Camp TV, The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–71), and Flip Wilson’s (1970–74) Geraldine Jones

Abstract

Abstract This chapter addresses the correspondence between camp and the comedy of manners—an enduring paradigm for camp narratives—as well as the deficiencies in camp theories for addressing race and, more subtly, gender nonconformity. Recent work by Racquel Gates unearths the proximity between camp and “negative” Black texts that challenge racialized norms of tastefulness. Quinlan Miller consequently illuminates the cisgendered and white assumptions of camp theory, as well as the racialized, “trans gender queer” dimensions of gender performance that underpin 1950s and 1960s Camp TV. The sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–71, CBS) in addition to Flip Wilson’s drag performances as Geraldine Jones on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (1968–73, NBC) and The Flip Wilson Show (1970–74, NBC) both derive humor from a camp comedy of manners in which flamboyant vulgarity interrupts conventionally “tasteful” performances of race, gender, and sexuality. The chapter also explores Wilson’s “secondary circulation” in Black queer and trans culture.