The fifth season was the last that saw "The Beverly Hillbillies" within the top ten (though they touched number 10 in a later season).
In 1962, the show got out of the starting blocks with a burst of speed, rapidly climbing to a number 1 position it did not leave for two years. Though it dropped to number 12 in the third season, it remained steady at number 7 during its fourth and fifth seasons.
By the fifth season, the show was running like a well-oiled machine and was still extremely popular. Though some fifth season episodes hinted that the Hillbillies were running out of steam (when, for instance, the Clampetts tangled with a gorilla and with Martians), some of the show's last best episodes appeared then, including the "The Dahlia Feud," which ended season five with both a bang and a song.
To help her develop new varieties of dahlias, the Clampetts' neighbor, Mrs. Drysdale, has hired a huge gardener (Ted Cassidy, "Lurch" of the "Addams Family"). Granny, however, believes her neighbors are preparing for a feud to wipe them out. This is particularly true after Banker Drysdale persuades his wife to name the new dahlias after the Clampett family. Peeking through the hedge, Granny sees the gardener digging grave-size holes for flower beds; and she also wooden stakes, looking like little crosses, bearing the names "Jed" and "Jethro" and "Elly May" and "Granny." This produces one of Granny's finest moments. It's astounding that Irene Ryan never won an Emmy.
Some of the people who think everything is directed at them personally may take offense that Granny is wearing a confederate gray coat and Cap. I beg that they show a little tolerance and mercy. They must realize the Hillbillies were on at the exact same time as the Civil War centennial, and that sort of gear was topical. It was also funny that she was fighting a hundred year old war. Granny's history was also on the weak side (as it is with most Americans). In other episodes she refers to the war "when the north attacked the USA"; and she is convinced the south fought to war to free the slaves. Obviously, people on the Clampett's 1860 social level probably never so much as saw a slave, much less owned one.
But we live in a time when tempers run high. No one ever shows courtesy on the Internet. And words like "racist" and "sexist" and worse are slung around like cheap meals in hash houses. We live in a time when a legitimate news analyst can go on the air and show what a complete idiot he is by saying one is racist depending on how one pronounces the word "the" -- and some viewers are dim enough to believe him.
So if you are one of the onion-skinned crowd who see red at the sight of gray, keep hiding from reality in your benighted chrysalis. If, on the other hand, you want a good laugh and a truly joyful ending to one of the last hilarious episodes of one of television's highest-ranked shows, tune in. "The Dahlia Feud" is a delight.
In 1962, the show got out of the starting blocks with a burst of speed, rapidly climbing to a number 1 position it did not leave for two years. Though it dropped to number 12 in the third season, it remained steady at number 7 during its fourth and fifth seasons.
By the fifth season, the show was running like a well-oiled machine and was still extremely popular. Though some fifth season episodes hinted that the Hillbillies were running out of steam (when, for instance, the Clampetts tangled with a gorilla and with Martians), some of the show's last best episodes appeared then, including the "The Dahlia Feud," which ended season five with both a bang and a song.
To help her develop new varieties of dahlias, the Clampetts' neighbor, Mrs. Drysdale, has hired a huge gardener (Ted Cassidy, "Lurch" of the "Addams Family"). Granny, however, believes her neighbors are preparing for a feud to wipe them out. This is particularly true after Banker Drysdale persuades his wife to name the new dahlias after the Clampett family. Peeking through the hedge, Granny sees the gardener digging grave-size holes for flower beds; and she also wooden stakes, looking like little crosses, bearing the names "Jed" and "Jethro" and "Elly May" and "Granny." This produces one of Granny's finest moments. It's astounding that Irene Ryan never won an Emmy.
Some of the people who think everything is directed at them personally may take offense that Granny is wearing a confederate gray coat and Cap. I beg that they show a little tolerance and mercy. They must realize the Hillbillies were on at the exact same time as the Civil War centennial, and that sort of gear was topical. It was also funny that she was fighting a hundred year old war. Granny's history was also on the weak side (as it is with most Americans). In other episodes she refers to the war "when the north attacked the USA"; and she is convinced the south fought to war to free the slaves. Obviously, people on the Clampett's 1860 social level probably never so much as saw a slave, much less owned one.
But we live in a time when tempers run high. No one ever shows courtesy on the Internet. And words like "racist" and "sexist" and worse are slung around like cheap meals in hash houses. We live in a time when a legitimate news analyst can go on the air and show what a complete idiot he is by saying one is racist depending on how one pronounces the word "the" -- and some viewers are dim enough to believe him.
So if you are one of the onion-skinned crowd who see red at the sight of gray, keep hiding from reality in your benighted chrysalis. If, on the other hand, you want a good laugh and a truly joyful ending to one of the last hilarious episodes of one of television's highest-ranked shows, tune in. "The Dahlia Feud" is a delight.
