I'd say yes... it's odd we got "Green Acres" before the billies.
Of course, some are in public domain, but that's true of Andy Grittith, too, and it didn't stop them from starting official Griffith season sets.
As of now, The Bev. H'billies is the highest rated TV show not to start having season sets on DVD! Does anyone know what's holding it up?
They better hurry while Jethro and Elly May are still around to do commentaries.
Here's something to make us older people feel even older yet -- Elly May is now older (71) than Granny was when the series started! She also went into real estate and ended up about as rich as Jed Clampett!
And Jethro (Max Baer, Jr) bought some property with the intention of turning it into a Beverly Hillbillies Casino, though I think he was having a battle with the locals about it.
Oh, not to mention that he also (briefly) dated porn star Christy Canyon in the mid-80s (of which she writes in her autobiography).
The Beverly Hillbillies was my absolutely favorite show growing up and I can't wait until they release it properly on DVD. I had to go and research the Donna Douglas age quote as I just could not believe that she was 71, and sure enough she is. Hold the possum fat, smoke some Crawdads and call me a double knot spy; it just does not seem possible.
No offense, but it's "double-naught" spy. "Naught" means "zero". As in "007"...a double-0 spy.
I think sometimes he also said "double-aught" spy, and of course "aught" also means "zero".
1962 saw the debut on TV of Beverly Hillbillies, and saw the release to theaters of Dr. No (after years and years of bestselling James Bond books), so Jethro wanting to emulate James Bond was just popular culture at the time.
Here's a trivia question that I know I can't answer, but perhaps someone else out there can: what was the first episode that Jethro wanted to be a spy? When did it air, and how long after the premiere of Dr. No was it? It would be fun to see how long it took to work it's way into the culture as a TV reference.
And, if Jethro talks about it *before* the film came out, then that's even more interesting because it speaks to the influence of the books!
Well, to be exact, Dr. No opened in England in 1962, but it didn't open in the U.S. until May of 1963.
The spy craze seems to have really ignited after the release of the third Bond film, Goldfinger, at the end of 1964, although it's true that "The Man From UNCLE" premiered a few months before that. Without checking, I'd bet that Jethro's interest in being a spy came after Goldfinger's great success, maybe in episodes that first aired in the spring of '65.
As everyone who's hung out at HTF for a while knows, I tend to pride myself on being a "know it all". But that's something I was never aware of, and I love 007 stuff. Thanks, Joseph...you learn something new every day!
David, Thanks for the English lesson (naught rather than knot). Jethro also, with his sixth grade education (two years spent in each grade), continually used the term naught when he cyphered - added or subtracted. Naught + naught is always naught.
David: According to TV Tome, it is episode #93, "Double Naught Jethro", which aired 3 March, 1965 (during the third season).
TV Tome synopsis: "Inspired by the movie Goldfinger,Jethro wants to be a spy.He tries to spy on Drysdale's rival banker John Cushing and his new secretary.In the meantime,Mr.Drysdale hires Elly May as a secretary-long enough for her to win the Queen of the Banker's Ball beauty contest.Jethro rigged up the truck as a,"spy-car,"and even got a hat made of solid iron.He tried to carry a secret-radio in his shoe-but it kept playing when he stepped on it.He also had an ejector-seat,which Granny made the mistake of getting on.She ended up in the trees."
And some people say that the Hillbillies were not sophisticated or funny. If you don't think Granny being catapulted into the trees from an ejector seat is funny, I don't want to know you.
Pavan Badal is reporting on the sitcoms online page that MPI Home Video (!) is releasing the Hillbillies in September of this year. No details at this time.
I first became aware of MPI when the released the beyond excellent Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes DVDs and have since bought some other stuff from them. I've been pleased so far.
You start reading the list of episodes, and things look great! It looks like it's going to be complete! Then, you see that the fourth episode, The Clampetts Meet Mrs. Drysdale, isn't there. And, the Christmas episode isn't there. I think everything else is there, but it cuts off with nine episodes to go in season one. The plan may be to pick up those nine in a future volume, but what about the two episodes lost in the first part of the season? And, why not just have those 11 in this set, instead of doing it in volumes? I know it's pig-headed, but I will cut off my nose and not buy the set if there isn't some mistake and those two episodes aren't there.
I'm also very disappointed that they are not releasing the show in complete season sets. The Beverly Hillbillies deserve better treatment. The extras do however sound great and I will buy the set regardless, but it is upsetting that there apparently will be no season by season release. This treatment will definitely spawn confusion, and it may be difficult or impossible to ever obtain all of the episodes with haphazard best of releases.
I could understand if they were really cherry-picking the episodes, but it is *almost* complete! What is the point of not having two episodes, and everything else is in the order it was originally aired?
At least The Beverly Hillbillies is getting released, us Ozzie and Harriet fans don't have a prayer of seeing this show in a box set. Not unless you count the cheap public domain dvds that are out there :frowning:
Okay, one episode was missing from the list I was sent (EP 4), and I'm having the person look into why the Christmas episode isn't on the list. I won't have an answer until tomorrow at the earliest.
Well, that's looking better. Thanks, Gord. I should have just asked you for clarification before freaking out, but it struck me as odd that we were so close to perfection without being able to completely realize it.