ray Young played that role.)  The TV-movie’s plot, which dealt with Granny’s moonshine formula being considered as an alternate source of fuel (and after all, it was broadcast during the real-life energy crisis that had crippled the United States at the time), wasn’t really a good one to begin with, even though the idea behind this was a few decades ahead of its time in the real world.  In any case, both diehard Beverly Hillbillies fans and then-modern TV audiences were disappointed by what they saw — at least those who saw the TV-movie — and might certainly explain why after this, creator Paul Henning, who wrote the script, decided to retire from show business for good.  And anyway, the TV sitcom as a whole had greatly changed since The Beverly Hillbillies went off the air for good over a decade before.  The Return Of The Beverly Hillbilliesmarked the last time that Nancy Kulp would play Jane Hathaway; she died in early February 1991.

   Over a decade later, when theatrical feature films based on popular TV sitcoms were becoming the rage, 20th Century Fox brought The Beverly Hillbillies to motion picture screens in mid-October 1993 — but sadly, the end result proved to be disastrous, and proved to be a low point in the careers of not only its cast (including Jim Varney, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin, and Dabney Coleman), but also its crew, including director Penelope Spheeris, who fared far better with Wayne’s World (Paramount, 1992), which was based on the sketch introduced on NBC’s Saturday Night Live a few years before.  It should be noted that the film version of The Beverly Hillbillies marked one of the last on-screen appearances of Buddy Ebsen, who originated the role of Jed Clampett on TV — and who played his other-famous TV role of Barnaby Jones in the film.  Like The Return of The Beverly Hillbillies’ failure to recapture the magic of the original TV classic over a decade before, the overall box office failure of the film version proved that The Beverly Hillbillies and its overall premise belonged to a far simpler time.

   Also in 1993, CBS aired The Legend Of The Beverly Hillbillies, a highly-rated TV special that looked back at the series’ history and its most popular moments — the special reunited Buddy Ebsen, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr., the then-three surviving cast members of the original series, for the last time.  (Ebsen, who also found success as an artist creating paintings inspired by The Beverly Hillbillies TV series, died in early-July 2003.)

   For over a decade, a number of episodes from The Beverly Hillbillies’ first season have been released on both VHS and DVD — however, they are now in the public domain, since CBS’ rights to the series’ first season episodes have since expired, which explains why independent home video companies (like MPI Home Video) have released them, and not CBS Video (though it has released a number of the later color episodes for home video release through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the past decade).  While it’s not clear whether or not CBS will ever regain the copyrights to The Beverly Hillbillies’ first season episodes, Paramount (which, like CBS, is owned by Viacom) has released DVD sets of the series’ second and third seasons (in both October 2008 and February 2009).

   Later ill-advised efforts to recapture its magic (and this includes, unfortunately, a TV commercial for GEICO that aired a few years ago, which featured B&W clips from the TV series that was definitely in poor taste) have not — and do not diminish The Beverly Hillbillies’ continued popularity in reruns, as well as its status as a TV classic.  But then, it’s not difficult to love Jed Clampett and his family, whose continued appeal to several generations of audiences worldwide remains not only worth its weight in gold — but also, in many cases, far more valuable than all the wealth in the world.

   John Lavernoich is the author of the novels Code Name: Chameleons and Chameleons To The Rescue, as well as various non-fiction articles and short stories that have been published in print and on the Internet — to learn more about Mr. Lavernoich and his writing achievements, please visit his official website (http://johnlavernoich.sharepoint.com), as well as his pages on Windows Live Spaces (http://cid-ef88d131988ab38f.profile.live.com), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/john.lavernoich?ref=name), MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/jlavernoich), Twitter (http://twitter.com/JLav65), and WordPress (http://johnlav.wordpress.com).  Mr. Lavernoich also maintains his own video channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/JLav65?feature=mhsn) as well as his own Author Spotlight page on Lulu Books‘ website (http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Highroad).