Talk:The Beverly Hillbillies/Archive 1

Location
I have watched the entire series and it never said the Clampetts hail from Bug Tussle nor does it indicate Bug Tussle is in Tennessee. Early episodes say Pearl plays piano over to the theatre in Bug Tussle, which would indicated the Clampetts don't live there. I reworded the section on the Clampetts original locale. The best guess is they are from the Ozarks, which makes sense as they are near western Oklahoma's oil. Only Granny clearly is from Tennessee and she's said to come from "across the river," probably meaning the Mississippi. Also numerous refernces by Jethro are made to Springfield and to Joplin where he goes to watch movies and to see the guy in the trolly make change. Mr Brewster the owner of OK Oil also lives in Tulsa about 50 miles from the Clampetts cabin or so it's stated. Again this all places them in Western Arkansas (or possibly Eastern Oklahoma or SW Missouri). 4.143.232.171 (talk) 00:00, 4 June 2008 (UTC)Eric


 * You're absolutely correct. 68.73.85.6 (talk) 06:52, 24 September 2008 (UTC)


 * watching episode "Possum Day, Part 1". Granny says "I think we should go back home to (sounds like) "Siminy". Later in the same scene she repeats "Miss Jane, you got a big job to outdo the possum festival back home in Siminy". Later in the same episode, Jed makes reference to the same place as his hometown. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.176.248.236 (talk) 18:34, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

Theme Song
Is the use of the entire theme song lyrics fair usage, or is it a possible copyright violation? Rlquall 02:58, 13 May 2005 (UTC)
 * it's a copyright violation. I removed them and added an external link that reprints them. --FuriousFreddy 23:02, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

In the early shows, an instrumental Flatt and Scruggs tune was used as the theme. It was NOT The Ballad of Jed Clampett. Any idea what the name of that tune was? (EDK1) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.32.111.133 (talk) 02:49, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Pans and Shine
This entry is well done but it accepts the legend that the series was widely panned by critics. In fact, many of the major publications praised the series (at least in it's early years) including TV Guide. It was also nominated for the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy it's first two seasons.

Was "moonshine" ever referred to by name on the show? I can't recall it although it was obvious was Granny was taking swigs of.

Proposed reality show?
Should the proposed reality show, now apparently not to be made, be mentioned in the article. It was a source of considerable controversy for several months. Rlquall 01:27, 24 May 2005 (UTC)

Max Baer, Jr.
Baer later directed several films; is it appropriate to mention any of them by name here? Clark Gable was also in It Happened One Night, but that doesn't necessarily belong in the Gone with the Wind (film) article. Rlquall 10:53, 26 May 2005 (UTC)


 * The only one I knew off the top of my head was Ode to Billy Joe. How about, "...later directed several films, among them (Ode, 2, 3, or whatever)"? Clark Gable was in oodles of films and it's no surprise to anyone to hear he was in another; I doubt many people know Jethro directed much of anything, which is why it's interesting. Doovinator 18:12, 26 May 2005 (UTC)

'Unusual' storylines?
Shouldn't that be 'usual' storylines? Jeff Worthington 01:00, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

Vittles = Victuals
Why is this a malapropism or a "hickism"? It's how the word is pronounced, believe it or not. And a victualler is pronounced vitler. Just saying...Peter1968 12:42, 19 February 2006 (UTC)


 * The use of the word as a synonym for "food" is something of an archaism -- in normal modern American English, the word is rarely found outside of names of pet food brands... AnonMoos 00:39, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Buying a DVD of the series
Is it possible to buy a DVD of any of the series past episode 56 - Lafe Returns? I can't seem to find anywhere selling it. --Fir0002 09:41, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Grapes of Wrath?
Could the whole packing-up-the-truck-and-heading-to-California thing (complete with Granny) have been a sly send-up of The Grapes of Wrath? Cranston Lamont 19:39, 29 June 2006 (UT


