| The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Second Season | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 18 reviews)
Sales Rank: 6088
Category: DVD
Actors: Buddy Ebsen, Donna Douglas
Publisher: Paramount
Studio: Paramount
Brand: Paramount
Label: Paramount
Format: Box Set, Black & White, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 30 minutes
Number Of Items: 5
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: PARD892694D
UPC: 097368926943
EAN: 0097368926943
ASIN: B001BN4WHW
Release Date: October 7, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
An instant hit, the rural comedy was the ultimate fish-out-of-water story. The Clampett family strikes it rich in oil and move from their mountain cabin in the Ozark Mountains to the upscale neighborhood of Beverly Hills. Each hilarious episode revolves around the culture clash between the "uncivilized" Clampetts and the "civilized" culture of their elitist neighbors.
Amazon.com
The Beverly Hillbillies's second season is "funnier than a hog on ice" as the Clampetts continue their adjustment to life in tony Beverly Hills. Not for nothing was the clan honored with Favorite Fish Out of Water at the TV Land Awards. They are shocked for example, that the community does not observe Possum Day, and it is up to their banker and next door neighbor, Mr. Drysdale, who will do anything to keep the Clampetts' $35 million in his bank, to convince the mayor to stage a parade. Wealth has not spoiled the Clampetts, who remain true to their mountain roots. They endeavor to plant crops in their front yard, and Granny (Emmy nominee Irene Ryan), "no bigger than a minute and scrappy as a bantam hen," continues to practice her spells, outraging the local medical community. And when critter-lovin' Elly Mae (Donna Douglas), simple-minded Jethro (Max Baer), and Granny do "go Hollywood" (Jethro's Brando-esque Wild One is a real hoot), it takes Jed (Buddy Ebsen) outfitted as a rhinestone cowboy to show them how ridiculous they look. Critics "mean-mouthed" The Beverly Hillbillies, but it was the ultimate "People's Choice." It was TV's top-rated show its first two years, and ran for nine seasons. At the heart of its success was that the Clampetts were not the objects of ridicule. As in classic Depression-era screwball comedies, it was the rich who were mostly made to look foolish and no match for the Clampetts' plain-spoken common sense and traditional mountain ways. In one episode, the Clampetts transform snobby Mrs. Drysdale's boring garden party into a wild success, thanks to some bluegrass music and spiked punch. This season does contain "The Giant Jackrabbit," which, if not the series' funniest half hour (Granny is bedevilled by a wayward kangaroo), was certainly its highest rated and is reportedly among the 20 top-rated TV episodes of all time. Memorable guest stars include Henry Gibson as Granny's favorite TV cowboy, who is revealed to be a faker, and bluegrass legends Flatt & Scruggs, who can be heard in each episode performing the TV theme song that even those who have never watched the show can probably recite. Peter Whitney is a welcome guest in a three episode arc as no-account mountain con man Lafe, who schemes to get his hands on some of the Clampett fortune. And that's the ill-fated Sharon Tate as Mrs. Drysdale's secretary in several episodes. This is The Beverly Hillbillies' first official DVD release (episodes from the first season are in the public domain), and they've done it up right proud with a heapin helpin' of extras, including Irene Ryan's screen test, network new show previews and promos, and an informal interview with series creator Paul Henning. Viewers have the option of watching each episode with the original Winston cigarette openings and episode tags. Mmm, doggies! --Donald Liebenson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 A Heapin' Helpin' of Country Hospitality November 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I don't have to mention how good this show is. The fact that many older TV programs don't get rerun as much as this program speaks volumes. Small note of interest. Original negatives are in 35 mm format. To make a transfer from the original negatives is expensive, not to mention valuable. After all, if the original negatives are destroyed or damaged, part of our film history is lost. Decades ago the episodes were transferred from the 35 mm masters to what is known as 3-quarter format, also known as broadcast quality. For decades the episodes have been on VHS and TV repeatedly referred to from the 3-quarter masters. This prevents any chance of damage to the original 35 mm reels.
Now some episodes have fallen into the public domain, so dollar store DVDs have put them available on disc but since the music is still copyrighted, they replaced the theme music with generic non-copyrighted music. Shame on them. Course, the consumers get what they paid for.
Good news and rejoice! This DVD set "The Official Second Season" was mastered from the original 35 mm masters! Yes, that means the quality is as good as it is ever going to get. All 36 episodes and with their original music score. After all, could we really watch these without that zingy "Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed . . ." I bought one of the public domain DVDs once and not hearing the familiar theme song was distracting with each viewing.
