Do you know your Jethro?
To be a part of something big and impactful is a profound opportunity, but that doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll remain impactful forever. But saying all that, to lose relevancy doesn’t mean that you lose your merit.
Keep all of this in mind and try to be polite to the millennials when we tell you that Max Baer Jr. had to explain to young people who he was.
Fans of iconic television instantly remember Baer as Jethro Bodine, the dimwitted Clampett relative of The Beverly Hillbillies. While the show entertained audiences everywhere, the series was canceled in 1971, a casualty of the great “Rural Purge.” This meant that we were no longer able to see our favorite Southern family grace our television screens, Jethro Bodine included.
While the world of streaming today makes one assume that you’ve got the world of media at your fingertips, it’s important to remember that’s not always the way things are. While The Beverly Hillbillies gained new fans in its absence through reruns, much of the series would be inaccessible to the average television viewer for quite some time.
Because it was wiped off the face of prime-time television, there are generations of people who unfortunately had to grow up without The Beverly Hillbillies. Not only did that leave viewers worse for wear, but it also wasn’t too great for the actors involved in the series.
In an interview with USA Today, Baer revealed that his role on Hillbillies was difficult for his acting career in more ways than one.
“I didn’t get the job not only because I was Jethro, but because I’d come into auditions with these young people interviewing and they’d say, ‘What have you done?'” said Baer. “I’d say, ‘Excuse me? I was only on television for nine years in the most successful sitcom in the history of television!'”
So while there will be a few generations who grew up without the dulcet tones of Jethro’s “Hot Dog!” we’re grateful that a resurgence of the series’ popularity gave viewers newfound love for it, as it seemed to have remedied this injustice.
