Petticoat Junction

Some of the classic in-character product advertisements with the cast of Petticoat Junction.

Paul Henning talks about his life and Petticoat Junction.

Interview with Linda Kaye Henning and Pay Woodell: Interview with Bobbie Jo and Betty Jo Bradley, who discuss their time on Petticoat Junction (Part 1)

Homer Bedloe, trouble-shooter for the C&F W Railroad, is sent by railroad president Norman P. Curtis to the little community of Hooterville to find out why a branch line doesn't connect with the main line. The branch line carries the "Cannonball" train, and is vital to the Shady Rest Hotel, run by Kate Bradley, her three grown daughters and "Uncle Joe" Carson. If Bedloe succeeds in shutting down the Cannonball, Kate faces ruin. John Ashley appears as passenger Fred.

Kate uses a combination of charm, subterfuge, and wiles to prevent Homer Bedloe from catching the Hooterville Cannonball and getting to Pixley in order to initiate proceedings that would permanently terminate the train's operation. She has to keep him at the Shady Rest long enough to convince him that the Cannonball is an integral part of the valley's life. When all else fails, Kate gets Sam, the Hooterville Jack of all professions, to scare Bedloe into changing his mind.

C&F W Railroad President Norman P. Curtis is incensed that ace troubleshooter Homer Bedloe utterly failed to scrap the Hooterville Cannonball. Taking matters into his own hands, he decides to do it himself, incognito. Although Curtis doesn't intend on appearing as such, he comes across to Kate and others in the valley as a hobo after he takes a tumble in a field, ripping and dirtying his suit and losing his wallet in the process. But, he has a change of heart when he experiences Kate's hospitality and kindness.

It's the first day of school and Kate is having trouble getting a couple of her daughters motivated to go. Betty Jo has a new friend, a little dog that follows her back from school. Kate refuses to let Betty Jo keep the dog, despite it being cute and well trained. Kate believes that he must belong to someone. Betty Jo brings him back to school, but he stills follows her home. Kate decides to let the dog stay until the owner claims him or until the dog starts to cause problems for the family. The dog does end up causing some problems, but Kate has a change of heart and let's him stay.

Henry Barton is dropping off his pregnant wife Elsie at the Shady Rest. While the baby isn't due for two weeks, Henry still wants someone to watch Elsie as he will be gone for three days. The women aren't at all worried, but Uncle Joe is quite concerned. Joe gets even more panicked when Kate tells him most babies arrive in the middle of the night. He comes up with an elaborate plan involving some of the men of the valley to get Doc Stuart to the Shady Rest if Elsie has the baby in the middle of the night. Without telling anyone, Joe has a trial run of his plan at 3am just to make sure it all goes smoothly. Everyone is quite mad at Uncle Joe. To make matters worse, Joe does it a second time. When Elsie does actually go into labor, it looks as though someone else will have to help with the delivery

Uncle Joe isn't thrilled with the idea of turning the Cannonball's baggage car into a mobile library. He likes even less having to build the library shelves. But after meeting her, Uncle Joe grows extremely fond of pretty librarian Phyllis Marsh. Despite their age difference, among other things, Joe is not shy about romancing Phyllis. Phyllis has to find a way to let him down easy without hurting his feelings, because she is actually engaged. Phyllis introduces her fiance Hal Jackson to Kate. Kate comes up with a plan to show Uncle Joe how inappropriate he and Miss Marsh are as a couple.

Sam has added an advice column called Dear Minerva to the newspaper, and Sam is Minerva. Kate thinks that the column should be written by a woman. Sam convinces Kate to be Minerva as long as no one knows it's her. Kate has a hard time writing the column in the hotel without anyone finding out. The column becomes a big hit, but writing it and taking care of things at the hotel takes its toll on Kate. Sam gets a call from a large newspaper that wants to syndicate the Dear Minerva column. He writes a note about it to Kate. The girls intercept the note and, misunderstanding what Sam wrote, they believe Sam and Kate are in love. They write to Minerva and ask her advice. "Minerva" eases the girls concerns and announces that this is her last column.

Oliver Wendell Douglas and Lisa Douglas are staying overnight at the hotel. They are moving into their newly purchased farmhouse, the run down Haney place. When Joe finds out that Oliver is a lawyer, he wants to ask him how to get out of jury duty. Oliver inadvertently gives Joe an idea and Joe gets Kate to take his place. Joe finds out that he won a television set in a raffle, but he has to claim it by noon tomorrow. At first Joe can't find the ticket, then he remembers it's in the suitcase that Kate took to Pixley. As hard as he tries, Joe can't get a message to a sequestered Kate. Kate does come home in time, but something else prevents Joe from claiming his prize.

Betty Jo and Bobbie Jo and a group of friends are trying to plan a fund-raising stage production to buy some playground equipment for the kids. Because of casting problems, Betty Jo comes up with an idea: rewrite the play for an all canine cast with Dog in the lead. Lawyer Arthur Bronson arrives at the hotel. He informs them that a former guest of the hotel, Mr. Kroger, who has just passed away, has left $200 to Dog. Dog is generous to his friends, and wants to buy them things. But Dog is letting the money and fame go to his head. Dog learns the hard way that fame and wealth can be fleeting, and that keeping to commitments is more important.

