The Beverly Hillbillies

Cemented the fish-out-of-water rural sitcom boom and CBS's early-60s dominance.

Why it matters

Episode guide

274 episodes across 9 seasons — titles, air dates, and synopses.

At a glance

The Clampetts struck oil, moved to Beverly Hills, and turned culture clash into CBS's most ruthless ratings weapon. Paul Henning's The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) ran nine seasons and 274 episodes on Jed's plain wisdom, Granny's mountain medicine, Elly May's critters, and Jethro's glorious denseness. Buddy Ebsen led a cast that made rube-vs-elites comedy into a national habit. Critics sneered; audiences did not. The theme song alone could still sell a mortgage joke.

Network & studio

• CBS — broadcast network

Why watch now

Pure high-concept rural sitcom execution — character hooks so clean they became folklore. Watch to see how a premise can own a decade of Nielsen charts.

Cultural impact

The Beverly Hillbillies defined the 1960s rural-comedy boom and became shorthand for fish-out-of-water wealth satire. Its success greenlit a whole CBS countryside strategy. Few sitcoms have ever been simultaneously so dismissed and so dominant.

Creators

Paul Henning

Key cast

• Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett
• Irene Ryan as Daisy 'Granny' Moses
• Donna Douglas as Elly May Clampett
• Max Baer Jr. as Jethro Bodine

Flash facts

• CBS sitcom created by Paul Henning; aired 1962–1971 (9 seasons, 274 episodes).
• Starred Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett, Irene Ryan as Granny, Donna Douglas as Elly May, and Max Baer Jr. as Jethro.
• Premise: a poor Ozark family becomes millionaires and relocates to Beverly Hills.
• Among the highest-rated sitcoms of the 1960s.
• Part of CBS's broader rural-comedy wave alongside related Henning-verse shows.

FAQ

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