 * Sounds possible. But for what it's worth, the character of Ellie May seems to have been inspired by the earlier Ellie May of Tobacco Road (film), John Ford's 1941 comic sendup of the still earlier - and far more tragic - Tobacco Road (novel).  I haven't been able to get a copy of the film version to Tobacco Road yet to know for sure.  There's supposed to be a huge difference between the novel and film.  In any case, the John Ford film appears to be played fairly often, if irregularly, on the TCM channel.198.177.27.14 21:24, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
 * No, it was based on Paul Henning's real life neighbors in Toluca Lake, a family from the Ozarks who became successful in Southern California real estate and moved right on the lake amongst the movie people, but kept animals, dressed, and carried on like they were still in Southern Missouri. The location of the series was set in Beverly Hills because Toluca Lake isn't nearly as well known. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.106.213.98 (talk) 02:39, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Family tree
I put in an ascii family tree so that it can be easily edited. It was taken from some discussions on the Beverly Hillbillies newsgroup from a few years ago. It does not refelect the statement by granny that Jethro is her grand nephew, which is supposedly in some episode. If anyone knows the episode, please write it down here and we can fix the family tree. PAR 16:04, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Through-out the series: According to the "family tree, Jethro-Jed and Ellie Mae-Pearl are actually first cousins once removed. Not nephew-uncle and niece-aunt. The only way I can think of this works is if Rose and Pearl are sisters and Jed married his first cousin (Rose), a practice now illegal in Missouri and Arkansas but once common and accepted.  In that case, Granny is both Jed's mother-in-law and aunt.  As in many families, parents start calling their own parents or in-laws by the titles their kids use (such as "granny").  A Beverly Hillbillies reunion movie featured Imogene Coca as "granny's ma."  In that case, she would be grandmother to Jed, Pearl and Rose (great grandmother to Jethro and Ellie Mae).  ````michaelcarraher
 * Jed, Pearl, Jethro, Ellie Mae call Granny "Granny."
 * Jed and Pearl call each other "Cousin."
 * Jethro calls Jed "Uncle Jed" and Ellie Mae calls Pearl "Aunt Pearl."

Comment: You got it wrong dude. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.116.238.128 (talk) 01:22, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Sharon Tate?
Sharon Tate (Manson murders) was a regular on the Beverlt Hillbillies for about 11 episodes. Please verify and include her. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tydive (talk • contribs) 00:54, 13 February 2007 (UTC).

According to IMDb, she was on 15 episodes out of 274, which by no means makes her a regular. I deleted her, Ttenchantr (talk) 04:23, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Mayflower
My recollection is that Mrs. Drysdale was descended from Plymouth colony and the Clampetts were descended from Jamestown colony. There's a line something like, "when your people were arriving, the clampetts were waving at them from the shore" Archie935 05:23, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Slandering Mr. Clampett
The cheerful Flatt & Scruggs song which introduces the Clampett story seems to, if fact, conceal some hateful slander of a notably decent man. The lyrics almost immediately mention that Jed was, "A poor mountaineer; barely kept his family fed...". This is clearly a bald-faced LIE! One only need glance at Jed's strapping nephew, Jethro, or gaze a while at his voluptuous daughter, Ellie May to instantly deduce that Mr. Clampett was a excellent provider. Indeed, the very suggestion that Jed was a "poor mountaineer" ignores his obvious cunning and adaptability, as repeatedly demonstrated in the retelling of his adventures in uncultured Caleefornee. Clearly, Jed Clampett was a superb mountaineer, which brings us to the question how his fortune was discovered. Mssrs. Flatt & Scruggs would have us believe that Mr. Clampett brought forth an oil gusher while "shootin' at some food", with the unspoken implication that, somehow, Jed Clampett ...missed...his target. Surely I am not the only person who can recall watching Jed hit a squirrel sitting in a tree at just over half a mile distance. I may not have been practicing my gazindas, but this just doesn't add up. While F&S are entertaining storytellers (and right handy at pickin' & fiddlin'), I suspect their jealousy of Mr. Clampett's unquestionable skills and continued success led them to create this unfortunate fiction. Almost certainly the discovery of oil on the family holding was the result of relentless research on the part of the clan's resident scientist, Jethro Bodine.--Drax21 22:19, 3 June 2007 (UTC)


 * ...what? Mike H. I did "That's hot" first! 20:03, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

I think the implication is that he was poor money-wise, and didn't have a job. He kept the family fed, but that's all. They had little beyond that, no need for a wealth of material posessions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.122.63.142 (talk) 16:18, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

The lyrics for the theme song were written by Paul Henning, the same man who created the show, created the Jed Clampett character, and wrote or co-wrote almost every episode. He can write anything he wants for the theme song to his own show. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.131.142.97 (talk) 05:12, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Hillbillies1.jpg
Image:Hillbillies1.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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Radio show
The article doesn't seem to mention the Beverly Hillbillies radio show from the '20s and '30s, which I think may have been the direct inspiration for the show. Chubbles (talk) 12:52, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * According to some radio listings I've seen, it was still being broadcast into the '40s at least. Fred8615 (talk) 21:07, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Did a little research. The radio show was actually a music group, not a sitcom, and thus other than the name had nothing to do with the TV series. Fred8615 (talk) 21:20, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Musical Group
Perhaps an entry on the country music group you refer to, which began on the Los Angeles radio station KMPC on April 6 1930 and lasted most of that decade, fronted by singer-songwriter Elton Britt —Preceding unsigned comment added by Will Dockery (talk • contribs) 05:49, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Sonny Drysdale
Sony does not retire from the Air force. It is Mrs. Drysdale's nephew Lance "Jetstream" Bradford played by Soupy Sales. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Charliehorse43 (talk • contribs) 01:50, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Overview: "Tennessee"?
"At the beginning of The Beverly Hillbillies series, patriarch Jed Clampett strikes oil while hunting on his land in Tennessee."

