A Trip Down
Country Lane
Author:
Lisa Stanley
An array of wacky, rural
characters popped up on television in the early 1960’s. Critics
were quick to berate these shows for their country humor, but TV
viewers were hooked.
In 1962, Paul Henning introduced us to The Beverly
Hillbillies. This backwoods clan was headed by widower Jed
Clampett, who along with his faithful old dog, Duke, went hunting
for some food, shot wrong, and hit an oil mine. A 25 million
dollar oil mine. Cousin Pearl convinces Jed to move his family to
the place of swimming pools and movie stars. And so Jed (Buddy
Ebsen), his daughter Elly May (Donna Douglas), his nephew, Jethro
(Max Baer), and Granny (Irene Ryan) pack up their beat up flat bed
truck and make the journey west.
Of course in the land of the TV sitcom when the Clampetts
arrive in Beverly Hills, they happen to move right next door to a
greedy banker, Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey), who takes the
family under his wings, with the goal of getting their money in
his bank. Nancy Kulp played his long-suffering secretary, “Miss
Jane” Hathaway. The show followed the antics of the family in
contrast of country and city life. Jed always remained true,
though, to his backwoods wisdom, making for silly, yet
entertaining stories. Its instant success put the show on the top
12 Nielson list for the next 6 years. And its spawned a spin-off:
Petticoat Junction.
In 1963, Paul Henning
developed a spin off based around actress, Bea Benaderet, who
guested on the Hillbillies as Jed’s cousin Pearl. In this
show, set in a farming town between Hooterville, and the more
refined town of Pixley, the only way to reach it is on the
Hooterville Cannonball, a train. Expert cook, Kate Bradley (Benaderet)
,along with her daughters, blond boy crazy, Billie Jo, brunette,
intellectual, Bobbie Jo, and red headed, tomboy, Betty Jo, Kate
runs the Shady Rest Hotel. “Uncle Joe” Carson, who also
lives in the hotel, considers himself the General Manager, but
seems to disappear when a problem arises. There were many cast
changes throughout its short run, which lasted until 1970 - 2
years after Benaderets death from cancer.
Green Acres (1965- 1971) was a spin off of
Petticoat Junction, and was set in the town of Hooterville.
The sitcom tells the story of Oliver Wendall Douglas, a successful
New York lawyer, who decides to get close to nature. He buys a
160- acre run down farm, and drags his sophisticated, extravagant
wife, Lisa, along with him. At first, Lisa, wants no part of this
farming community, but grows to love and accept the people of the
town- whereas Oliver never really learns to like the people much.
In these funny rural comedies, their enduring legacy
among TV viewers, young and old, lies in their ability to appeal
to a wide range of sectors, liberals and conservative alike. These
shows took the idea of American materialism and the obsession with
such, and deliberately poked fun at it. We all need to be able to
laugh sometimes, and the themes are enduring. We can laugh today
as hard as the viewers did forty years ago.
Lisa Stanley is a freelance writer and
mother of two, based in Florida.
