Petticoat Junction (1963–1970) User Reviews

Folksy & heartwarming shenanigans at the Shady Rest

[roghache · 7/10 · 9 July 2006]

This is a mindless, entertaining series from the 1960's that baby boomers such as myself grew up on. Petitcoat Junction is something of a first cousin to The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres. The series portrays the goings on at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is located on the outskirts of the little village of Hooterville. The hotel is run by the widowed Kate Bradley and her three lovely young daughters, Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Betty Jo...all without much assistance from their lazy but protective Ol' Uncle Joe. Much of hotel life revolves around the local steam train, the Cannonball, operated by Floyd and Charlie, who make regular stops during their runs to Sam Drucker's little country store.

The two main stars wonderful, with Bea Benadaret playing the widow, Kate, and Edgar Buchanan Uncle Joe, who's mainly seen concocting get rich quick schemes while lazing about on the hotel's porch in his rocking chair. Yes, he's a-movin' kinda slow at the Junction. The three beautiful daughters are adequately cast, though with various actress changes mid way through the series.

The show gets its name from the three daughters at the Shady Rest. Naturally many of the plot lines revolve around the suitors of these lovely young ladies. Betty Jo, the youngest, is the one given the most character portrayal, initially something of a tomboy but eventually growing up to wed sweetheart Steve, the first Bradley sister to marry. Unlike some viewers, I don't recall her two sisters having very distinctive personalities, except for Billie Jo being starstruck. In my opinion, they mainly seem to look pretty, banter a bit with each other & their mom, and attract beaux. Assorted guests come & go from the Shady Rest, and it's all a leisurely, amusing tale of their various misadventures. All in all, it's a cute, fun, and harmless little series.

It has to be confusing when your sisters keep changing in appearance!

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 25 March 2017]

This was one of a group of CBS rural comedies popular in the 1960's that were actually grouped together as far as having interdependent casts - "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Green Acres" being the other two series.

The show is about life at the rural Shady Rest Hotel, owned and operated by widow Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet). Action centers around guests at the hotel as well as Kate's three attractive daughters, Betty Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Billie Jo. The actresses portraying Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo changed over the years. In fact, season two is the last of two seasons for the first actresses to portray these roles. Betty Jo, the youngest and the tomboy, was played by Linda Henning, daughter of the series creator Paul Henning, for the entire run of the series.

The hotel is literally in the middle of nowhere, halfway between two very small towns. The actual location (state for example) is never given, and the issue of how exactly it is that Kate manages to make what seems to be quite an adequate living running a hotel that theoretically should have few if any guests is never even addressed. This is a show very much rooted in the early 60's, and the idea is escapism and fun, not realism.

Petticoat Junction-*** All Aboard!

[edwagreen · 7/10 · 14 November 2007]

Hooterville, Petticoat Junction, Homer Bedloe, some of the names of people and places in this memorable 1960s series.

Edgar Buchanan played Uncle Joe. To me, he was a reminder of the Kingfish in the old Amos 'N Andy series. Old, lazy and shiftless, Buchanan etched an unforgettable character who lived life the way it should be-a leisurely rural existence filled with scheming to improve his lot and to avoid a harder way of doing things.

Bea Benaderet was right on target as the mother of the 3 daughters operating out at the Shady Rest Hotel. What an appropriate name for a hotel out in the sticks.

Charles Lane, who died recently at age 102, was a scene stealer each time he was on. Yes, he was Homer Bedloe, always up to his neck to gain control of Shady Rest for the railroad.

A nostalgic tribute to rural life was depicted here.

Petticoat Junction

[aguything · 12 May 2005]

Hi, everyone. I'm Roy. Petticoat Junction was already halfway through its first season when I first got to view it. This would be February 1964 and I was nine going on ten. I was already hooked on The Beverly Hillbillies and had grown fond of the rural sensibilities of that show. My home town, Fresno California, was a lot like Hooterville in the '50s and '60s.

After seeing my very first episode, which was Last Chance Farm, I knew that I wanted to continue watching the show. I can't really specify what it was about the first episode. I did develop a crush on the youngest daughter, Betty Jo, but that wouldn't happen for weeks. In the meantime I enjoyed watching Kate outwit Homer Bedloe and also looked forward to seeing what Uncle Joe's latest moneymaking scheme would be. Tuesday night (when it originally aired) actually broke up my school week. It was like getting an extra weekend because I enjoyed it so much.

