For nine seasons, The Beverly Hillbillies kept audiences laughing with hilarious fish-out-of-water stories. These episodes stand out as the best.
The Beverly Hillbillies was a successful television show that ran for nine seasons. It accomplished this by going against the conventions of what conventionally made for a successful series in its era, which allowed it to stand out in a crowded field of shows. Audiences took to the show’s characters, who were of a different variety than its television contemporaries. The rural characters conflicted sharply with television’s dominant urban settings.
Unlike other notable shows of its era, The Beverly Hillbillies wasn’t well received critically at the time of its initial run. It wasn’t until years later that the show began to be seen in a different light. Eventually, it came to be seen as a show that challenges the tastes of the entertainment industry.
“That Old Black Magic” Played With The Show’s Concept
“That Old Black Magic” (Season 4, Episode 2) was an episode that framed the rustic rural roots of the Hillbillies against the contemporary modernism of affluent urbanism through a different narrative technique. That narrative technique was to move the characters outside the parameters of the show’s usually more grounded “fish out of water” style that it had at that time. “That Old Black Magic” accomplishes this by depicting Granny as a superstitious individual who is convinced that Mrs. Drysdale has been turned into a bird. In a series that peaked in its first two seasons, this episode is one of the few exceptions.
“The Clampetts Entertain” Is A Classic MisunderstandingJed Clampett attempts to get Granny out of a depressed low by throwing her a party. This party naturally becomes the source of a misunderstanding as Jed invites the Drysdales. WhenMr. Drysdale’s boss comes along, the show’s concert sets in.
“The Clampetts Entertain” (Season 1, Episode 31) features one of the show’s funniest misunderstandings. Mr. Drysdale’s boss’ view of the Clampetts as a sophisticated family reflects the strangeness of the family living in California. Drysdale’s boss is so unable of imagining real hillbillies that he’s convinced the party is a hillbilly-themed gathering akin to a costume party.
“Jethro’s Friend” Is All About Heart”Jethro’s Friend” (Season 1, Episode 36) lets the characters really open up and show the size of their hearts to the audience. The Beverly Hillbillies is so often about how out of place the family is that it glosses over the finer elements of its characters.
Jethro’s friend, Armstrong, comes from a very different background than that of the Clampett family, and that fact comes across very clearly in the episode. Armstrong has spent his life being coddled, as his family believes that he is too frail, but the Clampett’s only see a kid who wants to have fun. Where the family would typically be shown as confused and misunderstood, they embrace Armstrong and show him a different way of life than that which he has known in his sheltered life.
“The Clampetts Strike Oil” Is Where It All Began”
The Clampetts Strike Oil” is the very first episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, and it starts the show off in a solid fashion. Coming upon a fortune that catapults the Clampett family to prosperity, they’re plunged into a new world they’re unprepared for.
The episode’s significance is huge in that it was the first mainstream television example of an out-of-place family that didn’t look or act like the cultural norm for characters of the time. This concept predates both The Addams Family and The Munsters by two years.
“The Giant Jackrabbit” Is Dated But Fun
“The Giant Jackrabbit” (Season 2, Episode 16) is one of the silliest episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies. It features one of Granny’s more memorable moments dealing with an escaped kangaroo she understands to be an abnormally large jackrabbit. The rest of the family dismisses her.
This episode is one of the plainest examples of the show’s sense of humor. Granny was often the center of the show’s funniest escapades, and this episode is no exception. It’s also an encapsulation of one of the more common – and dated – TV tropes of the time: a prominent female character being utterly dismissed by a male majority.
“Jed Gets The Misery” While Audiences Get A Good Episode
“Jed Gets the Misery” (Season 2, Episode 1) finds Jed Clampett attempting to humor Granny in order to get her to feel more at home by pretending to be sick so that she can doctor up some Ozark medicine. Things naturally don’t go as planned. Eventually, Mr. Drysdale and his doctor wind up involved in the situation.
This episode features a humorous conflict between rustic methods of healing and modern-day medicine. Jed finds himself having to spend a significant amount of time bedridden.
