I read an article that said without the success of The Beverly Hillbillies, there would be no other campy shows like Gilligan's Island, Batman etc...

Do you aree? Disagree?

Yes. The consensus among TV historians is that had it not been for the success of "The Beverly Hillbillies", we would not have seen the birth of the "fantasy sitcom". The term "fantasy sitcom" is given to describe that era of the 1960s that gave birth to "I Dream of Jeannie", "Bewitched", "The Munsters", "The Addams Family", "My Favorite Martian", etc. It certainly makes sense, as any time you see a specific kind of show that is wildly popular, the networks spend the next few years trying to copycat that success. What "Hillbillies" did in the 1960s is like what "All in the Family" did in the 1970s. It changed the face of sitcoms for several years afterwards.

I don't know if The Beverly Hillbillies started it off, the 1960's is known for fantasy sitcoms and rural sitcoms but there are silly ones also. I usually relate the silliness to the change from black and white to color, it seems a lot of shows became silly once they were being filmed in color. Silliness is an aspect of comedy, probably every sitcom has been silly at one point or another. What separates the good ones from the bad ones is the quality of the scripting and writing.

Green Acres is my favorite rural sitcom, Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction not so much. I don't care for Andy Griffith at all, I don't see what makes that show so popular. To me it's a very mediocre show.

I never got the appeal of The Beverly Hillbillies. In fact, it's the one 60s sitcom I've seen that I don't care for.

As far as fantasy sitcoms go, "Mister Ed" came before "The Beverly Hillbillies". Of course Hillbillies was the bigger show, popularity wise.

The Beverly Hillbillies was my favorite sitcom of the 1960's. I just couldn't get enough of it when I was growing up. Actually the first rural sitcom was the Real McCoys which premiered in the late 1950's and was a top 10 hit. I think the success of that show led to The Beverly Hillbillies.

I think it's important to separate fantasy from whimsical -- for example, we put Mister Ed and My Favorite Martian in the former category, as we certainly don't know of any real talking horses or martians who look like earth people.

Beverly Hillbillies is a different show than those, as most of the things that happened just stretched reality (like Jed and Jethro's tremendous shooting abilities) -- but BH did not go into the fantasy world on an every-episode basis like Ed and Martian did. Even with Green Acres, which became wild at times, Arnold Ziffel did not speak such that we could understand him.

The early seasons of BH are hilarious. TAGS mediocre? They were both extremely well-written in their early years especially. I loved the BH episodes with Alan Reed Jr. as Sheldon Epps. Granny diggin' taters and rutabegas? Turned into a dance? VERY funny stuff!

I never got the appeal of The Beverly Hillbillies. In fact, it's the one 60s sitcom I've seen that I don't care for.

As far as fantasy sitcoms go, "Mister Ed" came before "The Beverly Hillbillies". Of course Hillbillies was the bigger show, popularity wise.
Interestly both of these shoes were produced by the same company, Filmways. (This has been a Filmways presentation)

I read an article that said without the success of The Beverly Hillbillies, there would be no other campy shows like Gilligan's Island, Batman etc...

Do you aree? Disagree?

That's probably true. There had been other rural shows before (The
Real McCoys) and other fantasy shows before (Topper), but the
POPULARITY of The Beverly Hillbillies put it over the top. The critics
hated it, but the viewers loved it. That's what made it a classic. Another
factor that has been cited in TV retrospective books is that the assassination
of President Kennedy, on Nov. 22, 1963, ignited "the year of the great escapism" (1964). More than ever, "Americans seem to be yearning for escape in 1964" (wrote Arthur Shulman in The Television Years). Thus
was born The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Munsters, The Addams Family,
Bewitched, Gilligan's Island (described here as "the most idiotic program
ever"), etc. That fueled the craving for escapism. But why reality shows
are so prevalent today is beyond my grasp. To each his own.

Well I certainly wouldn't call any of those series mentioned as "silly". They were all extremely well written, well thought out, often cleverly satirical, and superbly cast shows just as good as any of the supposedly more "realistic" series that followed them in the 1970's (and which looked so much cheaper than the '60's sitcoms since they were most often filmed on videotape before a live audience yuck!)


I read an article that said without the success of The Beverly Hillbillies, there would be no other campy shows like Gilligan's Island, Batman etc...

Do you aree? Disagree?

The Beverly Hillbillies was my favorite sitcom of the 1960's. I just couldn't get enough of it when I was growing up. Actually the first rural sitcom was the Real McCoys which premiered in the late 1950's and was a top 10 hit. I think the success of that show led to The Beverly Hillbillies.

The late 1940's saw the movie "The Egg And I" which introduced Ma and Pa Kettle, who continued on to a movie series of their own. This led to the Real McCoys sitcom, which led to the Beverly Hillbillies, which led to Petticoat Junction, which led to Green Acres, etc.

Well I certainly wouldn't call any of those series mentioned as "silly". They were all extremely well written, well thought out, often cleverly satirical, and superbly cast shows just as good as any of the supposedly more "realistic" series that followed them in the 1970's (and which looked so much cheaper than the '60's sitcoms since they were most often filmed on videotape before a live audience yuck!)

Have to agree about 1970's sitcoms, those that were originally recorded on videotape usually have a hazy, soft look to them. As far as I know, most if not all sitcoms from the 1960's were originally recorded on film. Using videotape became the popular (cheap) choice in the 1970's.

