There are an awful lot of TV sitcoms out there some of them are good and some of them not so much however Americans have only recently decided not to do that many traditional TV sitcoms. While yes there are still some being being made they really are very few and far between with the episode that i'm going to be talking about today being a good example of a traditional sitcom episode thar could in the right hands still work today and so then join me as I review the episode that sees a bunch of hillbillies that move California with the episode in question being called simply just "The Clampetts Strike Oil" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when family head Jed Clampett is told that a piece of his land is full of oil that would make him rich he has to choose between leaving the life that he loves so much behind or uprooting his entire family to California. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as it was a very simple that was very easy to follow along with which is something that does work in a sitcom format as for a sitcom episode you don't really want episodes that are very deep and very thought provoking you just want a simple set up that allows itself for a lot of jokes to be told and having a very deep and meaningful plot would get in the wat of doing that and while yes having a deep and meaningful plot is something that could and has worked for various other TV shows in the past those shows are nine times out of ten drama's and comedies and to this episodes credit the plot of the episode is fairly decent plot as it does do a very good job of setting up the main characters in a way that feels organic with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett , Irene Ryan as Granny and Donna Douglas as Elly May. Also starring in this episode is Max Baer, Jr. as Jethro Bodine , Petticoat Junction and The Flintstones star Bea Benaderet as Pearl Bodine , Raymond Bailey as Milburn Drysdale , Nancy Kulp as Jane Hathaway , Frank Wilcox as Mr. Brewster , Ron Hagerthy as The Geologist and Bob Osborne as Jeff Taylor.
Now then interms of what I personally thought /felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As alot of this episodes actors are quite clearly trying there absolutely best to turn in a really good performance at the same time this episodes acting really isn't as good as it really could have been either with alot of the acting coming across as being really wooden and over the top when it would have made more sense to go the opposite direction with this episodes which is a shame as when we do get some really good acting in this episode it is something that really does stand out like the scene with Jed trying to work out what if he should move his family to California or not this scene works because of the fact that the acting is really subtle and it really wouldn't work at all if the exact same scene was acted in a very over the type and campy sort of way with the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped by the fact that this script is just so bad as it gives none of this episodes actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there respective characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does help to lower the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
One of the very few things that this episode does infact get right is the fact that it has a ton of really likable main characters in it. With all of this episodes main characters being extremely likable characters in there own right this is something that you don't usually see in sitcoms anymore as alot of them put alot of focus on telling the jokes then they do in creating good and likable characters and while the characters that are in this very episode aren't good characters by any stretch of the imagination that doesn't mean that they aren't likable character as they are as we the audience get to see moments in this episode that make them likable with Jed taking the time to fully consider weather moving his whole entire family across the country would be the for the best ultimately deciding to so after hearing that his daughter could get the chance of a decent education which is something that makes him a really likable character in his own right where as with Ellie May we get to see her helping her family out all through out the episode with the same thing also being true for the rest of the family members and while Milburn Drysdale is also the series main villain as he's after Jed's money even then it could be argued that he's only acting that way because of the fact that he works for a bank and is therefor his job and might not represent who he is as a character.
Even tho this show lasted for nine seasons and was a very popular show back when it first started airing back in 1962. It only got cancelled because of the fact that CBS listened to there advertisers who didn't want rural shows and wanted more shows set in a city and so in response to that CBS cancelled all of their rural shows regardless of how popular that they were this sadly also included Lassie which at the time it was cancelled had been on the air for around twenty years if anything while yes this show should have been cancelled as it only had a very limited shelf life something which is seen in this episode as well as show like Lassie could still e on the air today as it was a show that was that well written and that the whole family could sit down and watch and enjoy and yet the fact that they cancelled it without a second thought does show that CBS cared more about what there advertisers thought then what there audience was watching as while yes not alot of people where watching this show by the time it was cancelled people where still tuning into Lassie and heck people today still do no all about Lassie as it's really a story that's that well known and well liked as well and out of all of the rural shows that did get cancelled in what was dubbed "The Rural Purge" Lassie really is the only one that could still work today where as this show while it could still work today it's also a show is so rooted in the time that it was made that it would need an awful lot of updating in order to do it and to do it some form justice as well.
