The Beverly Hillbillies
A Man for Elly
TV Flash files “A Man for Elly” as hour 51 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 2, episode 15, aired 1964-01-01, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E15: listed hour 51 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 15 of 36 in season 2. It aired 1964-01-01 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Christmas at the Clampetts” (S02E14). Next is “The Giant Jackrabbit” (S02E16).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Granny spends all her time watching her television idol, Western actor Quirt Manly. This leaves Jethro to have to do the cooking, which isn't working out so well. Granny believes Quirt would be just the man for Elly. Miss Jane tells Jed that Quirt lives in Beverly Hills. Mr. Drysdale arranges for Quirt to stop by the Clampett mansion. Granny is very disappointed when Quirt is revealed to be much less of a man than expected. Elly shows Quirt some of her pets and he says how much he likes animals, especially small ones. He tells Elly about the men who are his stunt and voice doubles on his TV show. His real name is Henry and he's only on the show because his father is the sponsor. Henry recites a poem about raccoons. Henry lets Jethro drive his car around. Jethro winds up picking up a lot of women because they think he's Quirt. Jed keeps trying to make Henry look like a man's man to Granny, but things just don't work out the way he planned.
Viewer FAQ
Where does A Man for Elly sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S02E15 is listed hour 51 of 274 — hour 15 of 36 in season 2, season 2 episode 15.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S02E15 air?
A Man for Elly aired 1964-01-01 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…