CBS backs away from 'Hillbillies'

NEW YORK -- The pickup truck taking a new family of "Beverly Hillbillies" out to California may be sputtering.

Under pressure, CBS is dampening expectations for "The Real Beverly Hillbillies," a reality series in the works that borrows its premise from the hit 1960s sitcom. This time, the network planned to use a real family instead of a fictional one.

An advocacy group, the Center for Rural Strategies, placed a second round of newspaper ads protesting the series in newspapers on Wednesday.

There is still no schedule for when, or if, the series will get on the air, CBS President Leslie Moonves said.

"It's a show that's still very, very much in the discussion stages," he said. "We have not even located a family."

Many residents of rural states have complained that the show will perpetuate a stereotype of them as hicks; the advocacy groups claims thousands of e-mails in support. Casting is being conducted in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

"When you're dealing with reality -- and it's happened with the bulk of reality (shows) -- ideas come from all over the place," Moonves said. "And sometimes you're pushing the envelope, and sometimes ... it may appear you're pushing it too far."

The show's purpose, he said, "was to question social mores."

"It wasn't our intent to offend everybody," he said. "I'm sorry if we have."

Moonves also pointed out that the biggest buffoon in the original sitcom was the rich guy next door.

"He's back-pedaling," said Dee Davis, president of the Whitesburg, Ky.-based Center for Rural Strategies. While Davis was encouraged by Moonves' comments, he said Wednesday he would continue the ad campaign.

Advertisements are running in Los Angeles, Chicago and Nashville, he said.

"If we just packed it in and quit right now, who's to say they won't turn around and put it on the air?" Davis said.

Meanwhile, Fox is working on a new reality series that might make Davis happy. Called "The Simple Life," the network wants to send two young celebrities to a farm for six weeks of feeding chickens, milking cows and washing dishes.

Producers have been searching for a location in Louisiana.