Ebsen, Douglas, and Baer reunite onscreen for the only time in the CBS-TV retrospective television special, The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies which ranked as the fourth most watched
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Ebsen, Douglas, and Baer reunite onscreen for the only time in the CBS-TV retrospective television special, The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies which ranked as the fourth most watched television program of the week—a major surprise given the mediocre rating for the 1981 TV-movie. It was a rare tribute from the “Tiffany network,” which owed much of its success in the 1960s to the series, but has often seemed embarrassed by it in hindsight, often down-playing the show in retrospective television specials on the network’s history and rarely inviting cast members to participate in such all-star broadcasts.
The Legend of The Beverly Hillbillies special ignored several plot twists of the TV movie, notably Jethro was now not a film director but a leading Los Angeles physician. Critter-loving Elly May was still in California with her animals, but Jed was back home in the Hills, having lost his fortune, stolen by the now-imprisoned banker Drysdale. Nancy Kulp had died in 1991 and was little referred to beyond the multitude of film clips that dotted the special.
