Beverly Hillbillies Geneology

[fishboy]

Hello,
I have a question that's been bugging me for years, sadly... On the late 60's / early 70's show the Beverly Hillbillies, Granny explicitly refered to Jethro as her grandson and vice versa, but her last name (married I assume) is Moses (Daisy Moses) and Jethro's is Bodine. So you would think that she is his maternal grandmother, but she refers to Jethro's mother as Cousin Pearl. Also, how is Jed, Jethro's uncle, since Jed refers to Jethro's mother as Cousin Pearl, and not as his sister. If Jethro's father was Jed's brother, Jed and Jethro would both be Clampetts; I guess that Jed's (deceased) wife could have been a sibling to Pearl or Jethro's father.

Please Help!

J Kao

[Flymaster]

Umm...I think the point is that they're hillbillies. Their geneology isn't supposed to make sense.

[PlanMan]

I wasn't gonna respond to this until I saw the names of the OP and first responder - fishboy and Flymaster - it was natural you two would hook up.

Anyway, people in families are often referred to by a name that doesn't really reflect their place on the family tree. My wife has an "Uncle Ernie" who isn't really an uncle, just a long-time family friend. Also, cousins from the same generation as other aunts and uncles often acquire the "older" titles. And, family members sometimes latch onto a name, oft used by children, so as not to confuse the kids, and retain the practice even after the kids a grown.

In any event, its only a TV show, and I bet the writers didn't put a lot of thought into the backstory.

Remember the Jeff Foxworthy line, "You might be a redneck if your family tree don't branch."

[samclem]

We can handle this in two ways:

I'm My Own Grandpa is a link which provides the words to this humorous song, possibly originally performed by Lonzo and Oscar, two stars of The Grand Ole Opry in days gone by. The music is cheesey, but I think the words are what are most important here. Of course, you need to hear someone sing this song. So look for a version on-line. Amusing.

We can tell West Virginia jokes: example--

Q: Why didn't they prosecute a recent murderer in W.VA.?
Ans: The DNA samples were all the same and there were no dental records.

[JillGat]

This is borderline "culture" but I'll let the Cafe folks have a shot at it...

[Torgo]

Although Jethro calls Jed "uncle," Jed is really his cousin by marriage (Jed's dead wife's Cousin Pearl=Jethro's mother...the "uncle" moniker is due to Jed being much older than Jethro) and Granny his great-aunt, not his grandmother (in the rural south it's common to refer to all elderly female rellies as "granny"). Jed is a widower, his mother-in-law is Granny, his daughter is Ellie Mae. Ellie Mae and Jethro are cousins. Cousin Pearl is Jed's dead wife's cousin and Jethro's mother. She is NOT Granny's cousin but perhaps Jed's dead wife's father's niece. Again, it's much simpler to just label her "cousin." Miss Hathaway is a lesbian.