Return of the Beverly Hillbillies Max Baer Jr. (the original Jethro) who declined to participate. The film was produced and written by original series creator Paul Henning and was intended as a pilot for a proposed revival of the series, but this never materialized. "Return of the Beverly Hillbillies" premiered as "The CBS Tuesday Night Movie" on October 6, 1981. Following the death of Granny, Jed Clampett returned to his roots to live in a backwoods cabin in the town of Bug Tussle rather than living alone at his Beverly Hills mansion after having voluntarily divided his massive fortune between daughter Elly May and nephew
The Kallikaks and Ron Kantor wrote the episodes. The title for the series comes from an early twentieth century sociological study whose author, Henry H. Goddard, coined the name "The Kallikak Family" as the title of his 1912 book about the study. Episode directors were Kantor, Bob LaHendro, and Dennis Steinmetz. Ross wrote the shows theme song, "Beat the System," which Roy Clark performed for the opening credits. Tom Wells wrote other music used in the show. Bonnie Ebsen was the daughter of Buddy Ebsen, who had starred from 1962 to 1971 in "The Beverly Hillbillies". "The Kallikaks" premiered on August 3,