The Beverly Hillbillies
The Cat Burglar
TV Flash files “The Cat Burglar” as hour 125 of 274 in the TV Flash guide — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971) on CBS, season 4, episode 19, aired 1966-01-26, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E19: listed hour 125 of 274 in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide, hour 19 of 32 in season 4. It aired 1966-01-26 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Buggy” (S04E18). Next is “The Big Chicken” (S04E20).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
After it becomes known that a cat burglar is in Beverly Hills, the Clampetts take precautions to protect their home. Not surprisingly, they don't really understand what a cat burglar is.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Cat Burglar sit in the The Beverly Hillbillies guide?
S04E19 is listed hour 125 of 274 — hour 19 of 32 in season 4, season 4 episode 19.
When did The Beverly Hillbillies S04E19 air?
The Cat Burglar aired 1966-01-26 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…