The Beverly Hillbillies is funny as shit.

But I am high and day-drinking.

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by Anonymousreply 118May 25, 2021 7:27 PM

Jethro got arrested for prostitution? I have never seen this.

by Anonymousreply 1May 7, 2021 6:45 PM

Written mostly by Paul Henning, who, with Stanley Shapiro, wrote Bedtime Story, which was re-made as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He also wrote for Burns and Allen.

A simple 1/2 hour show, lots of fun fluff. Great music, if you like bluegrass. Irene Ryan, who played Granny, ended her career on Broadway in Pippin.

You can watch TBH free on PlutoTV.

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by Anonymousreply 2May 7, 2021 7:03 PM

Especially the early B&W ones, OP. I agree.

by Anonymousreply 3May 7, 2021 7:08 PM

The early episodes are hilarious.

Irony, sarcasm, attitude has ruined a lot of today's comic acting.

The actors on The Beverly Hillbillies acted as if they believed 100% in everything they were saying and doing.

And that's why it's so fucking funny.

by Anonymousreply 4May 7, 2021 7:20 PM

I loved when the doorbell chimed they realized to go to the front door to greet those who they thought were summoned to come by the sound of the doorbell.

by Anonymousreply 5May 7, 2021 7:27 PM

You need to eat some vittles, and pull down your caftan and stop stroking to Jethro.

by Anonymousreply 7May 21, 2021 7:37 PM

A fine program. Yet, I always preferred Green Acres.

by Anonymousreply 9May 21, 2021 8:01 PM

I don't think Green Acres aged as well as the b&w Hillbillies.

by Anonymousreply 10May 21, 2021 8:02 PM

I won a trivia game by answering correctly to a BJ question. No one else knew it.

by Anonymousreply 11May 21, 2021 8:42 PM

That should be BH not BJ.

by Anonymousreply 12May 21, 2021 8:48 PM

It's hilarious and stands the test of time!

by Anonymousreply 13May 21, 2021 8:48 PM

The black-and-white episodes are hands down THE BEST sit-com of the ‘60s decade.

by Anonymousreply 14May 21, 2021 8:52 PM

Dave Draper was the hottest guest star. Granny thought he was "ill" because his muscles were so big!

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by Anonymousreply 15May 21, 2021 8:53 PM

I shot my first load in life thinking of Jethro by the cement pond.

by Anonymousreply 16May 21, 2021 8:59 PM

The BW episodes were funny, but the colour eps were very meta and great at parodying the modern 60s.

Now I'm gonna smoke some crawdads, but first I need a little pot.

by Anonymousreply 17May 21, 2021 9:00 PM

Dave Draper still looks purty good!

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by Anonymousreply 19May 21, 2021 9:27 PM

The writing was skillfully done, especially when the Clampitts would have a conversation with city folk and the Clampitts would think they were talking about one thing and the city folk would mean something else. To keep it going for a full conversation, using words and terms that could be misinterpreted, was really good. My favorite episode is A Plot for Granny, in which Jed thinks he is buying a plot of farmland, he was actually buying a cemetery plot for Granny. To keep the misunderstanding between Jed and the cemetery salesmen going the whole episode took skill.

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by Anonymousreply 20May 21, 2021 9:33 PM

The best line Granny ever uttered on that show was

BURN RUBBER!!!!!!

by Anonymousreply 21May 21, 2021 9:35 PM

Jethro, in his tight jeans and always present basket, gave me naughty feelings back during it's initial run. That was one fine looking hunk of man.

by Anonymousreply 22May 21, 2021 9:36 PM

This is a good interview Gilbert Gottfried did with Max Baer Jr. in 2015.

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by Anonymousreply 23May 21, 2021 10:37 PM

One of my favorite episodes was when this "nice man" - a cabbie - picked up Granny shopping in town (we were asked to suspend disbelief, I guess) & brought her home. When he pressed her on the fare, Granny thought he was now asking her to join him at the fair.

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by Anonymousreply 24May 22, 2021 1:11 AM

^ The cabbie is played by the great Mel Blanc. The voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig,

Blanc was a regular on the Jack Benny Show and I noticed one of Benny's jokes in the clip at R29. Perhaps there was a connection between the two shows?

by Anonymousreply 25May 22, 2021 1:17 AM

^ I noticed one of Benny's jokes in the clip at [R20].

by Anonymousreply 26May 22, 2021 1:23 AM

That was interesting, R23 (once you get past the first 10 minutes of Gottfried's constant laughing). Baer even names the 4 biggest cocks in Hollywood" Milton Berle, Forrest Tucker, Victor Mature and I can't remember the 4th guy.

by Anonymousreply 27May 22, 2021 1:45 AM

Draper was okay, but Dash Riprock (Larry Pennell) did it for me.

