Red-Letter Day: September 26, 1962

[bpatrick]

It was 50 years ago tonight that the show which became, arguably,
the biggest hit of the '60s debuted. That show was "The Beverly
Hillbillies," and although "The Real McCoys" and "The Andy Griffith Show"
predated it, this was the show that marked the real beginning of CBS's
love affair with rural shows in the '60s (and might have been the network's
eventual undoing had Bob Wood and Fred Silverman not cleaned house in
the early '70s in favor of more demographically-desirable shows).

"Hillbillies" hit number one by Thanksgiving; not since "The $64,000 Question"
in 1955 had a new show risen so far, so fast. The show's rankings over its
nine-year run on the left, its ratings on the right:

1962-63 #1 36.0
1963-64 #1 39.1
1964-65 #12 25.6
1965-66 #7 (tied with "Bewitched") 25.9
1966-67 #7 (tied with "Bewitched" and "Daktari") 23.4
1967-68 #12 23.3
1968-69 #10 23.5
1969-70 #18 21.7 (not so terrible when
you consider that the number-one show that year, "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In,"
had a 26.3 rating)
1970-71 out of the top 30

In the first two seasons, as many as 60 million people watched each week.

Personally, I think the show lasted about two years too long; some of the later
storylines (poking fun at women's lib or Granny's thinking a frogman was really
a frog) are straining hard to be funny. But when Irene Ryan died, I felt I'd lost
my own grandmother (which I had, about four months earlier).

Monday, October 1, marks a red-letter day on two counts: Lucille Ball's successful
return to Monday nights with "The Lucy Show" and Johnny Carson's first night as
host of "The Tonight Show" (both in '62). Also, I believe Saturday, September 29, marks the
50th anniversary of Jackie Gleason's return to prominence on Saturday nights
(somebody correct me on that).

 

[wbhist]

I believe Saturday, September 29, marks the 50th anniversary of Jackie Gleason's return to prominence on Saturday nights (somebody correct me on that).

No, you're correct: Sept. 29, 1962 was the debut of what, in its first four years, was Jackie Gleason's American Scene Magazine.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Monday, October 1, marks a red-letter day on two counts: Lucille Ball's successful
return to Monday nights with "The Lucy Show" and Johnny Carson's first night as
host of "The Tonight Show" (both in '62). Also, I believe Saturday, September 29, marks the
50th anniversary of Jackie Gleason's return to prominence on Saturday nights
(somebody correct me on that).

While on the CBS radio side, Sept. 30, 1962 has been considered the official end of the "Golden Age of Radio" with the cancellation of "Suspense" and "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"--50 years from this Sunday night. NPR had a story about the end of radio drama in 2010:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1150876

 

[cd637299]

I read somewhere that the Hillbillies' 1964 episode "The Giant Jackrabbit" was the most-viewed sitcom episode (until maybe a Cosby Show ep trounced it).....I believe that there was no explanation of why that episode was so special, though.

I adored the B&W episodes (and the first color ep, "Admiral Jed"), but fish-out-of-water comedies IMO go stale rather quickly; i.e., the cast is "wise" to their surroundings after a while.

Another Filmways show, "Green Acres", somehow got better IMO as it got on in years....they added so much surrealism from Season 1. I'm not sure I'd consider "Acres" fish-out-of-water, although it's certainly a reverse Hillbillies.

cd

 

[bpatrick]

Of the three--"Beverly Hillbillies," "Petticoat Junction," and
"Green Acres"--"Green Acres" is my personal favorite just
because of its surrealism. Castleman and Podrazik once said
that Gracie Allen would be right at home in the Hooterville of
"Green Acres"; a classmate of mine when I was in college proclaimed
it the ultimate sitcom. "Petticoat Junction" has some of the tone of
the later "Andy Griffith Show" and is good for a few viewings, that's all.

My favorite bit from "Green Acres":

Oliver and Lisa are going to Washington on some sort of business trip;
all their neighbors tell them to make sure to see the Eiffel Tower. Oliver
keeps explaining--with decreasing patience--that the Eiffel Tower is in
Paris. But when they get into their hotel room and Lisa opens the drapes,
what do they see? The Eiffel Tower!

Maybe it's no accident that Paul Henning worked on both "Burns and Allen"
and "Green Acres."

 

[Mitchell H]

And don't forget that wonderfully absurd story about the Rutabaga festival, and inviting USC to play Hooterville in the Rutabaga Bowl. Great use of the CBS network in this story, especially in getting them to send cameras out to televise the parade and the game. Would have loved to see Sophia Loren as the Rutabaga Queen...

 

[Al Timiter]

I have to agree that "Green Acres" was a gem. Under-rated and probably under-watched too. The absurdist, surrealism was even more pronounced given that you wouldn't expect that type of comedy from a "rural" sitcom. I also would bet that it was un-watched by many in large urban markets because they assumed it was a "hick" show with "corny" humor. It was anything but!

 

[FreddyE1977]

I read somewhere that the Hillbillies' 1964 episode "The Giant Jackrabbit" was the most-viewed sitcom episode (until maybe a Cosby Show ep trounced it).....I believe that there was no explanation of why that episode was so special, though.

And yet somebody let the most viewed sitcom episode of all time go to Public Domain.
Stunning.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

In terms of the average number of viewers to watch every episode during each of its first two seasons, "Beverly Hillbillies" remains the most popular program in the history of American television.

No regular series before or since has drawn such a large number of viewers week after week. And with today's multichannel TV universe, that record will likely stand forever (or close to forever).

 

[anotherguyTN]

Me TV is running a Beverly Hillbillies 50th anniversary marathon today. But as usual WBBJ in Jackson, TN won't be showing it.

 

[therealjm12]

Watching the Hillbillies right now on ME. They are running B & W episodes which, in my opinion are far superior to the color ones. The satire is great. Petticoat Junction was ok when it first started but went downhill by the third season. Once again, color seemed to diminish the quality of the writing like so many other series at the time -Bewitched, Andy Griffith, etc. I agree about the statements about Green Acres. It seemed to improve as it went along til the last season, when they attempted to bring in the little girl to the cast. I still enjoy watching G. A. and wish ME-TV would bring it back on a regular basis.