Uncle Joe starts a Free Wedding and Honeymoon Contest to promote business for the Shady Rest Hotel. Out of all the entries, one stands out: that of Laura Bentley and Tony Allison, a young couple whose parents will not allow them to get married. However, when they arrive at the hotel, they are actually an elderly couple whose respective grown children objected to their marriage. Kate and the girls still want to give them the best wedding and honeymoon the hotel has ever seen. Laura's daughter Violet, and Tony's son Herbert, arrive just in time to stop the wedding. Kate tries a little reverse psychology to get the bride and groom back on track. Kate's ploy has an unintended consequence which threatens not only the wedding but Laura and Tony's relationship altogether. In the end, Laura and Tony get married along with Violet and Herbert. Note: This is the first one where Meredith MacRae plays Billie Jo.

While the girls are swimming in the water tower, a bi-plane flies overhead. The pilot, distracted by the beautiful girls he sees in the water tower, crashes the plane by the railroad tracks next to the hotel. The family manage to get the unconscious injured pilot up to the hotel. For all three girls, it's love at first sight. Each of the girls do whatever they can to gain Steve's favor while they nurse him back to health. Steve will do whatever he can to stay at the hotel as long as possible. Kate and the girls later learn that he is a crop duster. Uncle Joe believes Steve's a Russian spy. Steve tries to use Uncle Joe's belief to his advantage.

Steve's plane is still sitting damaged where it crashed near the railroad tracks by the hotel. Henry Sharp, from the finance company, comes by because Steve has missed a payment. Steve has barely enough money to repair the plane let alone make his regular payments. Trying to get Sharp to give Steve some time fail. Steve decides to cut corners in repairing the plane. Kate, the girls and Uncle Joe try to help him raise some money, which ends up not being easy. Sunday at church, Reverend Jones enjoyed Steve's singing so much, he starts a contribution drive. They raise enough money to fix the plane and Steve decides to stay in the valley.

Betty Jo has been traveling through Europe for the past three months. Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo believe that the trip probably has changed her. Kate doesn't think Betty Jo will be any different. But Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo are right. Accompanying Betty Jo from New York City are three handsome jet-setters. They are all stuck up and pretentious, just like Betty Jo is now. Peter, Brad and Ronnie make their way to Hooterville and the Shady Rest to see first hand Betty Jo's rural life. Betty Jo is initially ashamed of her background as she tries to put on airs for her three friends. But, Betty Jo learns who her real friends and loved ones are, and who she really is. Note: The first season without Smiley Burnette.

Betty Jo thinks she's at that point in her life where she needs to learn how to cook in order to get a husband. Kate agrees and offers to teach Betty Jo. But Betty Jo is on her own when Kate sees one of Billie Jo's costumes for her nightclub act. Kate wants to go with Billie Jo to see what this act is all about. At the club, Kate can't help but be the typical stage mother. But Kate may have a bigger problem when she telephones home to see how things are going. Sam answers and tells her not to worry since "there's nothing you can do about it now". Sam is referring to the fact that Steve became sick after eating Betty Jo's cooking. Kate jumps to the wrong conclusion and rushes back home to save Betty Jo from what she considers a big mistake.

Betty Jo has been receiving a large number of floral bouquets, all signed "From an Admirer". Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo believe that the sender is probably one of the many boys she met on her travels. However, Betty Jo's admirer eventually make himself known and it's Eb. He is neither who Betty Jo expected nor wanted and she has to try to let him down easy. Against Kate's wishes, Bobbie Jo suggests to Betty Jo that she get Steve to act as her boyfriend to scare away Eb. The only problem with that plan is that Steve actually has feelings for Betty Jo. Kate manages to convince Eb that things wouldn't work out with him and Betty Jo. Meanwhile, Uncle Joe is trying to set up a labor saving luggage pulley system between the Shady Rest stop and the hotel's front porch.

Betty Jo's due date is fast approaching. Everyone is excited that another baby will being born in the valley and be delivered by Doc Stuart. Steve throws everyone for a loop when he announces that he wants the baby to be born in a fancy hospital that's far away. While Betty Jo would rather stay in Hooterville, she knows that Steve only wants what's best for her. The townsfolk see Betty Jo leaving as a slight on the valley and as such they decide to snub Betty Jo and Steve. Steve reconsiders when he sees Doc Stuart in action. Meanwhile, Wendell Gibbs, the new engineer of the Cannonball, is hoping people will start calling him "Cannonball".

Ted Swift, a booking agent, hears the Bradley Sisters singing on the radio. He wants to book them for the season opener of the Buddy Buster television program. After Sam shows him a photo of the girls, Ted signs a contract with Uncle Joe for the girls' appearance. What Uncle Joe forgets is that Betty Jo's pregnancy is not exactly television friendly. When Ted sees Betty Jo, he knows that he is in a bit of a bind with days until the show, and Uncle Joe can't renege on the contract as he has already spent the advance. At the performance, the girls use some creative moves to hide Betty Jo's condition, but things don't go as planned.

Steve feels like he's playing second fiddle to his yet unborn child and that he is not needed. That feeling is fostered by Betty Jo focusing on issues around the baby instead of focusing on his needs. It doesn't help that others in the valley want to solely deal with Betty Jo in anything having to do with the baby. To get Steve out of feeling this way, Uncle Joe comes up with a plan for himself and Steve to "disappear". This is supposed to result in Betty Jo and the rest of the family being worried to death about where they are. But things don't go quite as planned.

The dog suddenly becomes a second-class citizen at the Shady Rest hotel when Steve and Betty Jo and Betty Jo move in.

Uncle Joe, caught with too many fish in his possessions by Game Warden Orrin Pike, is threatened with a jail sentence.

Betty Jo finds herself growing jealous of the attention Steve is giving to their daughter, so the pair go on a second honeymoon together, at their old cottage. But the couple's romantic mood is spoiled by a lack of electricity, Mr. Haney's intrusive realty service, and a bunch of hobos.