PETTICOAT JUNCTION

' '' Petticoat Junction'' ' was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc., and originally aired on the CBS network from 1963 to 1970. The rights to the show are held by CBS Paramount Domestic Television.
The "petticoats" in the title referred to the the opening sequence, in which it was implied that Kate Bradley's three daughters swam nude in a water tower, with their petticoats hung over the side. The word "petticoat" is also an adjective that refers to something that is run or administered by women. The "junction" in the title indicates that the Shady Rest Hotel was situated at a crossing of two train lines (though only one is ever mentioned).

Contents

Background

Cancellation

Syndication

DVD Releases

Episode List

Trivia

Listen to

External links

Background

Set in the rural town of Hooterville, the show followed the goings-on at the Shady Rest Hotel, of which Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet) was the proprietor. Her lazy Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) helped her in the day-to-day running of the business, while she served as a mediator in the various minor crises that befell her three daughters: Betty Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Billie Jo. The actresses portraying Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo changed over the years. Billie Jo was played by Jeannine Riley the first two seasons, and then by Gunilla Hutton for one year before Meredith MacRae assumed the part for the show's remaining seasons. Pat Woodell was the original Bobbie Jo for two years, with Lori Saunders playing the part subsequently. Buffs generally considered MacRae and Saunders the "real" Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo, given they played the roles the longest and the shows' early years with Riley and Woodall were not rerun in syndication. The availability of some of the black and white episodes on a DVD compilation called Petticoat Junction Ultimate Collection by MPI has altered this feeling somewhat, with fans appreciating the talents of Miss Riley in particular. Betty Jo was always portrayed by Linda Kaye (Henning), daughter of series creator Paul Henning for the entire run. The character of handsome crop duster Steve Elliott (Mike Minor) was added to the show at the start of its fourth season as a love interest for eldest daughter Billie Jo. However, in a remarkable plot twist he suddenly married Kate Bradley's youngest daughter Betty Jo a season later, appropriately, since Linda Kaye Henning and Mike Minor were dating and later married in real life. They set up housekeeping in a cottage near tracks between Hooterville and Pixley. A baby was added the following season.
Much of the original focus of the show was on the Hooterville Cannonball, a steam-driven train (serviced by the above-mentioned water tower) run more like a taxi service by its engineer, Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and conductor, Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis). It was not uncommon for the Cannonball to make an unscheduled stop in order to go fishing or pick fruit for Kate Bradley's menu at the Shady Rest Hotel. Occasionally, Betty Jo Bradley could be found with her hand on the Cannonball's throttle, as driving the train home from trips into town was one of her favorite pastimes. Those trips usually consisted of a stop at "Drucker's Store," run by Sam Drucker (Frank Cady).
Another character was the unnamed canine companion of the sisters, referred to simply as "dog". It was portrayed by "Higgins", who later went on to even greater fame as ''Benji''.

J. Homer Bedloe, played by actor Charles Lane, was vice president of the C.&F.W. Railroad. Bedloe was a mean-spirited railroad executive who visited the Shady Rest Hotel periodically attempting to find justification for ending the train service of the Hooterville Cannonball, but never succeeding.
The show benefitted greatly in its first four seasons from the very strong lead-in of ''The Red Skelton Show'', which immediately preceded it on Tuesday nights. In its first season it even exceeded Skelton's ratings, finishing at #4 overall for the season. The rest of its time on Tuesday nights, it remained in the Nielsen top 25.
Illness kept Bea Benaderet away for the last portion of the 1967-68 season, and she made only a few appearances when the show returned in fall 1968. Storylines had her away on a trip, as everyone's hopes were that the actress would recover. When Kathy Jo Elliot was born to Betty Jo, Kate Bradley is seen full-back to the audience in the last scene, as actress Edna Laird played the part with Benaderet's voice-over. On October 13, 1968, Miss Benaderet died of lung cancer. Henning had cast Rosemary DeCamp in several episodes as Kate's sister Helen the previous season, but for the next season, when it became obvious that Benaderet could not return to the show, the new character of hotel resident Dr. Janet Craig, played by June Lockhart, was created, as a counsel of sorts for the girls. Though still beloved by fans, the central premise of a country family was lost without a motherly figure. It wasn't until the last season that Kate's death was mentioned in passing, as Joe made a reservation for "the Kate Bradley memorial suite". Then too, the show became unabashedly sentimental in its final years, focusing on warmth rather than comedy and being in that sense a companion show for series like My Three Sons which also aired the same night. Ratings continued to fall (it had also been moved to Saturday night, traditionally American television's lowest-rated night, the previous year) and the show was canceled in 1970, but more to begin the famous "rural purge" of CBS' country shows than for poor audience response, since the show was still popular.
The show was set in the same fictional universe as the rural television comedy ''Green Acres'', also set in Hooterville. Both shows shared such characters as Sam Drucker, Nute Kiley, and Floyd Smoot. Characters on all of Henning's creations sometimes "crossed over" into each another's episodes, especially so during "Acres" first two seasons. In a 1968 episode in which Granny from ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' comes to Hooterville to tend to Betty Jo and Steve's baby, Granny looks at a picture of Kate and is astonished at her resemblance to Jed's cousin, Pearl Bodine (previously played by Benederet). It is also mentioned that Kate Bradley and Pearl Bodine were distant relatives.
Starting in 1968, the cast of ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' would cross over to Petticoat Junction in several appearances, first in a crossover episode, "Granny, The Baby Expert", that began as a story arc on The Beverly Hillbillies where Granny gets a letter from Pearl to come to Petticoat Junction where Granny goes there to tend to Betty Jo and Steve's baby and then the Clampetts, Mr. Drysdale and Miss Jane spending both Thanksgiving 1968 and Christmas 1968 at Petticoat Junction on The Beverly Hillbillies. In 1970, they visited Petticoat Junction once again, this time with Mr. Drysdale thinking that billionaire Howard Hughes (actually Howard Hewes, who ran the airport in Hooterville) lived there.

