''Return of the Beverly Hillbillies'' is a 1981 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

based on the 1962–1971

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from ...

'' which reunited original cast members

Buddy Ebsen Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr., April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer, whose career spanned seven decades. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS ...

Donna Douglas Donna Douglas (born Doris Ione Smith; September 26, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American actress and singer, known for her role as Elly May Clampett on ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (1962–1971). Following her acting career, Douglas became ...

and

Nancy Kulp Nancy Jane Kulp (August 28, 1921 – February 3, 1991) was an American character actress and comedienne best known as Miss Jane Hathaway on the CBS television series ''The Beverly Hillbillies''. Early life Kulp was born to Robert Tilden and Mar ...

reprising their characters of

Jed Clampett ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family fro ...

Elly May Clampett ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family fro ...

and Jane Hathaway, along with newcomers

Werner Klemperer Werner Klemperer (March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000) was an American actor. He was known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the CBS television sitcom ''Hogan's Heroes'', for which he twice won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...

as C.D. Medford, Ray Young as

Jethro Bodine ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family fro ...

and

Imogene Coca Imogene Coca (born Emogeane Coca; November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on ''Your Show of Shows''. Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and wishe ...

as Granny's 100-year-old mother; noticeably absent are cast members

Irene Ryan Irene Ryan (born Irene Noblitt, Noblett, or Noblette; October 17, 1902 – April 26, 1973) was an American actress and comedienne who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. She is most widely known for her por ...

(Granny) and

Raymond Bailey Raymond Thomas Bailey (May 6, 1904 – April 15, 1980) was an American actor, and comedian on the Broadway stage, films, and television. He is best known for his role as greedy banker Milburn Drysdale in the television series ''The Beverly Hill ...

(Milburn Drysdale), who had died in 1973 and 1980 respectively, and

Max Baer Jr. Maximilian Adelbert Baer Jr. (born December 4, 1937) is an American actor, producer, comedian, and director widely known for his role as Jethro Bodine, the dim-witted relative of Jed Clampett (played by Buddy Ebsen) on ''The Beverly Hillbillies' ...

(the original Jethro) who declined to participate. The film was produced and written by original series creator

Paul Henning Paul William Henning (September 16, 1911 – March 25, 2005) was an American TV producer and screenwriter. Most famous for creating the television sitcom ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', he was also crucial in developing the "rural" comedies ''Pett ...

and was intended as a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for a proposed revival of the series, but this never materialized. ''Return of the Beverly Hillbillies'' premiered as ''The CBS Tuesday Night Movie'' on October 6, 1981.

Synopsis

Following the death of Granny,

returned to his roots to live in a backwoods cabin in the town of Bug Tussle rather than living alone at his

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

mansion after having voluntarily divided his massive fortune between daughter Elly May and nephew

, both of whom have remained on the West Coast (Jethro is now a successful Hollywood producer running his own

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

and Elly May has opened a zoo for her beloved critters). Jane Hathaway, once the personal secretary of banker Mr. Milburn Drysdale of the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills, is now a Washington bureaucrat working for the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...

. It is 1981 and the

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...

is desperate to solve the

energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...

: they dispatch Jane and her obnoxious and stuffy boss C.D. Medford to search for the secret formula of Granny's powerful home-brewed " white lightning" which they are convinced could be the miracle cure for America's gas crisis. Since Granny died some time ago, Jane and C.D. arrive at Jed's old cabin, hoping to score just a few drops of Granny's medicine. Unfortunately, what little survives is ruined by C.D., and so Jed suggests that they contact either one of the "youngins" in California to see if they have any of Granny's medicine left because someone who sure isn't going to tell them is Granny's 100-year-old "Maw", who now runs an "old ladies" home in Bug Tussle and still holds the moonshine recipe.

Cast

as Jane Hathaway *Ray Young as

as Granny's Maw *

as C.D. Medford *

Linda Kaye Henning Linda Kaye Henning is an American actress and singer most notable for starring in the 1960s sitcom ''Petticoat Junction''. Career Henning began to focus on acting in her late teens. Her career began in 1953. Her earliest acting roles include ' ...

as Linda (Secretary) *

King Donovan King Donovan (January 25, 1918 – June 30, 1987) was an American film, stage, and television actor, as well as a film and television director. Early years Francis King Donovan was born in Manhattan on January 25, 1918. His parents were vaudev ...

as Andy Miller (Father) *

Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatile a ...

as Mollie Heller * Charles Lane as Chief * George "Shug" Fisher as Judge Gillum *

Howard Culver Howard Culver (June 4, 1918 – August 4, 1984) was an American radio and television actor, best known as hotel clerk Howie Uzzell during the entire run of TV's ''Gunsmoke''. On radio he starred in the title role of the Western adventure series '' ...

as Veterinarian *

Dana Kimmell Dana Kimmell (born May 21, 1959) is an American actress and model. She is best recognized for her performance as Chris Higgins in the Steve Miner-directed 3D horror film ''Friday the 13th Part III'' (1982)—which debuted at number one at the U ...

as 2nd Old Maid *

Fenton Jones Fenton G. "Jonesy" Jones (June 2, 1907 – June 30, 2003) was an American musician, best known as a square dance caller. He was widely described as a "nationally-known ancecaller". Jones was born in 1907 in Los Angeles, California. His mother, w ...

as Square Dance Caller *

Heather Locklear Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress famous for her role as Amanda Woodward on ''Melrose Place'' (1993–1999), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television ...

as Heather

DVD release

On March 12, 2013, ''Return of the Beverly Hillbillies'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

for the first time by

MPI Home Video MPI Media Group is an American producer, distributor and licensor of theatrical film and home entertainment. MPI's subsidiaries include MPI Pictures, MPI Home Video, Gorgon Video, and the horror film distributor Dark Sky Films. The company is l ...

.''Return of the Beverly Hillbillies'' DVD

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Return of the Beverly Hillbillies The Beverly Hillbillies 1981 comedy films 1981 films 1981 television films American comedy films CBS network films Films based on television series Films set in 1981 Films shot in Los Angeles Television films based on television series Television series by CBS Studios Television series reunion films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films Films about hillbillies