Petticoat Junction

"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.

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.

A time of simplicity and tranquility. What young man who ever saw this heartwarming show, never dreamt of spending the rest of his life in wedded bliss with one of the Bradley girls? Great writing and characters that make you wish time would have stood still. It gives you hope that someday in your travels, on some unfamilar road, the Shady Rest is just on the other side of the hill.

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.

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.