I didn't get to see the pilot episode until the first season had gone to reruns. I remember that night my Mom's brother and his family had arrived from Alabama to visit all the California relatives, and poor Mom had to keep pulling me away from the TV telling me I could watch that anytime. But this was the pilot! I didn't know how to get that point across.

But I certainly concur with everyone who has commented favorably on the first two seasons. They were, for me also, the best. While my favorite Billie Jo was Meredith, who didn't come along until the fourth season, I always liked what Jeannine brought to the character during her time on the show, and Pat Woodell's portrayal of Bobbie Jo.

I was fortunate enough to meet four of the actresses (Linda Henning, Lori Saunders, Jeannine Riley and Gunilla Hutton) at the celebrities conventions held in Southern California. All were sweethearts, just like their characters. I also remember getting jazzed when I heard that TV Land was going to air the first two seasons. But that wound up not happening, and my understanding is that the demand wasn't strong enough. I realize PJ had, and has, something of an esoteric appeal, and isn't a show that's generically referred to the way its sibling shows, Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres, are. That said, though, I discovered six years ago through the miracle of the Internet that I wasn't the only viewer on the planet Earth who appreciated the show as much as I did. I've gotten to meet some other fans who have become some of my closest friends. I'm a regular poster at the Shady Rest Forum, where we have some great discussions and share memories of the series. Sadly, it hasn't aired in the United States since March, 2000, when TV Land pulled it off the air, and I sincerely wish that one of the networks, if not TV Land, would bring it back.

-Roy

A different era

[dgsimpson175-924-579280 · 10/10 · 11 September 2014]

I will say Petticoat Junction is an enjoyable show. I am 56 with grandchildren if they were watching this show I would not worry something inappropriate popping up and surprising me or my grandchildren. I used to watch this show with my grandfather good times. This is a feel good show Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres are also enjoyable. I realize times change and people taste in television will change. These show would not make it today.These shows are still popular with those of us who grew up watching them. When I watched these shows I knew most problems could not be fixed in a half hour. Kate was great her death at such a young age was very sad she was the show. I am glad she got a starring role before her death Paul Henning was a great man for giving Bea this opportunity. Her supporting cast was also wonderful. This was a simpler time.

Show Started Stronger Than It Finished

[DKosty123 · 7/10 · 9 January 2008]

This show centered around a hotel known as the junction near a small country town called Hooterville. It started very strong as veteran folks Edgar Bucanan & Bea Benedaret (Uncle Joe & Kate Bradley) ran the hotel.

Then there were the 3 Bradley girls. Bobbie-Jo, Billie-Jo & Betty-Jo. I met a lot of kids from the era of this show named after these girls. They were wholesome American teen girls who were every boys dream.

Then there was the Cannonball, the train that served the Hooterville. It was one of the charms of the show with the engineers. One of the charming holiday shows of this involved having the Cannonball all decorated for Christmas.

When Bea, the actress died in real life, they tried to bring on June Lockhart as a replacement. That was OK, but the scripts seemed to lose their comic energy. It still ran until 1970 anyway. The show had its charm.

50 years ago in 1963...Petticoat Junction premiered on CBS

[raysond · 9/10 · 22 November 2013]

"Petticoat Junction" originally aired for seven seasons on CBS-TV from September 24,1963 until the final episode on April 4,1970. Created by Paul Henning,who also served as executive producer of the series,this series produced 222 episodes during the course of it's network run. Out of the 222 episodes,only 57 of those episodes during the first two seasons of "Petticoat Junction" were in classic black-and-white that aired from September 24,1963 until June 15,1965. Out of the entire 222 episodes of this series only 165 of those episodes were in color for Seasons 3 thru 7 that aired from September 21,1965 until April 4,1970. Out of the cast members that were on this series,only actors Edgar Buchanan and Linda Henning were the only cast members that stayed on throughout its entire seven-year run. The show's sponsor for the series entire seven-year tenure was the Proctor & Gamble company (the makers of Tide Detergent, Duncan Hines cake mixes, Joy dish detergent and JIF Peanut Butter).

