Beverly Hillbillies Episode Analysis

For the assignment, going retro, I chose to watch several episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies. This was an American sitcom that ran from 1962- 1971 on the CBS network. The show was created and written by Paul Henning and produced by Filmways Television. Both Al Simon and Martin Ransohoff were executive producers for this series which began in black and white but was switched to color in 1965. The shows had several main characters that came in and out of each episode, some of the most prominent were Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett, Irene Ryan as granny, Donna Douglas as Elly May Clampett, Maximillian Bear Jr as Jethro Bodine, Nancy Kulp as Jane Hathaway, and Raymond Bailey as Milburn Drysdale. The popularity of this show led to several spin offs including a movie produced in 1993. The series is a situational comedy that contains dry humor. It uses both the change in social class as well as cultural satire. The premise of this series involves the Clampett family, an uneducated country family that receives millions of dollars after oil is found on their property. They move to a mansion in Beverly …show more content…
It does contain several elements of comedy such as change in social class, food and drinks, romance, and social disorder. It also contains variations of boredom with everyday life and satire which makes it a comedy of manners as well, but I think that it fits into a small category. I don’t think that majority of people would find this funny in present day since this is not as relatable. In the time period this was made, there may have actually been people like Jethro and Elly May who never passed 6th grade, or a family like the Clampett’s that didn’t know a pool was a pool and not a cement pond. Some jokes and scenes are relatable however it was never more than a few giggles. I think if this were to air today, viewers would see it as a farce. The situation is unrelatable and realistic by today’s