Long before the Beverly Hillbillies struck oil and headed west, there was another cornpone sitcom that struck a chord in rural areas.
The Real McCoys was the creation of writer Irving Pincus, and spent 6 seasons (1957-63) on the air, first on ABC, then shifting to the Hillbillies' home, CBS, for the final season. I remember seeing this show in syndication as a kid, airing after school on a local channel, but wasn't really that impressed.
Walter Brennan starred as Amos, the grandfatherly patriarch of the McCoy family, with Richard Crenna (ex-Our Miss Brooks) as his son. Typical sitcom fare of the period, and like a vast number of shows back in those days, was filmed at Desilu Studios. Marterto Productions, which co-produced the series, is Danny Thomas' production company. Thomas was starring in Make Room For Daddy at the time.
Here's the opener, "Californy, Here We Come!":
Even though it got a four year headstart on Beverly Hillbillies, most folks have all but forgotten about the McCoys. In retrospect, that is a disservice, since even though it was a formulaic, by-the-numbers sitcom in its time, it would fit nicely on channels such as INSP or Hallmark today.
Rating: B-.
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