I'm watching the last few BH episodes on MeTV, and wondering if the producers were trying to create backdoor pilots-- it seems like they are throwing everything against the wall. The whole storyline with Jane and her apartment, especially including Charles Lane as the land lord , really seems like a backdoor pilot to spin-off Jane into her own series. Thoughts?

That's an idea I never thought of. Not sure it would have worked though as not sure Miss Jane character could have been a lead role in TV series. She is so good in supporting role. I love Nancy Kulp though. The final season of BH was mostly not good. The women's lib arc was one of the better group of episodes in the season.

oh, those womans lib episodes were SO STUPID!!!

I'm watching the last few BH episodes on MeTV, and wondering if the producers were trying to create backdoor pilots-- it seems like they are throwing everything against the wall. The whole storyline with Jane and her apartment, especially including Charles Lane as the land lord , really seems like a backdoor pilot to spin-off Jane into her own series. Thoughts?

This post was from some time ago but I remembered it as the series was recently completing another cycle on METV. I decided to watch the shows to see if in fact Henning was looking to salvage something out of the show before it went off the air. I didn't see anything that could be developed into a series, I mean what was the new series going to be, Jane Hathaway and the tenants in her apartment building. CBS wanted nothing to do with the Hillbillies, Kulp and Lane were career supporting players plus Jane Hathaway was much too clearly associated with the series for CBS to have any interest in developing anything around that character.

Now that said, the last 10 episodes of season 9 were strange. The show seemed to have morphed from The Beverly Hillbillies to Hathaway's Hillbillies. The Hathaway character became the lead character, the glue that now held the series together. I'm not sure what the production company was thinking, my best guess is they were looking to cut expenses as much as possible by utilizing Kulp in a lead role and avoid guest stars which would add salary to an already cancelled series.

A final note, Mike Minor, Henning's son-in-law at the time was given a showcase in the last three episodes, but in my opinion did nothing with it. I thought the material written was funny but his delivery was so pedestrian that it basically fell flat. Writers talk about actors who have the ability to turn B material into A material by the way they perform it, here you have the opposite effect. Watching Minor work off old pro Charles Lane was a study in contrasts, Lane's expertise vs Minor's wooden performance.

oh, those womans lib episodes were SO STUPID!!!

and still are ! imho lol