My Thoughts - The Beverly Hillbillies: The Clampetts Strike Oil (1962)
Synopsis: Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) lives in a small cabin in the Ozarks with his daughter, Elly May (Donna Douglas) and his mother-in-law, "Granny" (Irene Ryan) when a petroleum company offers him millions of dollars for his oil-rich property. While Jed would prefer to stay where he is, his cousin Pearl (Bea Benaderet) convinces him to relocate to California and take her son, Jethro (Max Baer, Jr.) with him. They move into a mansion and immediately have a hard time fitting in.
My Thoughts -
Where did the Clampetts sleep? I get they are supposed to be impoverished but, considering Jed likely built that house himself, you would think he would have included some bedrooms. My first thought is there was a room up top, but it doesn't seem tall enough for that either.
This was raunchier (for the time period) than I was expecting. Sure, the reason Elly Mae's buttons kept falling off her shirt was only implied but was still surprising. Gilligan's Island, which came out a year later, wasn't allowed to show bellybuttons by some accounts and this episode was telling the audience to look at Elly Mae's chest.
Why is Pearl so much smarter than the rest of them? There's nothing to indicate she's any better off than Jed, but she was the first to realize just how much money he was being offered and where Beverly Hills was, suggesting she had at least some education. I would love to learn a bit more about her background.
And if she's smart, why is her son so dumb? It's clearly not genetic because Jethro's whole thing is being stupid. Is she a bad parent or something?
I think Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey) deserves more credit than he gets. Is he only "friends" with Jed throughout the series because he wants to keep the Clampett's money in his bank? Yes. However, I think this episode proves just how valuable he is to them as well. Any other banker might have taken advantage of Jed's lack of financial wisdom. Heck, had he not been the one to buy the mansion on Jed's behalf, they might have had a realtor sell them a two-bedroom house for $25 million.
The Clampetts mistaking the mansion for a prison was an interesting take. I don't know if the writers put this much thought into it, but it could be symbolic of Jed giving up his life of living free for the hustle and bustle of the big city and the various rules that come with it.
They did, however, probably belonged in jail. Sure, there was some mistaken identity involved too, but they did wave a loaded gun at people and apparently resisted arrest. So, I guess you could argue they got preferential treatment because they were rich and justice isn't blind.
Final Opinion: There were things that raised some questions, but this was my first time seeing the pilot episode of the series and I loved it. It did a great job introducing the main characters and setting up the rest of the series so, if you haven't seen it, it's worth watching.
My Grade: A
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Here are my thoughts from other TV shows:
My Thoughts - Star Trek: Dagger of the Mind (1966)
My Thoughts - The Andy Griffith Show: Opie and his Merry Men (1963)
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