The Beverly Hillbillies
Duke Steals a Wife
TV Flash files “Duke Steals a Wife” as hour 22 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 1, episode 22, aired 1963-02-20, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E22: listed hour 22 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 22 of 36 in season 1. It aired 1963-02-20 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Jed Plays Solomon” (S01E21). Next is “Jed Buys the Freeway” (S01E23).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Granny says Jed and Duke his dog are both down without a woman in their lives. Mrs. Drysdale tells Milburn that her dog Claude is getting married. She's having the dog and it's owner flown in from Paris. French woman Mlle. Denise and her poodle Colette arrive at the Clampett mansion. Mlle. Denise speaks very little English, but she manages to ask Jed where the Drysdale home is. While they are talking, Colette wanders off with Duke. Pearl tells Granny about Jed talking to a pretty woman. Mlle. Denise comes back for Colette and when Jed puts the dog in her car, she kisses him. Pearl and Granny see this. Meanwhile, Margaret has arranged the "marriage" between Claude and Colette, complete with a decorated bedroom. But when she starts the wedding music, Duke walks in the room. Jed takes a fancy to Denise and starts to clean himself up. Denise and Miss Jane bring Duke home. Back at the Drysdale mansion, Margaret has Claude meet Colette. But when Colette hears Duke howling, she runs to him. Jed gets all dressed up to return Colette to Denise.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Duke Steals a Wife sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S01E22 is listed hour 22 of 274 — hour 22 of 36 in season 1, season 1 episode 22.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S01E22 air?
Duke Steals a Wife aired 1963-02-20 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…