Jed Becomes a Banker

Mr Drysdale is all out of bullets. When his best crack shot takes ill for the skeet shooting competition.

It is a competition between rival banks and Mr Drysdale takes it all very seriously.

Now with his best shot out of action. Mr Drysdale is going to take a pasting. Then when he sees Jed and Jethro shooting, he has a crazy idea.

Get Jed on the team, as he has to be a bank employee. Mr Drysdale makes Jed the vice president of the bank.

To be a banker when he needs a crack shot to help beat a rival banker in a skeet shooting competition, but his partner needs to be an employee. Miss Hathaway thinks this is all very underhanded.

Alas his rivals get wind of the situation. They decide to pick an employee and find granny cleaning the office.

Of course the joke is everyone of the Clampetts were good with the gun. Elly May could hit the targets with a catapult.

Billy Hacker (Charles Lane) suspects something's up when Milburn Drysdale (Raymond Bailey) wants an employee to fill in for the skeet shoot contest. Buddy Ebsen somehow gets a big job at the bank. Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr show off their great shooting skills at the range much to the shock of Drysdale and his secretary Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp). Lane was in top form as usual playing brilliantly off our Hillbilly heroes.

This episode shows Mr. Drysdale at his most desperately devious. However he has competition, and what a super idea. The very first appearance of poker face Charles Lane, the guy all us kids loved to hate. A winner, thanks to producer and writer Paul Henning.

There's a contest between banks for skeet shooting, which should be a breeze for Drysdale, because he has a crack shot. But what happens when the guy gets sick?

According to the offical rules, the shooter must be an employee of the bank. Sooooo Drysdale hires Jed -- the BEST shot ever -- and makes him vice president of the bank! VP? Laugh out loud outrageous, although Drysdale's chief competitor, Hacker (Charles Lane) ain't laughing. And what if he pulls the same stunt and hires on Granny, Jethro or Elly as crack shots?

See this one through for the the bitter rivalry between Mr. Drysdale and Hacker. Raymond Bailey and Charles Lane compliment each other when it comes to tricks and traps, and catch their hammy expressions. Love the scene where Hacker sits down and interviews Jed. Director Richard Whorf got the very best performances here. Lane later guest starred on PETTICOAT JUNCTION, playing Homer Bedloe, whose mission was to put the Cannonball train out of business.

No filming notes on where the shootout was held, but if only the background was in color, one of the most picturesque episodes.

SEASON 1 EPISODE 24 remastered balck and white CBS dvd box set. Seasons 1 through 5 are on dvd. According to Amazon, seasons 6 through 9 should be released on blu ray by 2027.