Kate Bradley
| Petticoat Junction | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by |
Paul Henning Ruth Henning |
| Starring |
Bea Benaderet Edgar Buchanan Linda Kaye Henning Jeannine Riley Pat Woodell Gunilla Hutton Lori Saunders Meredith MacRae Smiley Burnette Jimmy Hawkins Charles Lane Rufe Davis Frank Cady Mike Minor Elna Danelle Hubbell June Lockhart Jonathan Daly Higgins |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 222 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Jay Sommers Charles Stewart |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Wayfilms, Inc. The CBS Television Network |
| Distributor |
Viacom Enterprises (1971-1995) Paramount Domestic Television (1995-2006) CBS Paramount Domestic Television (2006-2007) CBS Television Distribution (2007-present) |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Picture format |
Black-and-white (1963–65) Color (1965–1970) |
| Audio format | monaural |
| Original release | September 24, 1963 – April 4, 1970 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
The Beverly Hillbillies Green Acres |
Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 1963 to April 1970. The series takes place at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is run by Kate Bradley, her Uncle Joe Carson, and her three daughters Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Betty Jo Bradley. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters produced by Paul Henning. Petticoat Junction was created upon the success of Henning's previous rural/urban-themed sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971). The success of Petticoat Junction led to a spin-off, Green Acres (1965–1971). Petticoat Junction was produced by Wayfilms (a joint venture of Filmways Television and Pen-Ten Productions).
The show follows the goings-on at the rural Shady Rest Hotel. Widow Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet) is the proprietor. Her lazy-but-lovable Uncle Joe Carson (Edgar Buchanan) helps her in the day-to-day running of the hotel while she serves as a mediator in the various minor crises that befall her three beautiful daughters: redhead Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning); brunette Bobbie Jo (first Pat Woodell, later Lori Saunders); and blonde Billie Jo (first Jeannine Riley, then Gunilla Hutton, and finally Meredith MacRae). Uncle Joe frequently comes up with half-baked get-rich-quick schemes and ill-conceived hotel promotions. Much of the show also focuses on the Hooterville Cannonball, an 1890s steam-driven train run more like a taxi service by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis). It was not uncommon for the Cannonball to make an unscheduled stop for passengers to go fishing, or to pick fruit for Kate's apple butter and pies. The Hooterville spur line had been cut off from the rest of the railroad 20 years before the start of the show by the failure of a trestle. Charlie and Floyd are retired employees of the railroad receiving pensions. Many plots involve railroad executive Homer Bedloe's futile attempts to shut down and scrap the Hooterville Cannonball. Occasionally, youngest daughter Betty Jo can be found with her hand on the Cannonball's throttle, as running the train is one of her favorite pastimes. The series pilot introduced a feminist element whereby Betty Jo turned out to be skilled at driving the train:train engineer was traditionally a man's job; executives from the C. & F.W. Railroad's headquarters are shocked when they learn of this. Trips on the Cannonball usually include a stop in Hooterville at Drucker's Store, run by Sam Drucker (Frank Cady). Drucker's is the local hub, where menfolk come to play checkers and chat. Sam Drucker is the postmaster, and his telephone is a lifeline for the Bradleys, Uncle Joe, and others.
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