I seem to recall episodes wherein the various Clampett family referred to their home, kith, and kin as being in the Ozarks (mountains not in East Tennessee but west of the Mississippi River in both Missouri and Arkansas...can anyone confirm fictional mountain homeplace/state of the Clampett family? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bee Cliff River Slob (talk • contribs) 03:44, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Orphaned comment from someone: "No. The state was never named at all.  Most of the place names that could be identified were in Missouri.  Some in Arkansas.  The only state named for sure was Tennessee, where Granny had been born, close to Davy Crockett's birthplace."


 * You're correct that Jed was not from TN, but the character section is such a mess, it's hard to know where to start shaping it up. Eg, the section on Elly May doesn't even explain what her relation to Jed is. 68.73.85.6 (talk) 06:55, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

Second cousins
No reason that the variant use of "second cousin" to refer to a "first cousin once removed" should be called an error. Almost the first thing you learn in linguistics is that words mean what their users mean by them, not what dictionary writers dictate. We used the same terminology in Taranaki, New Zealand, where I grew up&mdash;two people were second cousins if the grandparents of one were the great-grandparents of the other. I don't what variations there may have been among different speakers of New Zealand English. I think this usage has largely been displaced now since the advent of genealogy software. Anyway, dialect&mdash;not error.

Nor is there any reason why Fred Bodine's death by drowning should be considered discrepant with his being a hunter. People with all sorts of occupations and hobbies drown. And hunting is an activity that might well have brought a man to a swollen creek, with a slippery footing, and rocks harder than a man's skull mid-stream. Koro Neil (talk) 12:30, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Ratings
The article, as it appears December 10th, 2009, claims the show was still popular when it was cancelled in 1971. Since we don't know the show's ratings during the 1970-1971 season, this claim has no supporting evidence. At one point, the show's ranking for the 1969-1970 season (18th place) is mentioned in connection to its cancellation. That's a full year before it was cancelled, and thus irrelevant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.143.202.206 (talk) 21:04, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

An update: on August 21, 2010, I noticed the article now claims TBH was 18th in the ratings when it was cancelled in early 1971. Wrong. It was 18th the previous year (the 1969-70 season). I hate to repeat myself, but we don't know the show's ratings during the 1970-71 season -- but we know it wasn't in the top 30, and thus wasn't 18th. (We know it wasn't in the top 30 because there are reference books that list the top 30 shows each season.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.131.142.97 (talk) 05:36, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

Clampetts Truck
It has been suggested that the "clampets truck" in Planet Hollywood may be a duplicate or the Original for the "movie" and that the "Original for the TV series" is in the Ozark Museum. This is contrary to the caption under the "truck". Please clarify?

In addition, was a common practice of multiple props like the mulitple "ruby slippers" for Wizard of Oz and multiple "General Lee" for Dukes of Hazard followed? This may be the source of the confusion.

thank you for your reply style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.226.179.89 (talk) 13:16, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

Clampetts Truck
It has been suggested that the "clampets truck" in Planet Hollywood may be a duplicate or the Original for the "movie" and that the "Original for the TV series" is in the Ozark Museum. This is contrary to the caption under the "truck". Please clarify?

In addition, was a common practice of multiple props like the mulitple "ruby slippers" for Wizard of Oz and multiple "General Lee" for Dukes of Hazard followed? This may be the source of the confusion.

thank you for your reply style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.226.179.89 (talk) 13:16, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

kevin connolly
no mention of him portraying mr. drysdale's son? why? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.225.198.169 (talk) 18:45, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

Too well written, but lacks references
This reads like it was lifted from somewhere else and/or put out by a writer for the owner of the series. It is too well written for normal Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.82.32.211 (talk) 04:38, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

"Beef Jerky"?
I removed a section of this article that said Jethro called himself "Beef Jerky" while working as a producer. Actually, he only adopted this name in one episode, and that was when he was trying to be an actor, not a producer. He wanted a tough-sounding stage name, hence his choice of "Beef Jerky." As Jed said to Granny, "That's tough, all right, but somehow I think the boy could have done better."71.53.210.218 (talk) 15:58, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Bizarre Claim Someone Else Created the Show
There's a line in the article that reads, "The show's creator was Hamilton (Buddy) Morgan, a television technician from NYC." Huh? This show was created by Paul Henning. Watch the credits to ANY episode. I've never heard of Hamilton (Buddy) Morgan. Has anyone else? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.29.165.68 (talk) 06:57, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

blacks
were there ever a black person in a show a girl that had two brothers if so can someone tell me what epsd. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.134.166.224 (talk) 00:13, 22 August 2011 (UTC)