Anyone notice how Mr. Drysdale started off fairly normal, then became money-obsessed as the seasons went on?

by Anonymousreply 28May 22, 2021 1:50 AM

Sharon Tate appears under a black wig in several episode as a secretary.

by Anonymousreply 29May 22, 2021 1:52 AM

My favorite guys were the Cat Burglar (John Ashley) and Sheldon Epps (Alan Reed Jr.). Epps was the son of the rasslin’ promoter (Fred Flintstone).

by Anonymousreply 30May 22, 2021 2:20 AM

Baer once said in an interview that during the show he and Irene Ryan spent a good bit of their off time together getting liquored up in various bars.

by Anonymousreply 32May 22, 2021 2:32 AM

Irene Ryan's acting in that show is just incredible.

by Anonymousreply 33May 22, 2021 2:34 AM

The episode in which Granny boxes the giant jackrabbit, which was really a kangaroo, is still hilarious.

I also love Miss Jane.

by Anonymousreply 34May 22, 2021 2:40 AM

Harriet MacGibbon as Margaret Drysdale was PERFECT casting. I always liked the episodes when she appeared. Hilarious?

by Anonymousreply 35May 22, 2021 9:36 AM

Agree, R35. I liked her, too.

by Anonymousreply 36May 22, 2021 12:59 PM

And her creepy "child" Sonny, with bags under his eyes. And her father, Farquahar, the gambling addict who courted Granny (after her money, of course).

by Anonymousreply 37May 22, 2021 1:02 PM

In some ways, socially speaking, the program was DECADES ahead of its time.

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by Anonymousreply 38May 22, 2021 1:06 PM

Sonny was hilarious, R37.

by Anonymousreply 39May 22, 2021 1:07 PM

In an episode about Jed making an oil deal with an Arab, Granny called him...”camel riding sand crawling groomer.” LMAO

by Anonymousreply 41May 22, 2021 1:16 PM

Smoking crawdads -- "hard to light and they draw funny."

by Anonymousreply 42May 22, 2021 1:22 PM

It was pretty clear everyone involved was having a great time and that translates onto the screen.

by Anonymousreply 43May 22, 2021 2:29 PM

Irene Ryan *made* this show. Everyone else is funny but she takes it to a higher level. I can’t imagine anyone else in the role.

by Anonymousreply 44May 22, 2021 2:53 PM

The Clampetts Meet Mrs Drysdale:

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by Anonymousreply 45May 22, 2021 2:55 PM

You got to watch the very end of R45's clip; Jed and Granny do a Winston commercial (Granny sticks the cigarette in her corn pipe!)

by Anonymousreply 46May 22, 2021 3:31 PM

[quote]Irene Ryan *made* this show. Everyone else is funny but she takes it to a higher level. I can’t imagine anyone else in the role.

Bea Benaderet, who later played Cousin Pearl, was originally supposed to play Granny, r44. After viewing Irene Ryan's screentest, Bea herself said "There's your Granny".

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by Anonymousreply 47May 22, 2021 3:33 PM

Mrs. Drysdale embodied all the worst qualities of your typical gay man: materialistic, snobby, elitist, neurotic, hypochondriacal.

by Anonymousreply 48May 22, 2021 3:33 PM

[quote]Bea Benaderet, who later played Cousin Pearl, was originally supposed to play Granny

She was also supposed to play Ethel Mertz, but fate stepped in and made the right choice.

by Anonymousreply 49May 22, 2021 4:10 PM

Some of us preferred "The Bel-Airabs."

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by Anonymousreply 50May 22, 2021 4:12 PM

It would have been more realistic for dyky Miss Hathaway to have a crush on Ellie Mae rather than on Jethro.

by Anonymousreply 53May 22, 2021 5:30 PM

Bea Benaderet was wonderful but watch the difference in acting styles between her and Buddy Ebsen in the clip at R47.

Ebsen just IS Jed Clampett. Like a time traveller from the 1860s.

