The Beverly Hillbillies is an American sitcom television series originally broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. The show had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family from the Ozarks region who move to posh Beverly Hills, California, after striking oil on their land. The show was produced by Filmways and was created by writer Paul Henning. It was followed by two other Henning-inspired "country cousin" series on CBS: Petticoat Junction, and its spin-off Green Acres, which reversed the rags-to-riches, country-to-city model of The Beverly Hillbillies.
The Beverly Hillbillies ranked among the top 20 most-watched programs on television for eight of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the number one series of the year, with a number of episodes that remain among the most-watched television episodes in history. It accumulated seven Emmy nominations during its run. The series remains in syndicated reruns, and its ongoing popularity spawned a 1993 film remake by 20th Century Fox.
Created by Paul Henning Starring Buddy Ebsen Irene Ryan Donna Douglas Max Baer Jr. Raymond Bailey Nancy Kulp Bea Benaderet Harriet MacGibbon Opening theme "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" played by Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs Country of origin United States Original language(s) English No. of seasons 9 No. of episodes 274 (list of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Al Simon Martin Ransohoff Camera setup Single-camera Production company(s) Filmways Television CBS Television Network Distributor Viacom Enterprises Release Original network CBS Picture format Black-and-white (1962–1965) Color (1965–1971) Audio format monaural Original release September 26, 1962 – March 23, 1971