48 Fun Facts About Petticoat Junction

The rural purge that claimed Petticoat Junction inspired a joke that CBS canceled every show with what in it?

A tree was the punchline as CBS dropped its country comedies to court younger, urban viewers. Petticoat Junction went in 1970, a year before most of the rest.

What is the name of the hotel where Petticoat Junction is set?

The Shady Rest was modeled on a real hotel beside a railroad track, run by the grandmother of the creator's wife. Her memories of childhood visits supplied the train and the whole setting.

Who played Kate Bradley, the widowed proprietress of the hotel?

Bea Benaderet had spent years in supporting parts on radio and on the Burns and Allen show. The series was written for her as her first starring vehicle.

Who played Uncle Joe Carson?

Edgar Buchanan appeared in all 222 episodes. Born in 1903, the 'uncle' was only three years older than the actress who played his niece Kate.

The actress who played Betty Jo was which relative of Petticoat Junction's creator?

His daughter was billed as Linda Kaye so that viewers would not cry nepotism. She tried out only after the show's star urged her wary father to let her audition.

Which actress played blonde Billie Jo longest, from season four until Petticoat Junction ended?

Meredith MacRae came over from My Three Sons in 1966 as the third Billie Jo. Jeannine Riley had left after two seasons to try for film stardom, and Gunilla Hutton lasted one.

Which future star was originally cast as Billie Jo but never appeared on Petticoat Junction?

Sharon Tate posed for early publicity photos as Billie Jo but never filmed an episode. Jeannine Riley, chosen from some 300 hopefuls, played the part for the first two seasons.

Who played the brunette middle daughter Bobbie Jo from season three onward?

Lori Saunders took over when Pat Woodell left after two seasons. Her Bobbie Jo drifted from shy bookworm to lovable scatterbrain.

The Bradley family's dog was played by an animal actor who later starred as which film hero?

Benji made the dog a film star in 1974, with Uncle Joe's actor beside him in his last movie role. On the series the pet never even got a name and was simply called Dog.

Lucille Ball first wanted the future Kate Bradley for which I Love Lucy role?

Ethel Mertz went to Vivian Vance because the future Kate was already signed to the Burns and Allen show, where she played neighbor Blanche Morton.

Why is the hotel's train stop nicknamed "Petticoat Junction"?

The sisters hang petticoats on the water tower while they swim in it, as the opening titles show. The stop is no real junction at all, just a water stop beside the hotel.

Who created Petticoat Junction, as well as The Beverly Hillbillies?

Paul Henning's Hillbillies was such a smash that CBS had a second rural comedy from him a year later. He built it around a supporting player from that cast and drew the setting from his wife's family stories.

Petticoat Junction's hotel was based on a real hotel in which Missouri town?

Eldon's Burris Hotel stood beside the Rock Island tracks, run by the grandmother of the creator's wife. He saw the old place himself before it was torn down.

What was Uncle Joe's actor's profession before he took up acting at 36?

A dentist, he ran a practice with his wife and handed it over to her when he turned to acting in 1939.

Who runs the general store in Hooterville that doubles as post office and newspaper?

Sam Drucker's store is a regular stop for the Cannonball, a train that runs less like a railroad than a local bus or taxi service.

Which actor played the same storekeeper on three different series at the same time?

Frank Cady kept the same apron on Petticoat Junction and Green Acres and carried the part to The Beverly Hillbillies as well. His last screen role, in 1990, was the same storekeeper in Return to Green Acres.

Which railroad executive keeps trying to scrap the Cannonball?

Homer Bedloe was played by Charles Lane, who said he perfected his crusty skinflint on I Love Lucy. The veteran of countless mean-man parts lived to 102.

Who played the Cannonball's engineer Charley Pratt in the first four seasons?

Smiley Burnette had been Gene Autry's comic sidekick in dozens of B Westerns before he took the throttle. He died in 1967 while still in the cast.

One Billie Jo left Petticoat Junction and became Nurse Goodbody on which country variety show?

Hee Haw made Gunilla Hutton its Nurse Goodbody after her single season as Billie Jo. The variety show let her sing as well, and she went on to release several singles of her own.

A year after their characters wed, what did the actors playing Betty Jo and her husband do?

Married in real life in 1968, the pair stayed together until 1973, well after the series ended. On screen their characters already had a baby by then.

Which crop duster joins the cast in season four and eventually marries Betty Jo?

Steve Elliott crashes his plane near Hooterville and starts out courting Billie Jo. He ends up marrying her youngest sister instead.

Who played Dr. Janet Craig, the physician brought in as a mother figure in season six?

June Lockhart came from Lost in Space and had been TV's mother on Lassie before that. She arrived as the valley's new doctor after the original star's death, and stayed to the end.

How did Petticoat Junction handle Kate Bradley after her actress died in 1968?

She was said to be "out of town", never recast and never killed off. An aunt came to help run the hotel, then a lady doctor moved in as the girls' new mother figure.

Too ill to film her last Petticoat Junction episode, how did Kate's actress still take part?

Through her recorded voice, Kate reads a letter aloud while a stand-in plays her from behind. It was the episode where Betty Jo has her baby, and the star was too ill to be there.

What cartoon character did the actress who played Kate Bradley famously voice?

