I always hated that show, 'ceptin for Elly May and her critters. I liked her sweater puppies the best.
Loved and still love it. Granny is my favorite character.
Two pieces of trivia about Buddy Ebsen (Jed):
1) He was the original Tin Man for the Wizard of Oz but almost died from a reaction from breathing in particles from the makeup and had to pull out. Despite this, he obviously recovered and lived to 95.
2) From his wiki: "Ebsen served as damage control officer and later as executive officer on the Coast Guard-manned Navy frigate USS Pocatello, which recorded weather at its 'weather station' 1,500 miles west of Seattle, Washington."
That was my wife's favorite show for a couple of decades.
Her Dad grew up in a tiny rural town, Providence Kentucky and actually looked quite a bit like Jed Clampit.
Jed also played a detective in a show named after the character. Remember it??
He quit school in 7th grade to work in order to help his family. Times were different back then but we have pictures of him, as a 7th grader smoking a cigarette.
Interesting fact about Jethro. Can you tell me who his dad was???
Jethro was the son of heavy weight boxing champ Max Baer.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0046319/
The son of former heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer, Max Baer Jr. is a classic (except probably to him) example of Hollywood typecasting. Known around the world as "Jethro Bodine" in the smash TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Baer did not find work as an actor in Hollywood for three years after the Hillbillies went off the air.
https://doyouremember.com/42863/20-facts-beverly-hillbillies-tv-show-probably-didnt-know/2
The show was among the top 20 most-watched programs on television, with a number of episodes labeled as the most-watched television episodes of all time. It even collected a total of seven Emmy nominations during its run. Despite that success, the show was not exempted from criticism and hatred.
The New York Times wrote that the show was “strained and unfunny,” while Variety said it was “painful to sit through.” The worst criticism read – “If television is America’s vast wasteland, the ‘Hillbillies’ must be Death Valley.”
5. On the show’s fifth season, John Wayne had a small guest appearance. On the episode titled “The Indians Are Coming,” Granny kept mentioning her hopes country star John Wayne would show up and help fight the “Injuns,” – yes, that’s Indians with an accent! Coincidentally, at the end of the episode, John Wayne actually does show up, and Granny’s dream is fulfilled. Reportedly, Wayne was happy to accept a fifth of bourbon as payment for his appearance on the show.
http://www.journalistate.com/entertainment/facts-beverly-hillbillies
Once the first season of the show had aired, a Levi-Strauss executive was quoted saying that “Donna Douglas(Ellie May) had done more for the sale of blue jeans in one year than cowboys and done in a hundred.” Quite the statement.
