Ancient Web: Buddy Ebsen Fans Built Barnaby Jones a Second File Cabinet

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

Buddy Ebsen played Jed Clampett and Barnaby Jones, but a fan website devoted to him is interested in far more than the two characters most people recognize.

Visit the Buddy Ebsen Tribute Page.

The homepage identifies its creator as R. Boehme and records a first appearance in March 1999, with a last update in January 2009. It introduces Ebsen as dancer, screen actor, television detective, playwright, songwriter, and painter. Separate filmographies cover films, television roles, stage appearances, and other performances.

The most satisfying archival work is tucked into the show's own section. The Barnaby Jones episode guide does not settle for a numbered list of titles. It distinguishes broadcast order from production order, explains how production-number schemes changed across seasons, and provides first-air dates. Its first entry is 'Requiem for a Son,' which aired January 28, 1973.

One fan's reference desk

The episode guide expands into season pages with credit listings and synopses. Boehme notes ambiguities in certain episode dates rather than smoothing them into invented certainty. A footer identifies a March 1999 first version and a November 2001 revision, an unusually helpful bit of provenance on a small fan page.

The homepage also carries a photograph gallery, guestbook links, obituaries and tributes, and a January 2009 anniversary greeting for the show. The outward-facing links include early websites about Ebsen's paintings and a museum of memorabilia.

You can see the infrastructure of another Internet era in the footer: a free-homepage hosting promotion and a hit-counter graphic, installed in August 1999. These are not incidental decorations. They show how a fan could publish a reference work without an institutional publisher or an official studio archive behind it.

The website is not a substitute for production records or independent biographies, and some older external links may have aged badly. But the meticulous episode table is a concrete contribution, one assembled with the kind of patience that fan communities regularly supplied before streaming services made metadata feel automatic.

Browse the tribute and the Barnaby Jones guide.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.