This set not only has the superb transfer quality prints using today's technology from the 35 mm masters, but the extras are nice. Irene Ryan screen test as Granny, a clip from "The Stars' Address is CBS" (1963 fall preview show), the 1963/64 CBS Network Promo, and the Paul Henning Interview from 1969.
So buy this set and watch this bevy of backwoods bumpkins turn Beverly Hills upside down.
A Treasure November 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I forgot how funny this show was. "The Giant Jack Rabbit" episode is a classic. While the episode was based on Granny trying to capture the critter and was extremely funny, I never laughed so hard at the telephone exchanges between Jed/Granny and Beverly Caterers. Back in 64 they let the viewers fill in the blanks, and did so successfully. I'll be buying Season 3.
A Great Show That Almost Had An Equally Great DVD Release November 7, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Despite one serious flaw (discussed below), this set is well worth buying and should be supported wholeheartedly by all BH fans. We vote for a product (whether good or bad) by purchasing it, which we hope encourages the bigwigs to continue to produce it. There are nine seasons of this show, all of which deserve to be released on DVD, so we have a long way to go. We don't want this show to suffer the fate of "Green Acres" (which the bigwigs stopped releasing after three of six seasons, presumably due to lack of sales). So buy it not only for its own sake and the enjoyment you will surely derive from owning it, but also as an investment in the future release of the other seasons in the series.
This show is a true classic, one of the all time greats. It holds the world's record for the most highly rated single episode of a sitcom ever broadcast (the episode entitled, "The Giant Jackrabbit", which is contained in this set). The scripts are well written with witty and hilarious dialog and loveable characters. This show is also genuinely FUNNY, with no hidden agenda to convert the viewer to leftist ideology like today's TV shows. Also unlike today's TV, no attempt is made here to defile the innocence of any defenseless children who may be in the room, so you may safely allow your kids to view this show (and they will love it!).
Even if you already own both volumes of the BH Ultimate Collection (which you should), this set is still worth having since it includes 17 episodes from season two not previously released. The sound and picture quality of the episodes on this set is quite good. The length of the episodes varies, the shortest being 25:07 and the longest coming in at 25:36. Average length overall is 25:22, thus they can reasonably be thought to be free of edits.
Extras include an Irene Ryan screen test/comparison with an excerpt from the pilot episode (1:16), "The Stars Address is CBS" 1963 fall preview spot (2:33, but you can tell it is edited, they cut out the Twilight Zone segment), a CBS network promo spot from 1963 (0:46), and an excerpt from a 1969 Paul Henning interview (2:39, also edited. Part, though not all, of this interview is included in the BH Ultimate Collection Vol. II).
But the greatest extra of all, and the one that makes this set so much worth buying, is the inclusion of some of the CAST COMMERCIALS!! While the previously released BH Ultimate Collections also (fortunately) contained the cast commercials (some of which are duplicated here), this set also contains a few not found on the previous BHUC releases. Also very convenient here is that the menu provides an option to watch each episode in it's entirety with the CC's integrated into the episode as they were intended to be seen, instead of just lumping them altogether at the end of disc 4 as with the previously released Ultimate Collection sets.
On a brand new DVD release we already expect full, complete, unedited episodes (and factually speaking they are not truly complete unless they include the cast commercials), with good sound and picture quality. That much is a given; anything less and the bigwigs can take a flying leap and forget about getting my hard earned money. But the inclusion of the cast commercials takes any DVD set to a whole new level. We've all seen these episodes before (in edited form) on network/cable TV, and we know how enjoyable they are. But what you will never see on TV are these awesome Cast Commercials, which feature the characters from the show hawking the sponsor's products in very clever and witty spots which often continue the story line of the episodes. These things are great!! It really is all about the cast commercials, the inclusion of which here is the single best of many good reasons to buy this set.
