The Beverly Hillbillies
Jethro's Friend
TV Flash files “Jethro's Friend” as the last listed hour of season 1 — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 1, episode 36, aired 1963-05-29, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E36: listed hour 36 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, last listed hour of season 1. It aired 1963-05-29 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Elly Becomes a Secretary” (S01E35). Next is “Jed Gets the Misery” (S02E01).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Jed tells Granny that Jethro has invited a friend named Armstrong Dueser McHugh III to come over. Jed thinks Jethro is bringing him to meet Elly. They are surprised when Armstrong turns out to be a little boy from Jethro's school. Wilkins, the chauffeur, coddles the boy and treats him as frail. Wilkins takes out a bunch of pills for Armstrong and tries to protect him from some of Elly's critters. "Duesy" tells the family that his parents travel a lot so he never sees them. Later, Wilkins comes to pick up Armstrong, but Granny says he's having too much fun. Granny forces Wilkins to leave. Wilkins goes to complain to Drysdale. Jethro teaches Duesy how to swim. Elly demonstrates on the Pool Man how Dusey can protect himself from bullies. Granny teaches him how to fish and Jed plays horseshoes with him. Wilkins brings Drysdale and Miss Jane to the mansion. Wilkins finds Dusey napping with Elly's critters. When Wilkins tries to forcibly take him away, Dusey uses one of the moves Elly taught him.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Jethro's Friend sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S01E36 is listed hour 36 of 274 — last listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 36.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S01E36 air?
Jethro's Friend aired 1963-05-29 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…