The Beverly Hillbillies
Duke Becomes a Father
TV Flash files “Duke Becomes a Father” as hour 30 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 1, episode 30, aired 1963-04-17, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E30: listed hour 30 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 30 of 36 in season 1. It aired 1963-04-17 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Clampetts and the Dodgers” (S01E29). Next is “The Clampetts Entertain” (S01E31).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Duke the bloodhound has been very lethargic lately. Jed gets a letter from Mlle. Denise. She sends a picture of herself, but the letter is in French. Meanwhile, Margaret tells Milburn that her dog Claude is to be a father. She wants Milburn's help in picking names. Jed goes to the bank to have Miss Jane translate the letter for him. The letter says that Denise is coming back for the birth of her dog's puppies and hopes to see Jed. Denise arrives at the mansion and tries to speak English to Granny and Elly. Jed comes home and hopes to continue "courtin' and sparkin" Denise. Margaret shows the puppies nursery to Milburn. Duke shows up at the window and Margaret shoos him away. Margaret isn't nearly so happy when she finds the puppies share more in common with Duke than Claude. Miss Jane tries to teach some French to Jed. The Drysdale's bring Denise's dog and the puppies to the Clampetts. Jed takes Denise out to dinner and winds up with Duke and her poodle Colette.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Duke Becomes a Father sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S01E30 is listed hour 30 of 274 — hour 30 of 36 in season 1, season 1 episode 30.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S01E30 air?
Duke Becomes a Father aired 1963-04-17 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…