Which brings me to its one shameful flaw. There are 36 episodes (the complete 2nd season) on this set, so there should have also been 36 cast commercials on it. Instead, there are 11 missing, NINE of which (and here we come to the shameful part) are the Winston cigarette commercials (the commercials alternate each week between the show's two sponsors, Winston and Kelloggs). Specifically, the only Winston commercials present on this set are the same ones that were already released on the BHUC sets (the fact that they are to be found on a competitor's set is doubtless the only reason they were included on this set). So the powers that be deliberately cut out the remaining Winston commercials, apparently afraid that if they let us watch 40 year old Winston cigarette commercials we all might start (gasp!) smoking (I don't smoke, never have, and no amount of persuasion is going to make me start. I'm not nearly as weak minded as the bigwigs think I am). Or more likely they just lack the moral courage to stand up and do the right thing for their customers and for posterity, it being easier to just cave in and sell out to the political correctness thought police (doesn't it make you feel good to know there are people out there smarter and better than we are, who care so much about our safety and welfare that they are willing to protect us from ourselves and make our decisions for us since we are all just a bunch of ignorant hicks and simplistic little children?). They even went so far in their cowardice as to put little mandatory blurbs at the beginning of the Winston episodes (even the ones which have had the commercials cut out) warning about the dangerous evils of smoking (I agree that smoking is not the smartest way to spend your time or your money, but that is still something adults have the right to decide for themselves, without holier-than-thou paternalistic busybodies attempting to dictate and force their personal preferences on the rest of us).
Indeed a shame that what could have been a great release is marred by moral cowardice and lack of principle. Even so, to have some cast commercials is better than to have none. Hopefully future releases of BH will be at least as good as this one, if not better (i.e., they will include ALL the cast commercials, not just the ones that the political correctness stormtroopers deem "acceptable"). So buy it for yourself, for your friends and relatives, for anyone who needs a good laugh, or for anyone who could benefit from having their cultural horizons expanded.
Superlative! October 26, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Having already owned these episodes as released by MPI from Paul Henning's personal 16mm prints, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Paramount's release.
I was thrilled to see that not only are the original sponsor openings and cast commercials included, but you have the option of watching with them INTEGRATED INTO THE SHOW via seamless branching! That's a feature even the "Ultimate Collection" couldn't boast... there, the sponsor clips were available only in a supplemental section.
The prints are much better here, too, with the exception of the opening and closing credits, which appear to be sourced from Henning's 16mm prints. Nonetheless, Parmount did a tremendous job on this release.
What a thrill to watch these episodes EXACTLY as originally broadcast. And what a trip, in our politically correct age, to see the Hillibillies actually smoking!
Thanks, Paramount, for not insulting our intellect by "deciding for us" what is or is not appropriate to watch.
While waiting for the Official First Season... October 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
...there is much to enjoy about the release of this Official Second Season (1963-1964).
I did submit to Amazon to change the format in the product listing to "black & white" rather than "color" as they have it described at the moment, since this season was filmed entirely in black & white and perhaps not everyone would know that (or think the releasing studio had colorized these disks).
*EDITED OCTOBER 30: I see Amazon did finally change the format to black & white for this set, so that is good to know there is less likely to be any potential for confusion.*
Since there is as of today not a listing of episodes contained in this set, I thought I would type the titles of all 36 full-length episodes (especially as there is apparently some cross-over for those buyers of the various collections regarding episodes...).
Jed Gets the Misery 09-25-63
Hair Raising Holiday 10-02-63
Granny's Garden 10-09-63
Elly Starts to School 10-16-63
The Clampett Look 10-23-63
Jethro's First Love 10-30-63
Chickadee Returns 11-06-63
The Clampetts Are Overdrawn 11-13-63
The Clampetts Go Hollywood 11-20-63
Turkey Day 11-27-63
The Garden Party 12-04-63
Elly Needs a Maw 12-11-63
The Clampetts Get Culture 12-18-63
Christmas at the Clampetts 12-25-63
A Man for Elly 01-01-64
The Giant Jack Rabbit 01-08-64
The Girl from Home 01-15-63
Lafe Lingers On 01-22-64
The Race for Queen 02-05-64
Lafe Returns 02-12-64
Son of Lafe Returns 02-19-64
The Clampetts Go Fishing 02-26-64
A Bride for Jed 03-04-64
The Critter Doctor 03-11-64
Granny Versus the Weather Bureau 03-25-64
Another Neighbor 04-01-64
The Bank Raising 04-08-64
The Great Crawdad Hunt 04-15-64
The Dress Shop 04-22-64
House of Granny 04-29-64
The Continental Touch 05-06-64
Jed Incorporated 05-13-64
Granny Learns to Drive 05-20-64
Cabin in Beverly Hills 05-27-64
Jed Foils a Home Wrecker 06-03-64
Jethro's Graduation 06-10-64
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