The Beverly Hillbillies: From Bug Tussle to Beverly Hills

The premise was simple. A poor Ozark mountaineer named Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) accidentally strikes oil while shooting at a rabbit. His new fortune of roughly $50 million (an enormous sum in 1962) prompts his cousin Pearl Bodine to insist he move his family to Beverly Hills. Jed, his mother-in-law Granny (Irene Ryan), his daughter Elly May (Donna Douglas), and his nephew Jethro Bodine (Max Baer Jr.) pack their belongings on the back of a 1921 Oldsmobile truck and drive to California — where they take up residence next door to their banker, Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey).

That premise became The Beverly Hillbillies, which ran nine seasons and 274 episodes on CBS between 1962 and 1971 — and was, in its first two seasons, the highest-rated show on American television.

How huge it was

It's difficult to overstate how completely The Beverly Hillbillies dominated American television in the early 1960s. The series's Season 1 finale (May 1963) drew 36 million viewers — an audience share that no scripted show would match for nearly two decades. The first eight episodes of Season 2 all ranked #1 in their weekly ratings. By 1964, the series had spawned a successful soundtrack album, a string of theatrical re-edits, and a national merchandising operation.

The cultural divide

The show was savaged by critics from the moment it premiered. The New York Times called it "dispiriting and embarrassing." Newsweek labeled it "corn for the masses." The critical establishment of the early 1960s — heavily Manhattan-based, college-educated, and culturally aligned with Mad Magazine-era satire — treated rural Americana as inherently embarrassing. But mass audiences disagreed completely, and the series's ratings throughout the early 1960s made the critical opposition look increasingly disconnected from actual American taste.

The format

Each episode followed the same basic comic structure: the Clampetts encountered some artifact of upper-class California living (a swimming pool, a stockbroker, a French chef, an automated home appliance) and misunderstood it through their Ozark sensibility. The misunderstanding generated 22 minutes of escalating comic confusion before being resolved — usually with the Clampetts coming out morally and emotionally ahead of their Beverly Hills neighbors.

The show's secret weapon was that the Clampetts were always the most decent people in any scene. They had no ambition for status, no greed for further wealth (Jed actually wanted to return to the Ozarks throughout most of the series), and no contempt for the Beverly Hills residents who frequently tried to exploit them. The fish-out-of-water comedy worked because the fish were better, more honest people than the water around them.

The casting

Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett anchored the series with quiet, patient comic timing. Ebsen had been a Broadway dancer in the 1930s and had famously been cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (1939) before nearly dying from an allergic reaction to the aluminum-dust makeup. By 1962, he was a long-working character actor who finally had his career-defining role.

Irene Ryan as Granny Daisy Moses became the series's most-quoted character. Her insistence on cooking possum, her constant search for "vittles," and her general suspicion of California modernity gave the show much of its comic energy.

Donna Douglas as Elly May provided the series's romantic-comedy framework — Elly May was perpetually being courted by various Beverly Hills men but always preferred her "critter friends" (the various wild animals she befriended).

Max Baer Jr. as Jethro played the gentle giant who was simultaneously physically powerful and intellectually slow. Baer's career suffered after the series ended because of typecasting — audiences could not separate him from Jethro.

Essential episodes

The Giant Jackrabbit — From Season 2. Granny mistakes a kangaroo for an enormous rabbit. One of the highest-rated single episodes in the series's run.

The Girl from Home — Elly May reconnects with a childhood acquaintance from the Ozarks. Strong character episode.

Lafe Lingers On — Visit from Lafe Crick, the Clampett family's eccentric cousin. The supporting-character episodes often included the series's most memorable comic moments.

Why the series ended

By 1971, CBS executed what's now called the "rural purge" — the simultaneous cancellation of all its rural-themed comedies (The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, Mayberry R.F.D.) regardless of their ratings. The network wanted to attract more urban, college-educated viewers for advertising premium reasons. The Hillbillies were still drawing strong ratings when cancelled.

Public-domain status

A substantial portion of The Beverly Hillbillies has lapsed into the public domain through complicated CBS-era rights handling. Our archive collects dozens of episodes, including the canonical mid-1960s peaks.

Where to start

Start with The Giant Jackrabbit for the highest-rated episode in the series's run and a clean introduction to Granny's particular comic logic. From there, sample any of the Season 1-3 episodes for the Hillbillies at their peak.