Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

My family was exceedingly fond of Granny as well as Jed. My grandfather who wouldn't watch TV except, except news, made a point of catching The Beverly Hillbillies every chance he got. As a southern man born in 1912, the TV was something he had NO use for really. The antics of granny and the creative uses for the swanky things in the mansion made my grandfather laugh til his bald head turned bright red. The billiard table as a dining table with "reaching poles" and special pockets for chicken bones was a favorite. We always enjoyed seeing the California elites being perplexed by old fashioned southern/mountain hospitality. While mostly pure farce, I could see a lot of the Tenn. mountain folk I knew as a child from visiting some family in the Clampets. They do things oddly, but they pretty much had the basics covered...even if they were as odd to me as I was to them as a city girl. The Clampets accurately depict the can do, friendly attitude of the southern mountain folk of the day...before technology withered their traditions.

Please, don't get me wrong here. I don't hate The Beverly Hillbillies. But, with that said, I cannot believe that this "one-note-joke-of-a-show" (about a seriously dysfunctional culture clash) that pit the "aw-shucks" ignorance of country bumpkins against life in the fast-lane of modern-day Beverly Hills society, actually lasted for 9 whole seasons - But, it certainly did.I can only imagine that by the time the last few seasons of this show finally did roll around, the episodes were undoubtedly being milked absolutely bone-dry for anything worthwhile to laugh about.As I understand it, upon its initial TV airing back in 1962, The Beverly Hillbillies struck a real, solid chord with the viewing audience and, almost instantly, became a phenomenal success. To this very day this particular sit-com ranks as one of the most watched TV shows of all time.Yes. I will admit that there was some funny stuff in several of the episodes. But, far too often, it all came across as being just "too dumb for words". And, because this was all tied into its "one-note-joke" factor, its situations, though good-natured, became annoyingly predictable and downright tiresome after only a short while.Personally, I don't think that this show's off-the-wall humour holds up very well, 50 years down the road. But, hey, that's only my opinion. If you happen to be a big fan of this show, I'm certain you'll think otherwise.

50 years ago...one of the greatest characters ever presented in the history of television premiered on CBS-TV on September 26,1962. "The Beverly Hillbillies",upon its debut became one of the biggest hits of the 1960's,spanning a record nine years on the air,producing 274 episodes. Out of the 274 episodes that were produced only 108 episodes from Seasons 1 thru 4 were in classic black and white from September 26,1962 through June 16,1965. 166 episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies" from Seasons 4 through 9 were in color from September 15,1965 through March 23,1971. Throughout the show's entire nine-year run only actors Buddy Ebsen(Jed Clampett), Irene Ryan(Granny),Donna Douglas(Elly Mae), Max Baer, Jr.(Jethro Bodine),and Raymond Bailey(banker Milburn Drysdale)remained throughout the series entire run. Nancy Kulp(who played Mr. Drysdale's assistant Jane Hathaway)appeared in only 246 episodes.This series under the created brainchild of Paul Henning,who also served as executive producer along with Al Simon,about a poor backwoods family from the hills of either Missouri or Tennessee are transplanted to the wealth of Beverly Hills,California after striking oil on their land. Produced under Filmways productions,creator and writer Paul Henning made it "a fish out of water" of themed television shows that spawned two spin-offs that were also country cousin shows for CBS-TV,among them were "Petticoat Junction" in 1963,and in 1965 he reversed the rags to riches model for "Green Acres". The show paved the way for later culture-conflict programs such as "McCloud", "Carter Country","The Dukes of Hazzard", "Doc", "The Nanny",and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". The reason why "The Beverly Hillbillies" are still a favorite among some of the great TV shows is because the episodes in their own right were hilariously funny. Jed Clampett was a wise poor mountain man who used his good old country wisdom in saying anything that came rational. Granny Moses,the world's most Confederate widow was tough but rational too,but when she gets riled up with people who want to tested her,when she has a jug of moonshine in one hand and the shotgun in the other. Jethro had the be one of the dumbest characters in the history of television..was the village idiot who basically got by on a sixth grade education,and then there was Elly Mae,the sexy tomboy who was gorgeous on one side and a fighting wildcat on the other. Add to this the cheap and opportunistic banker Milburn Drysdale and his voice of reason while Jane Hathaway(Mr. Drysdale's assistant)was just as normal as the rest of them,but later on turns out to be as crazy as the rest of them,especially in some of the episodes where she turns her vixen charms to seduce Jethro. Add in a variety of characters including Cousin Pearl(Bea Benaderet), Mrs. Drysdale(Harriet MacGibbon),and other zany characters and you have one hell of a funny sitcom that remains hilarious today as it was when audiences saw it back in 1962.Its no wonder "The Beverly Hillbillies" was ranked among the top twelve most watched series on television for seven of its nine seasons,twice ranking the number one series of the year(It went straight to Number One three weeks prior to its debut in 1962). Several episodes do stand out as vintage classics,but this was a series that still brings on the laughs! The final episode on March 23,1971 was an end to an era of classic TV shows that were brilliant during the 1960's.

The show was corny but funny, or funny but corny, wherever anyone would want to place the emphasis. But the big question concerned how it lasted as long as it did, all the way from 1962 to 1971. Of course, the basic storyline was not atypical: there are times when people by serendipity strike it rich and resulantly end up in an area, both metaphorically and physically, definitely out of their element. Ostensibly, such was the case with these hillbillies. They apparently had never heard the term "swimming pool", which was to them a "cement pond", and they never did know "where that music was coming from" anytime the doobell rang. Now, really! the cast was well-chosen: Buddy Ebsen was capable of playing any type of role, and thus was most likely the most versatile actor Hollywood ever knew, Donna Douglas was a very pretty Elly Mae, Max Baer, Jr. was excellent in his role as the stupid Jethro so much so that it's hard to believe that he earned a degree in philosophy, (which would beg the question "Who? Him?"), and Irene Ryan, in real life, was not as stupid as she acted. The show did, again, have recommendable qualities. But how could a show replete with so many corny lines-some too ridiculous to be funny- last as long as it did? I will always wonder.