The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Second Season – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

When Jed Clampett shot into the ground he didn’t just strike bubbling crude, he uncovered a comedy goldmine. The Beverly Hillbillies is in the pantheon of great sitcoms. The simple premise has a dirt-poor hillbilly becoming an overnight millionaire thanks to discovering oil on his worthless land. Him and his extended family of a daughter, mother-in-law and nephew are whisked away to live the good life in California. Their deep mountain ways continually clash with the sophisticated life of Beverly Hills. But this is not merely hick-bashing comedy. For nine seasons, the Hillbillies made us laugh at the insanity of the big city ways. Jed, Granny (Irene Ryan), Elly May (Donna Douglas) and Jethro (Max Baer Jr.) hadn’t forgotten their roots after a year on the West Coast. There’s still gopher gravy simmering on the stove during the 36 episodes on The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Second Season .

“The Clampetts Are Overdrawn” brings their greatest fear to light: that their oil fortune has dried up. The bank screws up and sends Jed an overdrawn notice that should have gone to a J.D. Clampett that’s really Jake Clampett (King Donovan). Jake is elated to discover his latest bank statement makes him a millionaire. He’s a chronically unemployed actor with a nagging wife. He races down to the bank to tap into his unexpected fortune. Back at the mansion, Jed takes this turn of fortune in stride. Easy come. Easy go. He and his gang are ready to head back to their cabin. But they must earn enough cash to pay the overdraft. They are honest folks and can’t skip town with debts. They come up with outrageous plans to make a few bucks off their neighbors. When the mix up is solved, they decided that Jake must be a relative and refuse to press charges. This leads to “The Clampetts Go Hollywood.” The wannabe actor and his wife have taken up the guest room in the mansion. Jake does one of the greatest stair tumbles in sitcom history. He decides he’ll use the Clampett fortune to fund his showbiz comeback. He casts the various family members into the film to ensure Jed won’t say no. Jethro “studies” Brando in The Wild One. Jethro’s hilarious wrapped in leather and dangling from his motorcycle. Even Granny and Elly have movie star dreams thanks to Jake. Jed finally has to snap them back to reality by squeezing into a tight pair of pants and breaking out an electric guitar. Keep your eyes peeled for Sharon Tate as a bank secretary.

If you’re looking for a TV special to run during Thanksgiving day, there’s “Turkey Day.” Turns out that Elly has adopted the main dinner course as her new pet. Things get completely weird when two actors dressed as Indians arrive to be part of a holiday party at the Drysdales. The Clampetts think Indians are attacking. They have to keep the neighborhood from being scalped. “Christmas at the Clampetts” has them getting completely confused by the gifts given them by Mr. Drysdale. “A Man For Elly” lets Granny get addicted to TV. She loves Western star, Quirt Manly. She gets Mr. Drysdale to set up a visit from Quirt in hopes that the cowboy will hook up with Elly. However the macho Quirt turns out to be Henry Gibson (Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In). He’s barely bigger than Granny. Can he aim high enough for Elly? “Granny Versus the Weather Bureau” lets mountain ways battle space age technology. Granny swears her weather beetle does a better job than the TV weather girl and the National Weather Service’s satellite. It’s always refreshing to see her challenge the 20th century and hold her own.

The big continuing guest character of this season is Lafe Crick (Peter Whitney). He’s an old family “friend” that wants to get Jed’s money. “The Girl From Home” has Lafe arrive at the mansion. He pushes Jethro to marry his daughter so he can get a piece of the oil pie. “Lafe Lingers On” has him doing odd jobs to uncover Jed’s pile of money. “Lafe Returns” and “Son of Lafe Returns” has Lafe plot to get his son to marry Elly. He really wants that Clampett cash by any scheme necessary. Can Jed keep him from becoming kin?

The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Second Season will confuse folks since there isn’t a The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official First Season from CBS DVD. Why? The early episodes fell into public domain when CBS forgot to renew the copyright after buying the series. Paul Henning’s estate and another DVD distributor released box sets of the first season and a few second season episodes including bonus features from Henning’s private collection. Unlike the numerous public domain DVDs, the Henning approved collection included the iconic theme song (it hadn’t lost its copyright). You can purchase the first season to go along with The Official Second Season.

The Beverly Hillbillies was able to last nine seasons because it made us laugh at both strange traditions and newfangled ideas. It wasn’t a one-sided mocking. While Jed is extremely rich, he does not become a victim of greed like bank president Mr. Drysdale. Plus it’s hard not to laugh at Jethro’s antics. The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Second Season contains a great sitcom at its prime.

The Episodes
“Jed Gets the Misery,” “Hair-Raising Holiday,” “Granny’s Garden,” “Elly Starts to School,” “The Clampett Look,” “Jethro’s First Love,” “Chickadee Returns,” “The Clampetts Are Overdrawn,” “The Clampetts Go Hollywood,” “Turkey Day,” “The Garden Party,” “Elly Needs a Maw,” “The Clampetts Get Culture,” “Christmas at the Clampetts,” “A Man for Elly,” “The Giant Jackrabbit,” “The Girl from Home,” “Lafe Lingers On,” “The Race for Queen,” “Lafe Returns,” “Son of Lafe Returns,” “The Clampetts Go Fishing,” “The Critter Doctor,” “A Bride for Jed,” “Granny Versus the Weather Bureau,” “Another Neighbor,” “The Bank Raising,” “The Great Crawdad Hunt,” “The Dress Shop,” “The House of Granny,” “The Continental Touch,” “Jed, Incorporated,” “Granny Learns to Drive,” “Cabin in Beverly Hills,” “Jed Foils a Home Wrecker” and “Jethro’s Graduation.”

The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfer exposes the finer details to the images of the lush life. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. You can almost hear Jethro’s brain work when he cyphers.

Original Sponsor Opening and Closing includes the Winston Cigarettes and Kelloggs cereal bits that added a coda to the theme song. There’s also short epilogues featuring the characters pushing the products. Sometimes they refer to the storyline in the episode. Even if you’ve seen the Hillbillies in syndication for decades, this bonus footage makes the box set essential viewing.

Irene Ryan Screen Test as Granny (1:16) lets us see how she hit it out of the park on her first attempt at the role. They also include the scene as used in the finished pilot.

Clip from “The Stars’ Address is CBS – 1963 Fall Preview Show” ( 2:32) has the Clampetts get introduced to the Television invention. They want to see CBS Reports on Wednesday. They even plug The Dick Van Dyke Show. Granny discovers the fan letter.

CBS Network Promo 1963/’64 (0:46) lets us know that the Hillbillies and Dick Van Dyke will be on every Wednesday night.

Paul Henning Interview (2:28) was shot on 1969. Paul is cornered against the wall by a woman with hair that Amy Winehouse would appreciate. Henning talks about his experience working in TV and radio with George Burns and Bob Cummings. He says The Beverly Hillbillies was his favorite series. He talks about developing new series, but he wouldn’t have a new show produced after this interview.

The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Second Season is a perfect diversion from the financial uncertainties of today. After nearly 50 years, the shows comedy holds up. How can you not howl at the idiotic plans and dreams of Jethro? Or the greed of Mr. Drysdale? The stock market might go up and down, but The Beverly Hillbillies merely gain in value.

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CBS DVD presents The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Second Season. Starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, Max Baer Jr, Nancy Culp and Raymond Bailey. Boxset Contents: 36 episodes on 6 DVDs. Released on DVD: October 7, 2008. Available at Amazon.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.