*** SPOILER ALERT ***
Elly May loved critters, but she had so many different kinds! She had dozens of different dogs and cats, a raccoon, a skunk, 2 chimpanzees, a bear, and some I'm sure I'm missing. But how did she get away with keeping all these animals in a Beverly Hills mansion? I know it was part of the show's plot, but was there any episode that explained how she got to keep all these animals as pets?
I don't recall anything specific in the show that would explain some sort of exception to local animal laws granted to the Clampetts, but I'd speculate that Elly got away with all the critters because of Jed's wealth. That wealth made Mr. Drysdale a LOT of money. Any time anybody complained about something the Clampetts did, such as one of Elly's critters being a problem, Mr. Drysdale would do whatever it took to fix the problem. His motive was simple. He wanted to be sure that Jed would stay happy and keep his money in the Commerce Bank!
shareYes that makes sense. Also I have seen a couple of early episodes where Elly would have a baby jaguar or something and she would explain that the doctor at the zoo wanted Elly to wean the young animal. That does make sense, as Elly had a great way with animals, and could certainly do that for a short time.
shareThat's right about the veterinarian at the zoo letting Elly take care of some of the animals for him. I'd forgotten about those episodes. Weren't those the episodes where Granny thought the young door-to-door pest control salesman was the "critter doctor" from the zoo but in fact he was a "Bug Doctor"??? And he introduced himself as "Jim GarrRRRRR" every time because Jethro and Jed would crush his hand as he tried to say his last name while shaking hands with him?!
shareI don't recall what exactly he was, but I do remember the "Jim GaRRRRRRRRR" part! Jethro apparently crushed everyone's hand when he shook them; I couldn't believe Elly May could actually beat him up.
shareIts their house, so why not? Plus the mansion was big enough, I'm sure there was plenty of room.
shareWell, they weren't allowed to have livestock on their tennis court, or to dig up their front lawn to have a vegetable garden. They weren't allowed to take in borders, or put up signs for such. They did get away with quite a bit, but I'm sure there were several zoning laws they were breaking. Suppose Elly's bear ran off and mauled someone?
shareThe critters aspect doesn't really appeal to me. It seemed a lot of the time that Ellie May was there simply to look good and play with critters (mission accomplished on both counts). Apart from her fights with Jethro, did she ever contribute anything funny?
I think an early Sixties audience probably appreciated the critters footage - I can remember circuses being broadcast in prime time, and there were other shows that featured "talking" animals (Disney etc). Nowadays the Ellie character would probably have to be killing prostitutes on Grand Theft Auto rather than playing with a chimp.
I agree that Elly was not on the show to be funny. But yeah her tomboyish attitude, rasslin with guys, her playing with her critters, and her bad cooking were the only comedic qualities she had. Jethro was in a lot more situations than Elly; Jethro always not knowing what he wanted to be in life, or tryig to find different ways to pick up women. Elly would just be in her bathing suit or her jeans, really just being there, and yet I certainly enjoyed watching Elly!
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