Y'all Come Back Now, Ya' Hear

Today marks another milestone in television history: 42 years ago today, the first episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies" aired on tv.  The show ran for an astonishing 9 seasons, and lives on today through reruns.  The show started out in black and white, and went to color at the start of its third season.  "The Beverly Hillbillies" was one of the first sitcoms to have big-time guest stars: Louie Nye, Wally Cox, Jonathon Winters, bluegrass legends Flatt and Scruggs, and even Gloria Swanson and John Wayne.  The show spawned other iconic shows "Petticoat Junction" and "Green Acres." 

"The Beverly Hillbillies" rose to #1 in the ratings faster than any other television show within the first three weeks of its debut, a feat still unmatched today. It remained at the #1 spot for three season in a row. Incidentally, the following eight episodes that aired during the wake of the JFK assassination are the most watched half-hour shows ever. 

Of all of the shows we consider as classics, "The Beverly Hillbillies" is my favorite.  The show gave us buzz words that we still joke about today.  I never look at a built-in swimming pool withouth thinking of the Clampett's cement pond (pronounced "cee-ment").  We still make jokes about a secret agent being a double naught spy.  I'm grinning as I think about putting vittles on the fancy eating table.  And we still refer to small animals and pets as critters. 

My favorite episode is where the Clampetts buy a race horse.  Unbeknownst to them, the horse is a trotter.  Granny, who considers herself an expert horsewoman, hops up on the horse and rides him around the mansion grounds.  She comes back and in despair tells Jed he wasted his money. "He's a dandy, Jed, but I couldn't get him to break out of a trot."  That just kills me.  Later on, Jed is talking to the horse's trainer, and Jed tells him that he's concerned about the animals racing ability because Granny couldn't get him to break out of a trot.  The trainer tries to explain to Jed that the horse is a sulky.  Jed looks over at the horse trailer, believing that it is the buggy the horse pulls and says "I see why he's sulky. You'd be, too, if you had to pull that heavy thing."  They don't write sit-com scripts like that any more.