Cancellation

''Petticoat Junction'' was cancelled in the spring of 1970 due to declining ratings, a full year before the infamous purge by CBS of the other shows that, in the words of Pat Buttram, "had a tree in them."
CBS was lagging behind in certain key demographics by the late 60s, and decided it wanted a more hip, urban lineup to compete for younger viewers. Its sister shows ''Green Acres'' and ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' fell victim, as did ''Hee Haw'' and ''Mayberry R.F.D.'', the latter two of which were still garnering decent ratings.
Jeannine Riley (the first Billie Jo) and Lori Saunders (the second Bobbie Jo)
would later star in the 1973-74 comedy series, "Dusty's Trail".
Jeannine Riley and Gunilla Hutton (the second Billie Jo) were regulars on the TV show ''Hee Haw'' during the CBS years of the show from 1969 to 1971. Jeannine left the show in 1971, while Gunilla stayed with the show until 1991.
During the last season of ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' in 1970-1971, Lori Saunders and Mike Minor appeared on the show but in different characters, Saunders playing one of Mr. Drysdale's secretaries and Minor playing out of work actor Dick Bremerkamp.
Higgins the dog and Edgar Buchanan (Uncle Joe) reunited for the first "Benji" feature movie in 1974.

Syndication

After its cancellation, Filmways and Paul Henning's company sold the show to CBS. Its distribution has changed hands over the years due to corporate changes involving Viacom, which in 2006 split into two separate companies. Today CBS Paramount Television handles syndication.
The Technicolor (1965-70) episodes were shown in syndication for many years after the show's cancellation. However, the rights to the black-and-white (1963-65) episodes were not resolved and they were not included in the syndication package, although two of these episodes have been shown on occasion on TV Land.

DVD Releases

Some of the black-and-white episodes are now in the public domain, their copyrights having lapsed. As a result, there have been numerous releases on discount DVDs of a group of these episodes (although with generic bluegrass-like theme music instead of the familiar opening and closing music, which is still under copyright). The Paul Henning Estate holds the original film elements, and in 2005 allowed 20 of the black-and-white episodes to be officially released on DVD in "ultimate collections" via MPI Home Video.

DVD Name	Episodes	Release Date	Additional Information
Petticoat Junction - Ultimate Collection	20	August 30 2005	★ First 21 episodes of Season 1, excluding Christmas episode ★ ISBN 0788606697 or ISBN 9780788606694 (Region 1)

Episode List

Main articles: List of Petticoat Junction episodes

Trivia

★ Some exterior shots were filmed partially in Jamestown, California, the site of Railtown 1897 State Historic Park.

★ The original idea for ''Petticoat Junction'' came from Henning's wife, whose family ran a small hotel in Eldon, Missouri in the early 20th century.

★ The girls go skinny-dipping in a water tower marked "Drinking Water". However, it is the water tower for the Cannonball.

Listen to

★ Curt Massey sing the ''Petticoat Junction'' theme song, composed by Massey and Henning

External links

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★ ''Petticoat Junction'' at Jump The Shark.com

★ ''Petticoat Junction'' Official Site

★ Railtown 1897 State Historic Park

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