The Beverly Hillbillies
Jed's Dilemma
TV Flash files “Jed's Dilemma” as hour 17 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 1, episode 17, aired 1963-01-16, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E17: listed hour 17 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 17 of 36 in season 1. It aired 1963-01-16 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Back to Californy” (S01E16). Next is “Jed Saves Drysdale's Marriage” (S01E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Granny and Cousin Pearl are at each other's throats over who's going to take care of cooking and the house. Jethrine is singing and Granny tells Pearl she sounds like she's sick. Jed tries to calm things down by taking the family on a sightseeing tour of Beverly Hills. But the truck is out of gas. Jed puts some of Granny's moonshine in the truck just so they can get to a gas station. While driving around town, Granny continues to insult Pearl. They drive past a silent movie theater with some wax figurines outside. They think the figurines are real movie stars. Back at the mansion, Granny and Pearl fight over who's going to prepare some food. Jed tries to get the two to make up, but it doesn't work. Jed suggests Pearl go swimming with Elly and Jethro. There's a barbecue grill by the pool and Pearl wants to do some cooking. Meanwhile, Jed and Jethrine sing Dixie, then Jed does some dancing. Granny finishes cooking some food, but everyone has already eaten Pearl's food. Granny pushes Pearl and the grill into the pool.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Jed's Dilemma sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S01E17 is listed hour 17 of 274 — hour 17 of 36 in season 1, season 1 episode 17.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S01E17 air?
Jed's Dilemma aired 1963-01-16 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…