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The Hillbillies of Beverly Hills


Sedalia Dave

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The un-aired pilot episode used to sell the idea to the Studio Executives.

 

 

 

UNAIRED PILOT.....

"Who are these people?! Where are they from?" a narrator asks, as a 1921 Oldsmobile Model 43-A touring car rumbles down the road in sunny Southern California. This is the original opening to pilot of The Beverly Hillbillies. The episode was never aired, only used to sell the sitcom to CBS. The same familiar faces (and car) populate the episode. In fact, it is largely the same script and plot as the first aired episode, "The Clampetts Strike Oil." But there are some key differences. One major difference immediately jumps out. Perhaps you have already taken note of it. The show was initially called The Hillbillies of Beverly Hills. Additionally, the iconic theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," was not yet in place. Instead, the Clampetts drive along to some generic bluegrass banjo pickin'. There are also additional scenes tacked on in an epilogue. Overall, it's fascinating to see how a new series was pitched especially one that became an unlikely ratings behemoth.

 

THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES.....

Is an American sitcom originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from September 26, 1962 to March 23, 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr. The series is about a poor backwoods family transplanted to Beverly Hills, California, after striking oil on their land. A Filmways production created by writer Paul Henning, it is the first in a genre of "fish out of water" themed television shows, and was followed by other Henning-inspired country cousin series on CBS. In 1963, Henning introduced Petticoat Junction, and in 1965 he reversed the rags to riches model for Green Acres. The show paved the way for later culture conflict programs such as The Jeffersons, McCloud, Diff'rent Strokes, The Nanny, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Doc. Panned by many entertainment critics of its time, it quickly became a huge ratings success for most of its nine year run on CBS.

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Elllie May was HOT :wub::wub:.

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13 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

Elllie May was HOT :wub::wub:.

 

Got to see her arm in a long white glove once.  Years ago we went to the Ozark Extravaganza in Vichy Missouri.  It was like a county fair, carnival,  fle market, car show, and a hundred other outdoor venues combined.  Donna Douglas was always a star attraction.  Anyway,  we seen a crowd getting formed and looked to see what was happening.  A long white limousine was creeping through the mash of humanity.  A heavily tinted window came half way down and an arm, fully gloved, came out and waved.  That's all I saw.

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10 minutes ago, Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 said:

So, for all you know, that arm may have been Granny's or even Jethro's???

;)

LL

 

Too skinny for Jethro.  And Irene Ryan (Granny) had been dead a long time.  

 

Did I tell you the time I seen David Hasselhoff's arm?  We were in LA on business and had time to take a tour of Universal Studio.   We were in the shuttle bus to the ticket booth and a little sports car came past.  The guy in the booth called out on speaker,  "There goes David Hasselhoff. Star of Knight Rider."  We turned to look and saw an arm waving as he sped past.

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15 minutes ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

The Good ol' days of TV. When shows didn't have to rely on crude sex jokes or shoving a gun in someone's face every 5 minutes.

 

 ..... you mean back when comedy was actually funny ?  :huh:    

 

 

 

 

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20 minutes ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

The Good ol' days of TV. When shows didn't have to rely on crude sex jokes or shoving a gun in someone's face every 5 minutes.

 

Despite being the most popular TV shows,  in 1971 CBS canceled all the rural TV shows. They were not popular with their target audience. 

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The viewing population shifted from rural to suburban.  Remember "The Real McCoys", and "Lassie" and "My Friend Flicka"?  These were all farm families.  I don't know if the studios had hard numbers to back it up or not, but somehow they were convinced that their target audience had become "sophisticated", and they adjusted their programming accordingly.  All of those characters that we were supposed to identify with moved to subdivisions in the burbs - the fathers in "Leave it To Beaver" and "Father Knows Best' all became white collar guys who were home at 5:30 for dinner; no more clanging of the triangle to call the menfolk in from the fields.

 

Somehow, I imagine that the same bean counters were involved in the decisions to cut out Westerns.

 

LL

 

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We see the same pattern today. Movies and TV shows are meant to appeal to everyone on the left, and those of us on the right are usually the target of their so-called humor. Nobody can make a clean joke or one that isn't meant to belittle the other side.

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