"Petticoat Junction" was one of the great,heart-felt show that was part of CBS' rural line-up of comedies that were right alongside "The Beverly Hillbillies","Green Acres",and "The Andy Griffith Show". Set in the town of Hooterville,this series featured the great Bea Benaderet(who was a regular from "The George Burns/Gracie Allen Show",and not to mention was the voice of Betty Rubble in the animated cartoon "The Flintstones")as Kate Bradley,the widow and the manager of the Shady Rest Hotel,which is located just on the outskirts of the little village of Hooterville. Kate Bradley runs the hotel while taking care of her three lovely daughters,Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Betty Jo...all without much assistance from Uncle Joe(Edgar Buchanan)who in just about every episode was looking for quick rich schemes,while lazing himself away on the hotel's front porch. The show enjoy great success within the Nielsen ratings until the 1968-1969 season when actress Bea Benaderet passed away from lung cancer at the start of the 1968-1969 season,and that was when the show was declining in the ratings. In an effort to save the show,actress June Lockhart was brought in as Benaderet's replacement as Dr. Janet Craig,a physician at the nearby hospital who took over the responsibilities of the Shady Rest Hotel(June Lockhart was no stranger in the land of television shows. She was the mom on "Lassie" from 1957-1964 and was Dr. Maureen Robinson on the science fiction/adventure series "Lost In Space" from 1965-1968. June Lockhart came on board "Petticoat Junction" after her series "Lost In Space" ended production in 1968). By the show's final season which was the 1969-1970 one,the ratings were at the bottom of the Nielsens. In order to save the show,the producers did however do crossover episodes which consisted of characters from both "Petticoat Junction",and "Green Acres",not to mention bringing on the characters from "The Beverly Hillbillies". The episode titled "A Christmas in Hooterville" was that crossover episode that aired in December 12, 1969. Because of low ratings,CBS canceled this series on April 4,1970 after 222 episodes. The precursor of what was to come came within a year after "Petticoat Junction" was canceled with CBS' infamous purge of 1971. The show that replaced "Petticoat Junction" after seven season came on September 19,1970 with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show".

The shows that were the victim of CBS' infamous purge that came in 1971. Gone were "Lassie"(17 Seasons), "The Ed Sullivan Show"(23 Seasons), "The Beverly Hillbillies"(9 Seasons), "Hogan's Heroes"(6 Seasons), "Green Acres" (6 seasons), "Family Affair"(5 Seasons),not to mention the town of Mayberry,North Carolina....eight seasons as part of "The Andy Griffith Show",and three seasons as part of "Mayberry R.F.D."(11 Seasons),"The Jim Nabors Variety Hour"(2 Seasons), "Hee Haw"(ran for two seasons on CBS,then in 1971 went into national syndication for the next 20 years),and "The Glen Campbell Show"(2 Seasons).

"Petticoat Junction" was a great family heart-felt series that would have stood alongside "The Beverly Hillbillies",and "The Andy Griffith Show" in all-time popularity,if only someone at the powers that be over at Viacom(the distributor of the re-run package of sitcoms),had not done the unthinkable in the early-1970's,decided to exclude the first two seasons from their syndication package which aired from 1963 to 1965. Only the 165 color episodes were re-run in for national syndication that aired from 1965 to 1970. The first two seasons were some of the funniest and most innovative episodes of the series. The show is rarely seen in television these days,but its worth taking a look.

A classic from my childhood years

[statman122 · 7/10 · 6 November 2018]

I remember looking forward to this show as a kid. I was sure happy to stumble upon it on METV! The show was part of a trio of comedies with a rural , "home-spun" American setting; that included "Green Acres" and "The Beverly Hillbillies".

One thing that struck me on revisiting this show, is how much the first two season stand out from the rest. Season three is pretty good, but I now think Merideth MacCrae threw a wet blanket on the later seasons ; which is kind of funny because she was my favorite when I was a kid. In any case, This show probably won't win over the younger generation; but it sure was a pleasant stroll down memory lane for me!

"There's A Little Hotel Called The Shady Rest At The Junction"

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 17 July 2008]

During the Sixties CBS was known as the rural station because heading its ratings were such shows as Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and the show from where Green Acres spun from, Petticoat Junction. You loved the endearing characters created on Petticoat Junction and the interchangeable regulars on each of them.

Petticoat Junction was somewhere in the Ozarks a really rural part of the state. Part of the gimmick here was the Hooterville Cannonball, the railroad that ran from Pixley to Hooterville and back. It was run by Smiley Burnette and Rufe Davis, later Davis alone when Burnette passed away. It was vital to the lifeblood of the economy of Hooterville.

