The Beverly Hillbillies
Lafe Returns
TV Flash files “Lafe Returns” as hour 56 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 2, episode 20, aired 1964-02-12, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E20: listed hour 56 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 20 of 36 in season 2. It aired 1964-02-12 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Race for Queen” (S02E19). Next is “Son of Lafe Returns” (S02E21).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
To get Elly's mind off of her critters, Jed calls Drysdale to see if there are any eligible men at the bank. Miss Jane comes up with the bank's new CPA, Fred Penrod. Jed meets Fred and there's some confusion over Fred's name. Meanwhile, Lafe Crick comes back to the Clampett mansion and brings Granny a Pawpaw tree. Granny is not happy to see Lafe. Lafe wants to plant the tree himself because he's still thinks Jed has his money buried in the ground. Jed tells Elly that Fred is coming to court her. Lafe overhears Jed and reminds him that he has a single son back home. Jed is not interested. Fred arrives and Lafe tries to scare him off by giving a bad description of Elly. Fred is about to leave and then he sees Elly. Granny hears Lafe call back home trying to get his son to come and marry Elly. Miss Jane and Drysdale arrive and run into Lafe. They still mistakenly believe Lafe is a hard worker and a dear friend of Jed's. Lafe digs a giant hole in the back yard.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Lafe Returns sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S02E20 is listed hour 56 of 274 — hour 20 of 36 in season 2, season 2 episode 20.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S02E20 air?
Lafe Returns aired 1964-02-12 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…