Beverly Hillbillies, The

▪ American television show

      American television show that was one of the most popular situation comedies of the 1960s. The Beverly Hillbillies debuted in 1962 on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and aired for nine seasons (1962–71), remaining at or near the top of the Nielsen ratings for its entire run.

      As encapsulated in the show's title sequence and explained in the lyrics of its familiar theme song, the events of The Beverly Hillbillies were set in motion when Jed Clampett (played by Buddy Ebsen), an uneducated Ozark mountaineer, struck it rich by discovering oil (“black gold”) beneath his land while hunting and moved his “hillbilly” family to swanky Beverly Hills, Calif., after being bought out by a petrochemical company for $25 million. Besides Jed, the good-natured head of the family, the show featured Granny (Irene Ryan), a matriarch with uncommon folk wisdom and uncanny natural abilities (such as telling the exact time from the position of the Sun); Elly May (Donna Douglas), Jed's pretty yet naive daughter, who is courted by various potential beaux from Hollywood; and Jethro Bodine (Max Baer, Jr.), Jed's wayward, self-centred cousin who believes his sixth-grade education entitles him to a fascinating career (as, for example, a spy, a Hollywood producer, or a brain surgeon) and whose never-ending job search provided the backdrop for many of the show's stories. Also integral to the show were the Drysdales, the Clampetts' snobby, aristocratic neighbours, whose “civilized” attitudes and behaviour put them in sharp comic contrast with the “uncivilized,” rural manners of the Clampetts and fueled much of the show's humour.

      Despite a lack of critical acclaim, The Beverly Hillbillies was a huge hit with audiences. It ranked first in the Nielsen ratings in its first two seasons and remained in the top 20 until the end of its eighth season. It was canceled in 1971 along with a number of other rural-themed comedies in what came to be known as the “Rural Purge,” an attempt by CBS to attract urban (presumably more affluent) audiences by replacing its rural-themed shows with hip, urban fare.

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