Getting back to this episode the episode does do something that was rather unexpected and that's the fact that we barely get to spend any time if Beverly Hills at all. With a whole lot of the episode being spent in Jed's swamp which we don;t even get to find out where the swamp is but at the same time the fact that the episode does sent quite alot of time there does give us the audience the chance to see what the family is like in there rural setting and get to see just what a typical day in the life is like for these characters and it's during these scenes that the episode does feel the most interesting as it's a setting that we don't really get to see in sitcoms at all with most sitcoms starting there first episode with the characters in the location that we the audience are going to spending alot of the series in and that's really it where as here the episode dares to do something that is something that really does work well enough for this episode as it gives us a chance to form a connection with these characters both before and during the main plot of the episode which only makes it all the more entertaining when we do get to see the whole family move out of California as we the the audience then get to have a pretty good idea of how those characters would react to anything in the big city and while yes the show as a whole does do the whole hillbillies are really dumb stereotype it is something that does somewhat work for this episode as it is the shows the first episode overall.
If there are some negatives to be found in this episode one of them would have to be the fact that when the show does indeed shift locations to California it stops becoming interesting with the episode being more interesting when the family are at there home in there swamp. This is something that couldn't really be fixed easily given the whole set up of the show but at the same time tho both locations should have been given equal time to be fully stablished and not have one get more more attention then then other the other issue with this episode is the fact that they do do the whole hillbillies are dumb stereotype which is fine for a couple of minuets as it does lead to some really cute moments with the characters but when that becomes the vast majority of the things that the characters say and do then it does become a huge issue as it shows that the makers of this show really didn't know how to write these type of characters which is understandable given the time that this show was being made but at the same tho it is something that does hold the characters back from being as good as they really could be as they just boil down to that one stereotype and because of that the characters can't be that interesting that is despite the fact that they all have the potential to be some really good characters and heck even the characters that live in California aren't that well set up either due to the fact that the episode only spends around five minuets in total in California.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty five minuets and forty four seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show and to this episodes credit it really does have more then enough there in terms of plot to really cover that right amount of running time but at the same time tho the episode could have worked just as well if the makers of the show did get the family out of the swamp and into California alot sooner then what it does as that would then allow not only for alot of fish out of water comedy which is what the whole based around but it would also allow for the makers of the episode to also fully set up the California side characters alot better then what it really does as well because as things stand those are the characters that really do suffer as we get to find out nothing about them in this episode which is something that does make sense as this only the first episode and rather rightfully the episode does focus on it's main characters but at the same time tho given that the episode does take the time to at least somewhat develop it's side characters when the family are at the swamp it only makes you wonder why they didn't take the time to do the same thing when the characters are in California something that they very easily could have done if they did cut down on alot of the early pointless scenes with the family at the swamp as alot of those scenes do feel quite alot like filler scenes but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. However at the same time tho alot of this episodes jokes aren't that good either as pretty much all of this episodes jokes stem from the fact that the family aren't the smartest tools in the shed which is fine for one or two jokes when there in California as at least there those types of jokes would make some what sense but they do those kinds of jokes even when the family are in there home swamp when you'd you expect them to be the smartest person in the room and that is something that does make the joke wear thin very quickly as there's only so many times that you tell that joke before it gets old and here in this episode it does get old really fast and if these are types of the jokes in this episode then it makes you wonder what kind of jokes are in the rest of the series as well as you usually get alot of the shows best jokes in the first episode as way to get people hooked into the show and while yes there are some funny jokes in the episode like the fact that when they arrive at there new home the clampetts do think that the gardeners are escaped prisoners and that there new is the prison that there escaping from is a good joke and to be fair the episode does go all the way with that joke but alot of the rest of this episodes jokes just aren't that good and are rather repetitive as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall whilst this wasn't a bad first episode it wasn't necessarily a good first episode either as the episode as whole does have alot of potential but it also has alot of faults that do stop it from reaching that potential and be as good as it really could have been and while yes the rest of the series might get really better this first episode is nothing more then an average episode when it could have been a really good first episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.
Now the as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official The Beverly Hillbillies fandom wiki page , Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.