The Beverly Hillbillies
Jed Throws a Wingding
TV Flash files “Jed Throws a Wingding” as hour 20 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 1, episode 20, aired 1963-02-06, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E20: listed hour 20 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 20 of 36 in season 1. It aired 1963-02-06 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Elly's Animals” (S01E19). Next is “Jed Plays Solomon” (S01E21).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The Clampett's get a letter saying that Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs are coming to Beverly Hills. Granny thinks they're coming to see Pearl as the two were former suitors of hers. They then think that one of them will propose as the letter mentions an engagement. But, the duo were actually referring to a concert they have in the Los Angeles area. And in fact, they are already married to Louise Scruggs and Gladys Flatt. Jed plans to throw a wingding for the men that evening. Knowing that Lester and Earl had a thing for Pearl, Louise and Gladys arrive at the mansion to look Pearl over. The ladies pretend to be cosmetics saleswomen. They see Granny and hope that she is Pearl. But then they see Elly and thinking she is Pearl, they leave to go to the beauty parlor. That evening, because their wives are still at the beauty parlor, Lester and Earl arrive without them. The wingding starts and everyone is dancing. They were going to have dinner, but Elly's critters ate all the food. The duo play music for the Clampetts. Pearl decides she can't marry either one because she doesn't want to break up their act. Lester and Earl leave to pick up their wives. When they come back, Jed and Pearl think the men got married on the rebound.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Jed Throws a Wingding sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S01E20 is listed hour 20 of 274 — hour 20 of 36 in season 1, season 1 episode 20.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S01E20 air?
Jed Throws a Wingding aired 1963-02-06 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…