Original Air Date: January 30, 1963
Starring: Donna Douglas, Buddy Ebsen, Bea Benaderet
Also Starring: Orangey
Directed by: Richard Whorf
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this episode!
Synopsis: Cousin Pearl Bodine (Bea Benaderet) advertises her yodeling classes in the Clampett’s home, much to Granny’s consternation.
Cinema Cat: Prolific cat actor Orangey appears in the series as Elly’s cat Rusty and this is the first episode in which he shines. After Elly adopts all of the dogs from the local pound, she brings them home. Rusty the cat and one dog have apparently been fighting and Elly May insists that the two be friends. She tells them to kiss and make up, and they start by rubbing their heads together.
They then kiss and the dog puts his paw around Rusty’s shoulder.
Jed (Buddy Ebsen) is surprised to see how Elly May has reconciled the two animals.
Later Cousin Pearl finds Rusty in her piano and carries the cat to the door to put him outside.
Still later in the episode Rusty is sitting with Elly May by the cement pond where Elly May is encouraging Rusty to give swimming a try. Rusty seems intrigued with the concept.
Elly May demonstrates how to swim while lying on the lawn chair and says it’s the dog paddle but Rusty can call it the cat paddle. Rusty watches attentively.
When a policeman (Brian Kelly) shows up to ask about the dogs and the incident at the shelter, Elly May shows him and Uncle Jed (Buddy Ebsen) how Rusty can now swim. Rusty does indeed swim in the pool, but considering that it looks as if someone threw Orangey into the water he didn’t have much choice. And he seems rather aggravated once he’s lifted out of the water in a towel by Donna Douglas . . . he even takes a swipe at co-star Buddy Ebsen!
Orangey would be a regular on the series as Rusty and he, like all of the “critters” on the show, were trained by Frank Inn.
Final Mewsings: You can throw a cat in water to make him swim, but you can’t make him enjoy it.
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