Petticoat Junction

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.

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.

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.

"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 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.