After all who was going to stay at Bea Benaderet's Shady Rest Motel which as Kate Bradley she ran with the help of those curvaceous daughters of her's. Bobbi Jo, Betty Jo, and Billie Jo were enough of a sight to make any weary traveler stop. Helping out as little as possible at the motel was Edgar Buchanan as Uncle Joe who did as little physical work as possible, but who schemed big.

Scheming was a necessity because the Hooterville Cannonball became an obsession with railroad executive Homer Bedloe, played endearingly by the raspy voiced Charles Lane. Lane brought years of experience playing exactly these types in hundreds of movie roles, but Homer Bedloe became his career part. Half the episodes were devoted to the citizenry of Hooterville rallying behind Benadaret keeping the Cannonball running. You've got to wonder when the US rail system consolidated into AMTRAK just where was the Hooterville Cannonball in the scheme of things?

The development of the Bradley girls became known as 'hooters' thereby entering our culture. And the name Hooterville became synonymous with calling any place that happened to be located far from any decent sized city. I remember on a trip to Portugal referring to the village of Fatima as the Hooterville of Portugal. Don't think so, take a trip there and see how far out in the Portugese boondocks it is.

From Frank Cady as Sam Drucker the general store owner and a host of other semi-regulars who got in more than one episode of this and Green Acres. They were the real richness of the show. In fact they contributed so much that when Bea Benederet died in 1968 the show just kept on going. It could have kept going, but for a deliberate decision by CBS to cancel those rural comedies because they wanted to appeal to a different demographic.

Still Petticoat Junction had its fans. Still does even among city slickers.

Small Town America

[shelbythuylinh · 7/10 · 28 November 2021]

CBS should not had purged these shows here in the rural settings there like Green Acres and this show here.

As that it is about three daughters that help run the Shady Rest Hotel in Hooterville for tourists as they learn about life and love. From that over owner crazed Uncle joe that owns it and the daughters mother that keeps it together in the family.

Back when shows were about talent and wit.

The least of the "hick comedies"

[irishm · 3/10 · 23 December 2017]

I wouldn't even watch this one when I was a kid and would watch almost anything. There was no real "concept" as there was for the other sit-coms of the age... "Green Acres" had city folk in the country, "Beverly Hillbillies" had country folk in the city, but this was just a hotel in the same fictional vicinity as those other two superior shows came from. It was difficult to tell the three girls apart, especially because of the casting changes. And, to be really nit-picky about it, I remember learning from characters on one of the Paul Henning series that the Cannonball only traveled between Hooterville and Pixley, back and forth... so where is the "Junction" of which the title speaks?

Nothing here of much interest. I tried it again as an adult to see if I was missing anything, and the answer was "no".

Great,sweet-natured show

[ronnybee2112 · 9/10 · 18 August 2020]

This show,along with it's sister shows Green Acres and Beverly Hillbillies,had an honest sweetness to them that you just did not see all the time,then or now. Yes,all the shows were a bit silly,cheesy,corny,etc but they had a charm all their own. These shows had to have been fun to make,because they sure are fun to watch. Highly recommended to anyone needing a laugh.

Always enjoyed this Show

[gene-07202 · 6/10 · 11 January 2020]

I have one big question. The start of every show has 3 beautiful naked women swimming in the water tank. Is this tank supplying water JUST for the train? Or all of Petticoat Junction? If the latter? Do they sell the water anyplace? (*S*).

Let's get real here folks...

[heckles · 2/10 · 17 December 2005]

Several people have stated, why don't they make shows like this anymore? After watching several episodes from a DVD purchased at a convenience store, I can say why: it's a dull show. Almost excruciatingly so. Perhaps an adequate time waster if one can't figure out something better to do and one doesn't care to watch what is on the other one or two networks, but that wouldn't cut it today when a show has to run against several dozen other choices, including the Internet.

The only thing noticeable was the implication from the credits that the three daughters regularly skinny-dipped in the water tank. Hot stuff in 1963 to a nine year old boy, but now I think: that water's unfiltered and unchlorinated, you really want to expose yourselves to that? Other than that, they are allowed to be about as sexy as mannequins. And Hooterville seems to run on an economic system somewhat less efficient than that of the Soviet Union. Everything can be paid for with dinners at the Shady Rest, and no one seems to mind that the only transportation around is a Civil War-era locomotive. I guess they all piled into it on Saturday nights and rode it to the drive-in.

