Retro : Legendary ‘Hillbillies’ : JED JOINS JETHRO, ELLY MAY AND MORE FOR A REUNION ON CBS

Come ‘n listen to the story ‘bout a man named Jed

Poor mountaineer, barely kept his fam’ly fed.

An’ then one day, he was shootin’ at some food ,

An’ up thru the ground came a bubblin’ crude.

Oil That is! Black gold, Texas tea!”

Three decades after “The Beverly Hillbillies” premiered on CBS, the popular sitcom’s three living regulars, Buddy Ebsen (Jed Clampett), Donna Douglas (Elly May Clampett) and Max Baer Jr. (Jethro Bodine) have reunited for the retrospective, “The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies,” airing Monday on CBS.

Ebsen had a great time reprising Jed. “I do a cute little interview,” Ebsen, 85, says. “I do a little dance at the end of it.” And it was fun to see his old co-stars. “I love those people,” Ebsen says warmly.

“They were a great part of my life for nine years. I saw more of them than I did my own family.”

The one-hour special features interviews with the Clampetts, clips and a special tribute to Granny Clampett, who was portrayed by the late Irene Ryan on the slapstick-comedy series. Eddie Albert, who starred in the “Hillbillies” spinoff “Green Acres,” astronaut Scott Carpenter, Ray Charles, the series’ creator Paul Henning, G. Gordon Liddy and Reba McEntire will be on hand to pay tribute to the Clampett clan who have lived on in reruns.

Several actors also reprise their roles from the series: Louis Nye (playboy Sonny Drysdale), Larry Pennel (movie star Dash Riprock) and Roy Clark (Cousin Roy).

Country music star Earl Scruggs, who recorded the “Ballad of Jed Clampett” in 1962 with the late Lester Flatt, will perform the tune, which hit No. 44 on the charts.

“The Beverly Hillbillies” was an instant hit when it premiered Sept. 26, 1962, and ranked No. 1 for the year during its first two seasons. Seven of its episodes are on the list of top 100-rated programs of all time, including the highest-rated half-hour program in history. The series also spawned two successful spinoffs, “Petticoat Junction” and “Green Acres.”

But when CBS wanted to “citify” its image, the network canceled the series in 1971, along with its two other “rural” comedies, “Mayberry R.F.D.” and “Green Acres.”

“I don’t know if this is a true story,” recalls Ebsen. “Bill Paley used to be the head of CBS, and Mrs. Bill Paley used to go to the Colony Restaurant in New York. There was a certain amount of cattiness among their friends. She walked in one day and one of her friends said, ‘Here comes the wife of the owner of the hillbilly network.’ Shortly after that, they began canceling all of them.”

In 1962, Ebsen thought “Beverly Hillbillies” was going to be a hit or nothing at all. “We didn’t think it would have any middle ground, so we went with it,” he says. “I tell you, nobody has a crystal ball about what is going to succeed in television. We are delighted, of course, that 30 years later, it is still going strong.”

Ebsen believes the secret to the series’ longevity lies in the fact the actors “matched well” as a family. “That is the secret of casting,” he says. “If you can cast so that the chemistry is such that the total is greater than the sum of the parts. Paul Henning, the little genius who put it all together, was responsible for that.”

“Beverly Hillbillies” also was a friendly show. “We came along at a time when there were a lot of hospital, agony shows,” Ebsen says. “All we did was try to entertain people rather than remind them of the terrible plagues and sicknesses of the world.”

The “Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies,” he believes, “will revive, not necessarily interest from the public, but interest from the people who are in charge of the networks. I think if you ran the ‘Hillbillies’ from the first episode now in prime time, you would have a smash show. I think ratings-wise it would be a smash.”

“The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies” airs Monday at 8 p.m on CBS; repeats of “The Beverly Hillbillies” air weekdays at 10 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. on KDOC ; 10:30 a.m. on KTTV and 4 p.m. on TB S .