Bea Benaderet on the other hand needs to push it. She's playing "at" a character. Buddy Ebsen just is the character.

by Anonymousreply 54May 22, 2021 7:22 PM

^In a weird way, Granny Clampett was as real to me as either of my grandmothers, and probably equally influential.

by Anonymousreply 55May 22, 2021 7:23 PM

^There is also the strange fact that Anna Moses Robertson, "Grandma Moses, the artist, was at the peak of her fame in the early 60's. Granny Clampett, "Daisy Moses" was actually named for the real 'Grandma Moses', so there was even more ambiguity about the "reality" of the tv character.

by Anonymousreply 56May 22, 2021 7:26 PM

Pearl was much more sophisticated than Jed.

by Anonymousreply 57May 22, 2021 7:30 PM

[quote]Pearl was much more sophisticated than Jed.

"See voo play!", r57!

[quote]Granny Clampett, "Daisy Moses" was actually named for the real 'Grandma Moses', so there was even more ambiguity about the "reality" of the tv character.

I never heard that before, r56. At one point, Jane learns that Granny isn't a Clampett, but a Moses, and makes a joke. Granny doesn't get it.

What I wouldn't have done to have seen Irene Ryan in Pippin. She died shortly after leaving that show. From vaudeville to tv to Broadway. Audio only:

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by Anonymousreply 58May 22, 2021 7:45 PM

Granny C sort of resembled "Grandma Moses" physically, and in terms of her clothes, Anna M. Robertson. There are no interviews with Irene Ryan on youtube and I have not seen one in the past 10 years or so. I remember clearly one night when she was a guest on the Sid Caesar Show; I think it came on on Thursday nights. She was interviewed briefly, way less than 10 minutes, and all I remember is that she was smoking, because she put out a cig and the interviewer, Sid, gallantly lit up a second one she already had ready. I know it was an unfiltered one because I remember her removing a little bit of tobacco from it off of the tip of her tongue after she started smoking it. It's funny, what sticks in your memory. I wonder why no one has put that film on youtube? I guess LOTS of tv videotape just got lost, thrown away, or otherwise destroyed. She was a fascinating person, elegantly humble, for someone who had become as famous as she had. She left most or all of her considerable estate to the drama department of Penn State, I think, or one of the Pennsylvania universities.

by Anonymousreply 59May 22, 2021 8:21 PM

[quote]She was a fascinating person, elegantly humble, for someone who had become as famous as she had. She left most or all of her considerable estate to the drama department of Penn State, I think, or one of the Pennsylvania universities.

Great memory, r59. Kennedy Center still has an Irene Ryan scholarship.

Here's an old thread about her, begun by a troll, but has some wheat amongst the chaff.

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by Anonymousreply 60May 22, 2021 9:07 PM

My memory's a bit faint - but I believe the actress who played Miss Jane ran for some kind of political office (she was a liberal), and Buddy Ebsen hated that (or her) so much that he did advertisements against her.

by Anonymousreply 61May 22, 2021 11:18 PM

It was always weird and not as good as you would expect when BH, GA and PJ guest starred in different shows. I adore Green Acres too: especially the Arnold Ziffel episodes. When Oliver is referred to as a “pig laywer” is especially hysterical. As a little kid, I admired Jethro because he could drive.

by Anonymousreply 62May 23, 2021 12:51 AM

You’re correct, R61. I remember the incident, too.

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by Anonymousreply 63May 23, 2021 12:59 AM

Country mouse meets city slickers. Old as the caves.

by Anonymousreply 64May 23, 2021 3:28 AM

From Nancy Kulp’s Wikipedia page:

Personal life

Kulp married Charles Malcolm Dacus on April 1, 1951, in Dade County, Florida; they divorced in 1961.[27] After her retirement from acting and teaching, she moved first to a farm in Connecticut and later to Palm Springs, California, where she became involved in several charity organizations, including the Humane Society of the Desert, the Desert Theatre League, and United Cerebral Palsy.[5] In 1989, Kulp gave an interview to author and LGBT activist Boze Hadleigh in which she said,

“As long as you reproduce my reply word for word, and the question, you may use it ... I'd appreciate it if you'd let me phrase the question. There is more than one way. Here's how I would ask it: "Do you think that opposites attract?" My own reply would be that I'm the other sort — I find that birds of a feather flock together. That answers your question.”[28]

Hadleigh asserts that Kulp was indicating that she was a lesbian.

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by Anonymousreply 65May 23, 2021 3:37 AM

Appalachians don't find it funny.

by Anonymousreply 66May 23, 2021 3:39 AM

Not trying to kick a dead horse, but re the connection between Granny Clampett and the artist Grandma Moses: the artist Norman Rockwell somehow became acquainted with Anna Moses Robertson before she died (at 103 years old), and included her in his painting "Christmas Homecoming", image linked below. You can see that Grandma Moses was a dead ringer for Daisy Moses. It was a peculiar "in joke" that Granny C. was modeled on a real artist.

