Beloved TV Favorite Returns With Episodes Many Fans Haven't Seen in Years

More than 60 years after it first introduced America to Jed Clampett and his unforgettable family, The Beverly Hillbillies is getting a major television revival.

Beginning Monday, Aug. 3, FETV will begin airing the complete series of the beloved sitcom, allowing viewers to watch all 274 episodes from the very beginning. Episodes will air weekdays at 8:10 a.m. ET and 12:50 a.m. ET, with the network promising every episode will be presented in its original, uncut format.

For many longtime fans, that’s significant news.

While The Beverly Hillbillies has never entirely disappeared from television, many rerun packages have focused on the public domain episodes from the show’s first two seasons. Those versions have often featured replacement music and left hundreds of later episodes largely unseen by modern audiences. FETV’s announcement means viewers will once again be able to follow the Clampetts’ entire nine-season journey from beginning to end.

“The Beverly Hillbillies is one of those rare sitcoms that is just as funny today as it was more than 60 years ago,” Adam Sumrall, Executive Vice President of FETV and FMC, said in a statement.

“If you know the story of a man named Jed, you know why The Beverly Hillbillies has remained a television favorite for generations. It’s a timeless comedy built around unforgettable characters and family-friendly humor, the kind of programming our viewers love.”

Starring Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett, Irene Ryan as Granny, Donna Douglas as Elly May and Max Baer Jr. as Jethro, the sitcom premiered on CBS in 1962 and quickly became one of the biggest hits in television history. It finished as America’s No. 1 show during each of its first two seasons and remained among television’s 20 most-watched series for eight of its nine seasons. Sixteen episodes are still counted among the 100 most-watched television episodes ever broadcast in the United States.

The show’s premise remains one of television’s most enduring. After striking oil on their Ozarks property, the Clampett family leaves behind country life and moves into a Beverly Hills mansion, where their common-sense values repeatedly clash with the customs of wealthy Southern California society. The fish-out-of-water comedy made household names of its stars while creating one of television’s most recognizable theme songs, “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” which even reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country chart.

Starting Aug. 3, fans will once again be able to watch every chapter of that story as The Beverly Hillbillies returns to FETV in its entirety.

Related: Last Surviving Cast Member of Groundbreaking ’70s Sitcom Turns 79