The Beverly Hillbillies
The Race for Queen
TV Flash files “The Race for Queen” as hour 55 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 2, episode 19, aired 1964-02-05, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E19: listed hour 55 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 19 of 36 in season 2. It aired 1964-02-05 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Lafe Lingers On” (S02E18). Next is “Lafe Returns” (S02E20).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Jethro is working in the hole that will be Granny's root cellar. He thinks he struck oil. Jed doesn't need more oil and they start to fill in the hole. Mr. Drysdale learns that Candy Davis, one of the Commerce Bank secretaries, will be a contestant for Queen of Beverly Hills. When Margaret hears that the winner gets a trip around the world, she suggests Elly should run. That way the family would be gone for a while. Jethro tries digging in a different spot, but hits oil again. Milburn thinks the Clampetts are digging the hole to put their money in. He tells Granny about the advantages of the vault at the bank and Granny thinks he means to use as her root cellar. Miss Jane suggests to Jed that Elly run for Queen. The Clampetts think the race for the Queen is an actual foot race. So, Granny wants to run as well. Mr. Drysdale tries to talk Candy out of running, while Miss Jane gets Granny to not run. Robert Cummings, the Contest Announcer, names Candy and Elly as the finalists. Milburn states that Candy has withdrawn, but the bank will pay for a trip around the world for her. Miss Jane will take Candy's place in the contest. Elly states that she'd rather have Miss Jane win. Robert announces fellow judge Karen Crandall as the winner
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Race for Queen sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S02E19 is listed hour 55 of 274 — hour 19 of 36 in season 2, season 2 episode 19.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S02E19 air?
The Race for Queen aired 1964-02-05 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…