The Beverly Hillbillies: Season 06 (1967)

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Those acerbic TV critics who'd predicted back in 1962 that the phenomenally successful The Beverly Hillbillies would wear out its welcome after three seasons must have been writhing in agony as the series entered its sixth year on the air in the fall of 1967. Although it had dropped from its ratings peak of number one in 1964 to 12th place in the intervening three years, the series still retained its loyal corps of fans, and had even picked up millions of new devotees in recent months. In a move to freshen up the basic format (nouveau riche hillbillies "invading" Beverly Hills), season six opened with a fascinating story arc, largely shot on location, in which millionaire mountaineer Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) inherits a British castle on the outskirts of London. (Believe it or not, The Beverly Hillbillies was, at the time, one of the United Kingdom's most popular American imports.) This situation permits a whole new slew of comic complications, beginning with Granny's (Irene Ryan) tussle with the customs officials, and impressionable Jethro's (Max Baer Jr.) efforts to emulate the gallant knights of old, with his feisty cousin Elly May (Donna Douglas) reluctantly recruited to be a "damsel in distress." Upon the Clampett's return to Beverly Hills, Jethro persists in playing out his British-bred fantasies by becoming the Robin Hood of Griffith Park, leading to another story arc involving a band of hippies (or at least, the producers' notion of what hippies looked like). In other continuing storylines, Granny (Irene Ryan) thinks that the Civil War has been reignited when she sees a movie company filming a historical epic near the Clampett mansion; Jethro joins the military reserve, wreaking his usual well-meaning havoc, and later opens up a "topless" restaurant (no, it's not what you think); and the Clampetts become embroiled in the peculiar world of women's wrestling! The season ends with "Cousin Roy," featuring country & western singer Roy Clark in what was reportedly designed as the pilot for a Beverly Hillbillies spinoff series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Complete Cast:

Producer(s):

Al Simon

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