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by Anonymousreply 67May 23, 2021 3:43 AM

[quote]Appalachians don't find it funny.

Yeah, you couldn't do something like the Beverly Hillbillies today, but the hapless rube was a classic in comedy for decades.

The Beverly Hillbillies really just picked up on the Ma & Pa Kettle film series. They were wildly popular.

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by Anonymousreply 68May 23, 2021 3:50 AM

^The weird thing about all those related shows (Bev., Grn Acres, Petticoat Junction), is that they all relied on an acceptance that somehow vaudeville was a norm of American entertainment at the time they were being broadcast. And it simply wasn't true any more (if it ever WAS true, which I tend to doubt). I think it was 'jaded urban sophisticates' in Hollywood second-guessing their mid-American audience. It was pretty surreal, all around.

by Anonymousreply 69May 23, 2021 4:00 AM

Its ratings in the early seasons were phenomenal. According to wiki, it has 16 episodes among the top-rated 100 episodes of any series.

by Anonymousreply 70May 23, 2021 4:14 AM

Who was the tv exec that came in and cancelled all the “country” shows?

by Anonymousreply 71May 23, 2021 5:05 AM

[quote]The weird thing about all those related shows (Bev., Grn Acres, Petticoat Junction), is that they all relied on an acceptance that somehow vaudeville was a norm of American entertainment at the time they were being broadcast.

I don't see where any of the shows you mention ever gave the impression that Vaudeville still existed.

Vaudeville was a norm of American entertainment but it pretty much ended by the early 1930s.

Many TV viewers in the 1960s could remember Vaudeville and a number of stars that had their start in Vaudeville were still working in the 1960s.

by Anonymousreply 72May 23, 2021 5:08 AM

Are hillbillies cut or uncut today?

by Anonymousreply 75May 23, 2021 6:04 AM

Were there no Black hillbillies? What about the Eastern Cherokee?

Needed more diversity.

The bulge tho. Max Baer Jr made me gay when I watched this as a child. So, there's that.

by Anonymousreply 76May 23, 2021 1:00 PM

Widow Fenwick and her 30 year old daughter, Cynthia - meeting Elly Mae at a snobby girls school was just hilarious.

by Anonymousreply 78May 23, 2021 1:09 PM

Max said in an interview that Irene Ryan “smoked like a chimney “

by Anonymousreply 79May 23, 2021 1:58 PM

I remember Phil Donahue did a show about the casting couch. Some actress wannabe said that amaz Baer rapped her.

by Anonymousreply 80May 23, 2021 2:35 PM

I worked with a WONDERFUL hillbilly of color. She was great. She always joked about it.

Moved back when she had a kid.

by Anonymousreply 81May 23, 2021 2:41 PM

^Apparently, an early-70s rapper.

by Anonymousreply 83May 23, 2021 2:56 PM

Fifty five episodes are in public domain because Orion Films forgot to renew their ownership after buying out Filmways.

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by Anonymousreply 84May 23, 2021 2:59 PM

"This has been a Filmways presentation, Dahling!!"

by Anonymousreply 85May 23, 2021 3:01 PM

I like that the Cee-mint Pond had its very own musical theme, played whenever the pool was on camera.

by Anonymousreply 86May 23, 2021 3:03 PM

Does anybody else get a certain vibe from Miss Jane? I'm hesitant to use that word here on DL, but I think they used to euphemistically refer to people like her as a "spinster".

by Anonymousreply 87May 23, 2021 3:22 PM

My gawd, R87, you are way too cautious for DL. Miss Hathaway was clearly someone who was never going o get a man. Nancy Culp was a lesbian and spent her career playing variations of the same character.

by Anonymousreply 88May 23, 2021 3:49 PM

Loved the episode where the historian came to interview the Clampetts for some reason and Mrs. Drysdale was annoyed thae *she* wasn't being considered since *her* family arrived on the Mayflower. Turned out the Clampetts had arrived much earlier and the historian tell Mrs. Drysdale (paraphrased), "While your family was sailing into what would become America, the Clampetts were on the shores waving you welcome".

by Anonymousreply 89May 23, 2021 4:19 PM

[quote]Appalachians don't find it funny.