I don't mind watching airings of some 70's sitcoms on TV, but there are just a select few shows from that era I have on DVD. I have a number of 60's sitcoms on DVD, a few other shows I'll watch if aired on TV but don't plan to have on DVD.

I don't know if The Beverly Hillbillies started it off, the 1960's is known for fantasy sitcoms and rural sitcoms but there are silly ones also. I usually relate the silliness to the change from black and white to color, it seems a lot of shows became silly once they were being filmed in color. Silliness is an aspect of comedy, probably every sitcom has been silly at one point or another. What separates the good ones from the bad ones is the quality of the scripting and writing.

Green Acres is my favorite rural sitcom, Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction not so much. I don't care for Andy Griffith at all, I don't see what makes that show so popular. To me it's a very mediocre show.


I TOTALLY get what you mean about The Andy Griffith Show. To me, it was The Don Knotts Show and when he left, it should have ended. If you ever watch any of the TAGS episodes produced in the years following Knotts' departure, they are real sleepers.

I have never cared for "The Beverly Hillbillies" whether while on network or in the numerous re-runs. There is no denying the show's lofty ratings while it was on CBS, but I always felt it was a basic copy of "The Real McCoys" with a country family moving to California and a grandma instead of a grandpa.

Yes, teh Beverly Hillbillies is the father of silly shows because it was the longest, got higher ratings than the Real McCoys and came when many wanted to deny the dire condtions of America. I agree that the Beverly Hillbillies was silly and hilarious at the beginning but the show went downhill by the end. The castle shows were horrible and the women's lib shows were strange for conservative Clampetts join into. I remember them making fun of hippies, which was distrubing. I also didn't like the PEtticoat Junction crossover. I perfer Petticoat Junction. I love the singing and the rural storylines, but after Bea died the show should have as well. Green Acres is so far out I could never get into it though I dig the Addams Family. Mr. Ed is alright by My Favorite Martian is not funny. I agree Andy Griffith without Don Knotts is one of the worse TV shows in history.

I TOTALLY get what you mean about The Andy Griffith Show. To me, it was The Don Knotts Show and when he left, it should have ended. If you ever watch any of the TAGS episodes produced in the years following Knotts' departure, they are real sleepers.
It may have been silly but it sure was fun to watch and always got high ratings.

I have never cared for "The Beverly Hillbillies" whether while on network or in the numerous re-runs. There is no denying the show's lofty ratings while it was on CBS, but I always felt it was a basic copy of "The Real McCoys" with a country family moving to California and a grandma instead of a grandpa.
There was one big difference... the Clampett's were multi-millions. Which, of course, made for some hilarious episodes.

I never got the appeal of The Beverly Hillbillies. In fact, it's the one 60s sitcom I've seen that I don't care for.

As far as fantasy sitcoms go, "Mister Ed" came before "The Beverly Hillbillies". Of course Hillbillies was the bigger show, popularity wise.
It probably was the father of silly sitcoms, but people sure did love it. It was a hit right away. It still had good ratings when it went off the air.

If it did set off that wave, that was a good thing. In my opinion, many of those 1960s sitcoms are the best things ever on TV.

I remember them making fun of hippies, which was distrubing.

Funny and did you notice that hippies replaced gangsters as the new boogeymen among TV shows in this time period ?

What exactly is so wrong with being a "silly show"...at least it gets your mind off the seriousness of the world for 30 minutes.

Long live Granny!

^ I totally agree! Silly is really fun! I love "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Petticoat Junction", "Green Acres", and many more in that aspect.

I'm on the side of silly. Love shows like Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan's Island, Red Dwarf, When Things Were Rotten...

I love "Gilligan's Island"! It's such a fun show!

I love shows like "Mister Ed" too and "My Favorite Martian", "My Mother the Car" and such that are just silly and make you forget about your troubles.

Networks need to bring back silly shows. Sitcoms just aren't funny anymore.

Networks need to bring back silly shows. Sitcoms just aren't funny anymore.
:yeahthat

All current sitcoms (and all shows in general now) are way too political trying to push personal opinions and agendas on everyone. What ever happened to just being funny?!

Idk. I miss those kinds of shows.

I don't think I would say TBH were a copy of "The Real McCoys". Its was somewhat based more in realism, while the TBH was definitely farcical.

:yeahthat

All current sitcoms (and all shows in general now) are way too political trying to push personal opinions and agendas on everyone. What ever happened to just being funny?!

I couldn't agree more. But I think as a nation we have lost our sense of humor and that is reflected in sitcoms. There is political correctness, fear of offending, etc.

I read an article that said without the success of The Beverly Hillbillies, there would be no other campy shows like Gilligan's Island, Batman etc...

Do you aree? Disagree?
As been mentioned, some shows, especially The Real McCoys (RMcC), preceeded BHb. I think RMcC had more realism, and the characters developed. Of course, the children aged, and their plot points reflected it. The family became more sophisticated, or civilized because of the modern culture (as did BHb), and Grandpa moderated many of his formerly arrogant and wrong stances.

At the time BHb came out, so did McHale's Navy. McHN had a lot of funnies, but I wish they would have toned down Capt. Binghamton's arrogant cruelty, which was a courts martial offense, and some of the stupid firearms going off, which was good for a hard whack. When the fourth season went to Italy, it lost something. I play the first three seasons DVDs fairly often, but the fourth, rarely.

I agree that BHb's success did help open the doors to many similar comic toned series. Since it had predecessors, it is wrong to say "the father of..."