The Beverly Hillbillies
– The Official Third Season (1964
– 65/CBS DVD)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: B-
After many endless (and usually poor) DVD releases of
original episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, some even missing the theme
song for copyright reasons, CBS began issuing the best possible copies of the show and to separate
these sets from the endless rip-off versions are dubbing it “Official” so fans get the idea. The Beverly Hillbillies – The Official
Third Season (1964 – 65) is the last black and white season and it is a
very good one.
Right off
the bat, the premiere show has Mr. Drysdale (Raymond Bailey) taking Clampett
money to buy a movie studio in trouble.
It is funny and could have been funnier if it has been a two or
three-parter. Irene Ryan is back as
Granny, Nancy Culp as Mrs. Hathaway, Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett, Max Baer Jr.
as Jethro and Donna Douglas as Elly May.
With some of the best chemistry in TV history, many may put the show
down openly, but so many are still watching it.
This set contains all 34 shows of the season and of all
the shows in the “small town eccentrics” cycle, the first is still the best and
the series was such a hit, it was only a third of the way through and still on top when Fred Silverman
cancelled it! That is a story for
another time. If you must own the show,
these sets are the only way to go.
The 1.33 X 1 black and white image is not bad, though it
can be grainy. The big difference
between these copies and all the previous copies are detail. You can see how good the show was looking
even then and to be honest, the budgets were being increased. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono mixes are pretty
good for their age and usually on the clean side. The only extras are stills set to the theme
song and a videotaped TV special from the early 1990s called The Legend Of The Beverly Hillbillies hosted by Mac Davis and featuring
cameos by stars like Reba McIntyre and even a cameo by Green Acres co-stars Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor in character! Too bad it only lasts a minute.
This set lasts over 14 hours, so you will not get bored.
- Nicholas Sheffo
