The Beverly Hillbillies
Jed Rescues Pearl
TV Flash files “Jed Rescues Pearl” as hour 15 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 1, episode 15, aired 1963-01-02, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E15: listed hour 15 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 15 of 36 in season 1. It aired 1963-01-02 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “No Place Like Home” (S01E14). Next is “Back to Californy” (S01E16).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Jethro wants to go back to the mansion. Jed says they have to stay until Pearl wins over John Brewster. Meanwhile, Pearl sings for John and he tells her he used to do some acting when he was younger. He performs a piece from Romeo and Juliet. The next morning Pearl comes by the Clampett cabin crying. She didn't get John to propose to her. John tells Jed that he doesn't want to get married, but the whole county knows that Cousin Pearl had her heart set for him. Jed comes up with a plan for her to save face by having Mr. Brewster propose in public and then have her turn him down. And they have to make Elverna Bradshaw believe it. John thinks they should do it in the town theater. Elverna comes by Pearl's house and gives her a hard time about Mr. Brewster. That night, everyone is at the theater. John makes his entrance. Jed didn't count on Mr. Brewster's background in acting and him making a huge production out of the proposal. Mr. Brewster does such a convincing job that Pearl, after repeatedly saying no, then says yes.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Jed Rescues Pearl sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S01E15 is listed hour 15 of 274 — hour 15 of 36 in season 1, season 1 episode 15.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S01E15 air?
Jed Rescues Pearl aired 1963-01-02 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
The oil-strike-and-move premise is the whole engine, so early episodes that put the Clampetts in Beverly Hills show the joke at full strength. Buddy Ebsen's Jed is the calm center; Granny and Jethro do the folklore.
In the series
Why this series still plays
The Clampetts struck oil, moved to Beverly Hills, and turned culture clash into CBS's most ruthless ratings weapon. Buddy Ebsen's Jed, Irene Ryan's Granny, and Jethro's glorious denseness made rube-versus-elites comedy a national habit. Watch it to see how a high-concept rural sitcom can own a decade of Nielsens while critics sneer.
The joke is architectural. A poor Ozark family strikes oil, relocates to a Beverly Hills mansion, and the sitcom never needs another premise. Paul Henning's *The Beverly Hillbillies* (CBS, 1962–1971) ran nine seasons and 274 episodes on Buddy Ebsen's Jed Clampett, Irene Ryan's Granny, Donna Douglas's Elly May, and Max Baer Jr.'s Jethro — plain wisdom, mountain medicine, critters, and glorious denseness as four clean hooks. Critics sneered. Audiences did not. That split is the text.
Filed against
- Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett
Buddy Ebsen’s Jed Clampett struck oil and moved The Beverly Hillbillies into a ratings weapon — 1960s catalog rube-versus-elites, then Barnaby Jones clocking out of overalls into a PI trench with a home lab. TV Flash files him as the…
- Irene Ryan as Daisy 'Granny' Moses
Irene Ryan's Daisy 'Granny' Moses was The Beverly Hillbillies' homemade artillery — Clampetts striking oil, moving to Beverly Hills, Buddy Ebsen's Jed, Jethro's denseness, rube-versus-elites comedy as CBS's most ruthless ratings weapon.…
- Donna Douglas as Elly May Clampett
Donna Douglas made Elly May Clampett the sunniest weapon on The Beverly Hillbillies — critters, a rope, and Hill-to-Hills culture clash that CBS ran like a ratings oil strike. Jed had the drawl; Douglas had the voltage that turned…
- Max Baer Jr. as Jethro Bodine
Max Baer Jr. played Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies like denseness was a contact sport — the Clampett nephew whose glorious thickness made rube-versus-elites comedy a CBS ratings weapon in the 1960s. Oil money, Beverly Hills…