"Green Acres" a couple years later did the right thing with the rural milieu: use it for absurdist humor that didn't con city dwellers with the idea that there American small towns are gentle paradises. And "The Beverly Hillbillies" at least had Buddy Epsen. This one? It will be completely forgotten in another couple decades.

Underrated show

[mikeg-2 · 23 August 2001]

One of the most underrated sitcoms in television history, "Petticoat Junction" is a fine example of character-driven comedy. Though it is overshadowed by the other rural comedies, "Andy Griffith," "The Beverly Hillbillies," and "Green Acres," "Petticoat Junction" had a warmth that continued throughout its 7 year run. The episodes before Bea Benaderet's untimely death are perhaps the best, but "Petticoat Junction" remains one of television's undiscovered gems.

Terrific Writing and Acting

[byron938 · 8/10 · 2 January 1999]

Petticoat Junction is extremely well written. The actress of Kate Bradley is what made the show famous. With her caring and great family values. We need show's like Petticoat Junction today. Because we have lost those family values. Love, caring, brotherhood, and most of all trust. The characters BettyJo,BobbieJo and BilleJo showed us how to respect our parents at the same time to have humor and grace. We as tv viewers will relish this timeless sitcom.

A product of its time.

[kaytheyeah · 6/10 · 7 April 2024]

I'm definitely many years younger than the majority of those who grew up with the show, so I will certainly not share the same sentiments about it. Petticoat Junction is an odd little show, but it's very charming especially in its first few seasons. It's a piece of media that falls in line with the interest, or trope, of hillbilly or western shows that were popular in the 60s. Especially being that it coincides with Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres. If you're looking for something that's mildly entertaining and enjoy that realm of shows, it's definitely worth a watch. Although, I do have some reservations.

My first is that I find uncle Joe to be a bit annoying at times, but I feel the same way about Kate as well. I understand what they were going for in terms of the dynamics and personalities, but their characterizations just throw me off and make me want to rip my hair out If I watch the show for more than a few episodes at a time.

Secondly, this ties back in with it being a product of its time. There are certainly episodes that have not aged well into the 21st century. For me, that specifically falls onto "Local Girl Makes Good" and somewhat "The Ringer" in season one. While Kate is certainly the matriarch and glue that holds everyone together, it just gives me an itch that the girls feel like eye candy and initially are given distinct personalities, the tomboy, the boy crazy one, and the studious book smart one, but eventually culminate into mostly having boy troubles and not caring for much else until later seasons. Kates advice regarding that also tends to feel outdated in some circumstances.

With that said, it's definitely worth a watch for a younger audience, the show has some great core values and funny moments. However, keep it in the back of your mind that things are not like the were in that time period, because as a new viewer some plot lines, comments, or advice my throw you off.

Also, the Indian statue gets me every time.

Excellent old TV

[SanteeFats · 9/10 · 12 June 2012]

I watched Petticoat Junction from its first airing, (yeah, I am that old). I enjoyed it then and am enjoying it even more as I watch the series on DVD. It is a time when shows not only did not but could not be extremely suggestive as they are nowadays. I am not a prude by any means but sometimes it is nice to just have good looking women who are funny and not running around in as skimpy a bikini as possible. The reason I did not give it a ten is because after Bea Benaderet, the mom,died during season 3 I believe the shows lost some of their zing. The interactions between mother-daughters and Uncle Joe (a champion loafer) were no longer there and they couldn't find a really good replacement. June Lockhart was okay but no Kate.

Restful viewing at the SHADY REST

[zendatrim · 10/10 · 16 February 2018]

Sheer magic i loved this show. I managed to buy a few of the seasons, and the rest i found on Amazon or other places.

One show for the lads too as 3 beauties were in this even the ones who took over were beauties. Betty Jo, Bobby Jo, and Billy Jo.

I am also a steam train enthusiast and just loved the Cannonball and the way it was run was just perfect, stop for a chat, do a bit of fishing, help a cow off the line lol....priceless, and the scenes for christmas were lovely with Cannonball who lit up and carol singer.

We even had BOO HISS the villian Homer Bedloe who constantly trys unsuccessfully to shut down the Cannonball but some of his tricks are just hilarious.