Betty Rubble was hers from The Flintstones' 1960 debut. Before that she had been an uncredited voice in Warner Bros. cartoons, including the little old lady who owns Tweety.

Which relative of Jed Clampett did Kate's actress play in season one of The Beverly Hillbillies?

Cousin Pearl Bodine is Jethro's mother, the one who talks Jed into moving to Beverly Hills. The part went over so well that the actress had a series of her own a year later.

Who composed the Petticoat Junction theme song with the series creator?

Curt Massey had hosted his own network radio shows before he wrote the tune with the series creator. When he died at 81, the song was the first line of his obituary.

The Cannonball's moving shots were filmed on which Gold Country line, based in Jamestown?

The Sierra Railroad is nicknamed the Movie Railroad, and its engine No. 3 later steamed through Back to the Future Part III. The engine still runs at a state historic park in Jamestown.

Petticoat Junction's prop engine was built for A Ticket to Tomahawk, a 1950 Western with which future star in an early role?

A young Marilyn Monroe appears in the film, which needed a wooden engine light enough for mules to drag over a mountain pass.

What changed when Petticoat Junction's third season began in 1965?

It switched to color that fall after two seasons in black and white. Two of the three Bradley sisters were played by new actresses from the same season, so the look changed twice over.

How did Petticoat Junction fare in the ratings during its first season, 1963-64?

It was a top-five hit from the start, finishing fourth for the season with its sister series at No. 1. The network soon wanted a third rural comedy from the same creator.

Which dog actor joined Petticoat Junction's cast as a regular in season two?

Higgins was found at a Burbank animal shelter by trainer Frank Inn, who also worked with Arnold the pig on the era's rural comedies.

Who is Kate Bradley's nosy rival, introduced in the 1964–65 season?

Selma Plout was played by two actresses, first Virginia Sale and then Elvia Allman until the series ended. Allman had also been the original voice of Disney's Clarabelle Cow.

In a season-one episode, the Bradley sisters form a Beatlesque band called what?

The Ladybugs played The Ed Sullivan Show for real in March 1964, with Sheila James of Dobie Gillis as the fourth member. On screen, Uncle Joe forms the group to cash in on Beatlemania.

Which bumbling game warden becomes Bobbie Jo's boyfriend in Petticoat Junction's final season?

Orrin Pike gets on Uncle Joe's nerves until a camping trip, where he drives off a bear prowling round the sleeping old man.

What is the name of Betty Jo's baby daughter on Petticoat Junction?

Kathy Jo is born early in the sixth season and carries the family's Jo tradition into a new generation. The last two seasons revolve around her young parents.

Which episode, with Floyd Smoot planning to retire, serves as an unofficial finale?

Floyd sings "Steam, Cinders and Smoke", written by the late Smiley Burnette, and decides to stay after Hooterville writes him letters.

Which Beverly Hillbillies character comes to Hooterville in 1968 to tend Betty Jo's baby?

It was the first link between the two shows in five years; the Clampetts later spent Thanksgiving and Christmas 1968 in Hooterville.

Which Hooterville couple raise Arnold the pig as their son?

Fred and Doris Ziffel are childless, so Arnold is treated as their boy. All three found far greater fame after moving over to Green Acres in 1965.

What left the Cannonball's line cut off from the rest of its railroad?

A washed-out bridge was never repaired, so the branch has been stranded from the main line for years. The Cannonball's crew have been left largely to run it as they please.

Which future counterculture film star guest-starred on Petticoat Junction in 1964 as a beatnik poet?

Dennis Hopper plays a mad-at-the-world young poet who wins Bobbie Jo's heart while sneering at her way of life. He directed and starred in Easy Rider five years later.

Which holiday episode did Petticoat Junction remake in 1966 from its own 1963 script?

Christmas 1966 brought back the 1963 script, with the railroad's Scrooge again trying to halt the decorated Cannonball. Two of the three sisters had been recast in between.

Which game show reunited Petticoat Junction cast members as a team in 1983?

Family Feud put the cast back together as a team in 1983, facing another vintage sitcom's cast. Uncle Joe's actor had died four years earlier.

Gunilla Hutton, Petticoat Junction's second Billie Jo, was born in which country?

Sweden, in the port city of Gothenburg, was home until her parents brought her to America at seven. She held the part for a single season, the middle of three actresses to play it.

Which production company made Petticoat Junction and both of its sister sitcoms?

Filmways began in 1952 making TV commercials before turning to sitcoms. Beyond the Hooterville trio, it was also home to Mister Ed and The Addams Family.

The Hooterville Cannonball's crew often make unscheduled stops along the line to do what?

Go fishing is what the easygoing crew do, halting the Cannonball mid-run and dropping their lines from the train itself.

Who replaced Floyd Smoot as the Cannonball's engineer in Petticoat Junction's sixth season?

Wendell Gibbs was played by Byron Foulger, who had already appeared in Hooterville as Mr. Guerney. Failing health kept him largely off screen in the final season.

Who played Floyd Smoot, the Cannonball's fireman and conductor?

Rufe Davis had been Lullaby Joslin in 14 of Republic's Three Mesquiteers B Westerns before he boarded the Cannonball. His Floyd left in 1968 and came back for guest spots in the last season.