A Beverly Hillbillies Episode Hit A 60s Sitcom Record Despite Critics’ Distaste
The 1962 sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies” was the first in show creator Paul Henning’s unofficial Hooterville Trilogy, a triune that also included 1963’s “Petticoat Junction,” and 1965’s “Green Acres.” These three shows were among the most popular of their time and reflected a cultural clash between a growing class of cosmopolitan urbanites and “down home” rural Americans.
Working thematically backward, “Green Acres” was about a pair of New Yorkers who moved onto a farm, “Petticoat Junction” was about rural hotel owners who often butted heads with a rich railroad executive, and “The Beverly Hillbillies” was about rural characters moving to Beverly Hills. The Hooterville Trilogy was as sure a sign as any that schisms were forming in American society, and Henning was eager to address the injustice of the class divisions, often sympathizing with his hillbillies and lambasting the wealthy.
One cannot understate the popularity of “The Beverly Hillbillies,” which ran from 1962 to 1971, lasting nine seasons and 274 episodes. The series followed the Clampett family — Jed (Buddy Ebsen), Granny (Irene Ryan), Elly May (Donna Douglas), and Jethro (Max Baer, Jr.) — after they discovered oil on their remote country property. Their newfound wealth drove them to buy a home in Beverly Hills, although they had little working knowledge of cities and their citizens. The Clampetts rarely knew how to react to the rich.
“The Beverly Hillbillies” also bears the distinction of airing the 36th most-watched primetime telecast in U.S. television history. It seems that “The Giant Jackrabbit” (January 8, 1964) remains, to this day, one of the most-watched shows ever, securing the eyeballs of 65% of all TV owners at the time.
It wasn’t an event. It wasn’t a cliffhanger. It was just a mid-season episode. It seems “The Beverly Hillbillies” was merely that popular.
I saw’t it!
“The Giant Jackrabbit” has a premise straight out of a Robert McKimson cartoon: the uptight Mr. Drysdale (Raymond Bailey) finds a kangaroo in his backyard, knowing it to have been delivered to his home as an elaborate prank from a fellow banker. The kangaroo flees into the Clampetts’ yard, where Granny mistakes it for a giant jackrabbit. Every time she tries to show the kangaroo to Jethro, it hops away, leaving Granny looking insane.
At the time, “The Giant Jackrabbit” was the most-watched piece of TV in medium’s history. It’s worth noting that “The Beverly Hillbillies” was already the single most popular show on TV, capturing the majority of viewers in the ’62-’63 year and the ’63-’64 year (it was supplanted the following year by “Bonanza “). It also helped that right before “The Giant Jackrabbit” aired (according to the website Outsider), Lyndon B. Johnson gave a State of the Union address … his first after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It’s likely most of the country had tuned into LBJ’s speech already, and then merely stuck around to take in something light.
Some of the most-watched events in TV history might be predicted, as they were, well, events. The finale of “M*A*S*H,” broadcast in 1983 remains the most-watched show in TV history, followed closely by the resolution to the “Who Shot J.R?” mystery on “Dallas” in 1980. Third is the finale of “Roots” from 1987. Many of the most-watched events in TV history belong to various Super Bowls, the Olympics, or the Beatles appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
“The Giant Jackrabbit” is the biggest non-event episode of TV ever.
Nothing notable about that kangaroo
Because of the LBJ speech that preceded it, one might be tempted to call “The Giant Jackrabbit” a fluke, an episode that merely got lucky because of the circumstances of its release. That thought is contradicted, however, by “The Girl from Home” (January 15, 1964) which aired the following week. It seems that “Girl” was also massively watched, rising to the fourth most popular episode of all time (at the time). The world was merely hungry for “The Beverly Hillbillies,” and audiences would consume it in droves.
As stated above, there’s nothing notable about “The Giant Jackrabbit.” There are no important shifts in the “Beverly Hillbillies” mythology, no new cast members, no changed premises. It’s just scenes of Irene Ryan boxing a trained kangaroo. The only “fan service” moment comes when Granny sings a portion of the show’s own theme song, providing a fun “meta” moment for fans. The chimpanzee family (Skipper) also plays it on a toy piano.
“The Beverly Hillbillies” was a massive presence in American homes for decades, thanks to plum syndication deals. Many Gen-Xers grew up watching the Hooterville trilogy, and its theme song is often sung idly in showers all over the country.