I loved the Shady Rest, i mean the food wow, amazing, the phone that wasnt connected but looked good, and the lift in the lobby just there for show lol......priceless.

I just loved Kates character her love for her family and her patience with Uncle Jo who would wear out a saint lol.

When they introduced the dog it made it for me (Benji fame).

I so enjoyed Mike Minor what a lovely guy and great singer I had never heard of him and have now been listening to his music more.

There was so much in this series its difficult to cover all of it, all I can say is watch it, its fun, nostaligic, frustrating, has love scenes, music, madness, daftness, a great laugh with a fun character the dog who was probably more clever then some of the actors lol.

The saddest thing for me was when Bea Benaderet finally came out when she lost her life from cancer i nearly didnt finish watching it but i felt i had too. We lost a few of the actors in this it made it even more poignant watching it.

If you havent watched it and you enjoy the sixties type comedy (bit slaptstick in places lol), then you will love this. I will watch it again as there was stuff i know i missed. I actually LAUGHED OUT LOUD in many places which i dont in the new comedy.

Lovely just lovely.

Opening Questions

[BumpyRide · 5/10 · 17 August 2006]

Being just old enough to remember watching this show during its first run, I always wondered why those girls and their dog were swimming naked in the water tank? I mean really, isn't it a little unsanitary to be swimming nude in Hooterville's drinking water? And why would you go swimming in your petticoats to begin with, plus why would a dog need a petticoat too? I know country folk aren't like regular people, drinking dandelion wine and smoking who knows what in their corn cob pipes, but someone must have noticed something when they turned on their tap water and out came something unmentionable. Surely Aunt Bea didn't know of those girl's naked antics in the water tank. Don't you agree?

All Aboard!

[Derby4ever · 10/10 · 15 March 2003]

My best advice is to seek out the wonderful black and white episodes, never syndicated and not seen since their original airings and reruns on CBS. The show was even funnier in its earliest days, and wait til you see Jeannine Riley as the first Billie Jo--terrific! The series may still be available (with black and whites) from Columbia House.

Petticoat Junction the Ultimate Bait and Switch Rip Off

[db-beurylaw · 1/10 · 27 May 2018]

Amazing that no-one called the producers for this obvious sexual come on. I was six when the first advertisements for the show were shown and I immediately recognized the bait and switch. Everything about the show was suggestively sexual and it never delivered. In the opening we have three gorgeous girls swimming nude in a water tower. The water tower is used to service a 100-year-old steam locomotive. Why, in heaven's name would any intelligent woman get into a 100-year-old filthy, unfiltered water tower? And why be (apparently) nude with your sisters? Why because the producers are telling you this is a sexy show. The theme song invites you to ride the train that goes along the tracks to the junction. Petticoat Junction! The question I have is why would anyone want to do that? The Shady Rest is a run-down hotel in the middle of the sticks. Do you have to ride a train to get there? Isn't there a modern hotel off the interstate? Obviously, the hotel has no pool. Why else would the girls get in that rancid water tower. Maybe they had to bathe in the tower, because this hotel has no plumbing. Ewww. Then there is the hotel name. It's the Shady Rest. Shady as in "suspicious, suspect, questionable, disreputable, dishonest, illegal, dishonorable, unscrupulous or unethical." Oh sure, throw in the word "Rest" so the owners can claim innocence, but really would you board a 100-year-old train to go to a run-down dump hotel, that offers the opportunity to get out of direct sunlight?

Then there are the other cast members. Edgar Buchanan, Bea Benadaret, Smiley Burnette and Rufe Davis. Benadaret was a classic whore house madam. She was there to collect the cash and keep the girls in line. The other old men would be chosen because they were no longer a threat to the girls and would not corrupt the "merchandise". They were sort of octogenarian Eunuchs. Even though I was six I saw through this bait and switch. The show itself was as asexual as possible. The plots were always about the has-been old comedians. After the suggestive opening, he girls were no where to be seen. This was in the age of strict censorship. Barbara Eden couldn't even show her navel in her Jeanie costume. If you were lured in to see an adult sexy program, you were taken for a ride on a 100 year-old train. As a comedy, the shows weren't funny. It was as bland as any show has ever been. I think people tuned in to see something happen. It never did.