The Clampetts were from the Ozarks, not Appalachia.

by Anonymousreply 90May 23, 2021 4:35 PM

It's sad that some episodes couldn't be made now, like when the injuns were on the warpath in Beverly Hills. That episode was hilarious and really showcased Ryan's comedic acting skills.

by Anonymousreply 91May 23, 2021 9:06 PM

R78 That episode and "The Clampett Look" are two of my favorites. "Your Grace."

by Anonymousreply 92May 23, 2021 9:31 PM

Could anyone envision what a "woke" BH would be like these days?

by Anonymousreply 93May 24, 2021 1:24 AM

Miss Jane and Granny Walton were on an episode today.

hmmm?

You have to wonder.

by Anonymousreply 94May 24, 2021 1:32 AM

I didn't know Ellen Corby was a sister, r94. Great actress. I remember her as Lurch's mother in The Addams Family.

by Anonymousreply 95May 24, 2021 2:37 AM

I loved the story about Buddy Ebsen needing a few Gin and Tonics to get into character

by Anonymousreply 96May 24, 2021 3:59 AM

[quote] Could anyone envision what a "woke" BH would be like these days?

The Clampetts would be Trumpers.

by Anonymousreply 97May 24, 2021 3:40 PM

More about Irene Ryan, including her screen test 60 years ago.

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by Anonymousreply 98May 24, 2021 6:50 PM

It’s amazing that Ryan was only 60 years old when the show started, and Ebsen was only 54. They both looked ready for the boneyard.

by Anonymousreply 99May 24, 2021 11:40 PM

Interesting that the writers of this song questioned Jed’s manliness by having Granny sing, “I can make a man out of Jed.”

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by Anonymousreply 100May 24, 2021 11:53 PM

My all time favorite comedy series. As a kid, I thought it was hysterical. As an adult, it's still hysterical but on a different level.

So smartly written. The way they could get an entire episode out of a simple misunderstanding was brilliant.

One episode, Sonny Drysdale brings Elly May home from a date. He casually says he'll give her a ring tomorrow as he drives away. Granny hears this and assumes he's giving her an engagement ring. Granny gets all excited and starts prepping for a wedding.

by Anonymousreply 101May 25, 2021 1:06 AM

[quote] He casually says he'll give her a ring tomorrow as he drives away. Granny hears this and assumes he's giving her an engagement ring. Granny gets all excited and starts prepping for a wedding.

LOL

by Anonymousreply 102May 25, 2021 1:09 AM

Who do we want for Possum Queen? Granny! Granny!

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by Anonymousreply 103May 25, 2021 1:09 AM

I have always taken Granny's advice to Elly May to eschew eau de cologne in favor of vanilla extract.

by Anonymousreply 104May 25, 2021 2:06 AM

I too still love this show and watch it often. I also think Max Baer was a pretty underrated actor. He's always so consistently funny.

by Anonymousreply 105May 25, 2021 2:11 AM

Did Jed ever mention Elly May's mother during the course of the series?

by Anonymousreply 106May 25, 2021 2:18 AM

Elly May's mother was Rose Ellen Clampett. Rose Ellen was Granny's daughter. She was mentioned a few times, but not often.

by Anonymousreply 107May 25, 2021 2:23 AM

I think that because Elly May’s mother abandoned the family to take up with Opie’s mother it was too sensitive a topic for early ‘60s television.

by Anonymousreply 108May 25, 2021 2:24 AM

[quote] I think that because Elly May’s mother abandoned the family to take up with Opie’s mother

No wonder Aunt Bee was always so pissed off. She had plans with Miss Hathaway. When they fly out to Hollywood for “Sheriff Without A Gun” she was going to escape with Jane.

by Anonymousreply 109May 25, 2021 2:54 AM

"Fish out of water" shows like these usually exhaust their story lines pretty quickly. Even as a kid, the story lines got tiresome and predictable in short order.

by Anonymousreply 110May 25, 2021 2:57 AM

I fucking love Mrs. Drysdale. She is everything! Harriet MacGibbon who played her stole every scene she was in. She was hysterical.

by Anonymousreply 111May 25, 2021 3:42 AM

Those dreadful hillbillies!

by Anonymousreply 113May 25, 2021 1:19 PM

defining every boomer and generation thereafter in one short clip

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by Anonymousreply 114May 25, 2021 1:26 PM

Wasn’t Jethro’s dad married to Jean Harlow?

by Anonymousreply 115May 25, 2021 1:36 PM

Or was he just banging Jean?

by Anonymousreply 116May 25, 2021 1:37 PM

Any photos of Jethro lolling around the cee-ment pond in his speedo?

by Anonymousreply 117May 25, 2021 1:45 PM

You can catch them smirking after some of the "final" scene jokes.

Not to the SNL level though.

by Anonymousreply 118May 25, 2021 7:27 PM

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