Can you do this better
According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, Max Baer Jr. is interested in buying the Silver Club Hotel Casino in Sparks, Nevada, and may want to transform it into Jethro’s Beverly Hillbillies Mansion and Casino. The Silver Club Hotel Casino is one of six casinos in Nevada owned by the Holder Hospitality Group that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. All of the properties are reportedly for sale.
After writing about the tragic and gruesome murder of Jasmine Fiore all week, this news comes as an amusing and delightful surprise. For those too young to remember, Max Baer Jr. is the actor who played Jethro Bodine on the classic 60s sitcom « The Beverly Hillbillies. » It is far and away my all-time favorite television show (I can still recite all the words to the theme song), and for good reason: it was the number one show on TV during the ’62 and ’63 seasons and remained in the top 10 until 1966. In short, « The Beverly Hillbillies » is one hilarious TV show.
The series, a classic « fish-out-of water tale », revolves around the adventures of Jed Clampett and his family in Beverly Hills, California. Jed Clampett, a « poor mountaineer who barely kept his family fed, » came into a fortune when he discovered that his property was sitting on a whole bunch of « Texas tea. » What’s Texas tea? It’s black gold, silly. What’s black gold? Do I have to spell it out for you? Jed Clampett struck oil and became an instant millionaire. So what did he do? Why, « he loaded up his truck and he moved to Beverly….. Hills that is. »
The cast includes Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett; Irene Ryan as Granny; Donna Douglas as Elly May Clampett (a stone cold fox who has a way with animals), and the aforementioned Max Baer Jr. as cousin Jethro Bodine.
Jethro is my favorite character on the show because he is such a bonehead; a big lovable numskull of a guy who is constantly changing his career path and getting into all kinds of trouble as a result. I’ll never forget the episode where Jethro decides he wants to enlist in the army. He’s very sincere about it, but the recruiters figure that his stupidity is just an act, an ingenious way for him to avoid the draft. They end up refusing to let him enlist but acknowledge the cleverness of his « act. »
And now Jethro may want to own a casino – Jethro’s Beverly Hillbillies Mansion and Casino to be exact.
According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, Max Baer Jr (who, incidentally, is the son of the legendary boxer Max Baer Sr.) has for years been considering building a casino in such locations as Reno and Carson City.
Will Jethro’s dream casino become a realty? I certainly hope so, and if it does, I’ll be very interested in checking it out.
I wonder how Jed Clampett would react to the news that Jethro wants to become a casino owner. He’d probably just scratch his head and say, « I’m gonna have to have a talk with that boy. »
Source:
Baer considers buying Silver Club in Sparks, Ray Hagar, Reno Gazetter Journal