A Classic '60s Sitcom

[tmolthan · 1 November 2001]

"Petticoat Junction" was a great, heart-felt show that would stand alongside "The Andy Griffith Show" in all-time popularity, if only some mucky-muck at Viacom (the distributor of the rerun package) hadn't, in the early 1970's, decided to exclude the first two seasons from their syndication package. Not only were those some of the funniest and most genuine episodes of the entire series, but eliminating them from public memory cut out nearly half of star Bea Benaderet's time on the show (she died of lung cancer shortly after the start of the 1968-69 season). If you ever get a chance to view the first two (black & white) seasons of this series, do so...you will see what I mean.

A great childhood memory

[rlquall · 8/10 · 20 September 2006]

My parents were inveterate fans of "The Red Skelton Show" but would go to bed as soon as it was over and let me stay up to watch this. I loved the pretty girls and didn't even mind how they kept changing into different girls over time, as the replacements were always pretty, too. I sure envied the little dog (who later became "Benji") who got to swim with them in the train's water tank in the opening sequence! Lori Saunders was my favorite, and I loved seeing her in the commercial that she did for Fantastik spray cleaner, even. Red Skelton led me to another dream girl, Julie Sommars, later on, when "The Governor & J.J." became what followed him on Tuesday nights after "Petticoat Junction" had moved to Saturday night.

CBS Cancelled an Era!!

[dataconflossmoor · 10/10 · 21 December 2005]

In 1970 when CBS took "Petticoat Junction" off the air, it was for purposes of deviating itself from the ossified reputation of a network perpetuating rural comedies...CBS was on the verge of embarking on sitcoms with social poignancy and ethnicity recognition!! (Shows like "All in the Family") As a child, I always fondly remember "Petticoat Junction" as a wholesome T.V. show....My identification with "Petticoat Junction" was particularly positive because it resembled my mother's family of three daughters, and, my mother was the youngest daughter who got married first (Just like the T.V. Show!!). This culminating with "My Three Sons" mirrored my personal family situation, as I was one of three sons in my family!! The Shady Rest Hotel was a quaint resemblance to my days up at my grandfather's summer home in Michigan...The innocence more than anything, encompassed a fondness for the fortunate unity that a happy family possesses!! I seem to remember one of the last episodes of "Petticoat Junction" where Billie Jo was advocating women's liberation!! This particular episode sort of explained why "Petticoat Junction" was taken off the airwaves!! Ignoring the tumultuousness of the 1960's totally, producers of "Petticoat Junction" were sort of conveying the message that they had a very uncomfortable disposition with social issues!!

As time has passed, it makes you realize that comedy back then was very innocent, and, the need for change simply accommodated the future....One of my favorite movies is "Sex.Lies, and Videotape" this film is the antithesis of the television show "Petticoat Junction"...Here is the catch though!! The movie "Sex,Lies and Videotape" could have taken place in Hooterville!! The actual depiction of small-town America is not a paralleled panacea right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Realistically assessing Hooterville, it would most likely be a town which would be subject to an abyss of dreadfully high unemployment, and, it would get bludgeoned by one recession after another. You would have a scenario whereby Wal-Mart would be putting Sam Drucker's store out of business. Also, the divorce rate would most likely be commensurate with the national average too!!

What I am saying is that, television needs to change with people!! The homey associations of family values pertinent to yesteryear, were indeed for the past!! Today's comedy is not just about sex, but also, they are about realistic proclivities which reflect the lifestyle patterns of today!! The illustration of human error is what a comedy is all about!! I loved "Petticoat Junction", I do not think I would want to watch it as a new television show today though!!...From the seventies there arose many television series which articulated the rage form of the American public.. Petticoat Junction's innocuous demeanor was an anachronism to this trend of agitation and ideological malcontent. Hence, the perception of moral infuriation, by the television audience, could not be quelled by hovering around the piano and singing! I feel it is imperative that television should mirror American's personal and social transitions! I liked "Petticoat Junction" back then because it reflected my happiness as a young boy with a loving family! A state of cop-aesthetic satisfaction is humorous in its own realization!! Realism and doubts, as depicted in television shows today, also have a comically identifiable twist to them....Shows like "Petticoat Junction" placated the ambitions of the perfect post World War II American family, and resonated themselves to a state of domestic idealism! Many shows today evoke a candid commentary which is very amenable to misery and social injustice! This appreciation in entertainment dichotomy makes me an utterly saturated recipient of the television industry!!