ICYMI: ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ at 50

How Would the "Clampetts" Vote in 2012?  Being from the Ozarks, becoming wealthy but being very practical and having realized their mistake in even leaving the Ozarks and moving to to California, being gun rights advocates and moonshine makers, Jed Clampett and  his mother-in-law Granny (a States' Rights advocate) would NOT  vote for Obama in 2008. They voted for Sarah Palin and the other guy. And by now they are TEA Party Patriots and supporting Mitt Romney in 2012 since Ron Paul did not win the GOP nomination.  And Jethro, knowing where his inheritance is coming from and always following in his uncle Jed's footsteps,  is not  an Obama supporter.  But Jed's young daughter Elly May slipped up in 2008 and voted for Obama and almost sent Granny to her grave.  But in 2012, Elly May will not be making the same mistake twice.  And by the way, they have left the libs in California and are now back in the Ozarks. Just saw them the other day ;)  ~ Ozark Guru

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by F.William Houraney: Fifty years later and I still watch it. The only thing that has changed is that now I am the dad watching it with my kids. And just like we did in 1962, my kids absolutely love the Clampetts. The logic, the priorities and the all American innocence of this great TV family made this half hour an endearing family gathering for nine seasons – now going on 50 years.

By Robert Thompson, FoxNews: The show became an instant hit of mammoth proportions. It spent its first two seasons at the very top of the Nielsen ratings. At its peak, it was being watched by 60 million viewers per week. As late as 1982, eleven years after it had left the air at the end of its ninth season, nine of this show’s episodes could still be found on the list of the top fifty highest-rated broadcasts of all time, alongside Super Bowls, blockbuster miniseries, and special event programming. "The Beverly Hillbillies" was, without question, one of the most popular television series in the history of American television.

In the first episode, aired on September 26, 1962, we were introduced to Jed Clampett, his mother-in-law Granny, his daughter Elly May, and cousin Jethro, all poor mountaineers scraping out a happy but subsistence living in some remote location in the Ozarks.

The now-classic opening theme song elegantly sums up the premise of the show. Jed shoots at what he hopes will be the evening’s meal, but misses. His errant bullet pricks the surface of the rich American soil, and oil (“black gold, Texas tea”) commences gushing out of the ground. With his new found riches, his cousin Pearl convinces him that “Californy is the place you oughta be” (in the pithiest phrasing of American Manifest Destiny since “Go West, Young Man”), so he loads up three generations of his family and moves to Beverly Hills. . . . read more

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