CBS Heads For Hills In Hick Hunt

A CBS producer is searching southern West Virginia's coal fields for a family to star in a reality TV series patterned after the 1960s sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies."

The casting crew is looking for a mother and father in their 40s with at least two children. Grandma and grandpa also are welcome, said CBS producer Wendy Cassileth, who passed out fliers in Logan County last week.

The fliers also will be distributed in Boone, Mingo, Wyoming and McDowell counties. Cassileth plans to be in the state through Nov. 25.

West Virginia is one of several states being scoured for a rural family who will live in Beverly Hills, Calif., for one year. The search also is going on in Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Missouri.

"We thought this was an interesting way to look at a real country family," Cassileth said. "It's about what is the perspective of a country family, like a real family from the heart of this country, what is their perspective on Beverly Hills."

The original "Beverly Hillbillies," about a poor mountaineer who became rich when he struck oil on his property, ran from 1962 until 1971. At one time, it was television's No. 1 program, attracting up to 60 million viewers weekly.