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117-570: The show centers on the goings-on at the rural Shady Rest Hotel. Widowed Kate Bradley ( Bea Benaderet ) is the proprietress. Her lazy but lovable Uncle Joe Carson ( Edgar Buchanan ) supposedly 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, when he

234-487: A Flintstones -inspired leopard-print costume to collect donations for City of Hope and March of Dimes and worked with Welcome Wagon in the San Fernando Valley . On February 5, 1964, she was named an honorary sheriff of Calabasas, California , with her daughter Maggie accepting a badge on her behalf that was presented by her Petticoat Junction co-star Edgar Buchanan in a public ceremony. During

351-413: A Hollywood career that spanned over three decades. Benaderet first specialized in voice-over work in the golden age of radio , appearing on numerous programs while working with comedians of the era such as Jack Benny , Burns and Allen , and Lucille Ball . Her expertise in dialect and characterization led to her becoming Warner Bros. ' leading voice of female characters in their animated cartoons of

468-422: A PATSY Award , and he also was cover-featured on an issue of TV Guide . Higgins had a close rapport with Edgar Buchanan. In the official cast pictures taken each year during the run of Petticoat Junction, Buchanan is shown holding or petting the dog. Higgins went on to star in the successful 1974 film Benji which also featured Buchanan in a cameo role. Linda Kaye Henning indicated in a TV interview her father,

585-521: A Baby", Benaderet provided only her voice for scenes of Betty Jo and Steve reading a letter from Kate; her speaking to Cannonball engineer Wendell Gibbs over the phone and using the handcar with him to get to the hospital; and her presence at Betty Jo's bedside after the baby's arrival. The latter segments featured Benaderet's stand-in, actress Edna Laird, portraying Kate with her back to the camera. The episode additionally featured three short flashbacks of Kate from season five: "You Know I Can't Hear You When

702-468: A bearded old man in a school play. The following year, her participation in a children's production of The Beggar's Opera resulted in a local radio station manager inviting her to a one-time performance on one of his programs, for which she was paid $ 10. Benaderet made her professional theatre debut at 16 in a production of The Prince of Pilsen , and, after graduating from the Academy of St. Rose,

819-425: A double standing in. For the remaining seasons, the character was played by Lori Saunders. Woodell and Saunders resembled each other physically, but the character of Bobbie Jo was gradually revamped after the cast change, going from a shy bookworm to a humorous scatterbrain. After Saunders took over the role, she at times gave her lines "a slightly daffy delivery." The show writers picked up on this and gradually changed

936-524: A dramatic actress, she switched to comedy and performed on multiple programs, in particular the Blue Monday Jamboree variety show , where her castmates included Meredith Willson , Elvia Allman , and future I Love Lucy producer Jess Oppenheimer . Benaderet honed a variety of dialects such as French, Spanish, New York City English , and Yiddish , the latter from voicing a character named "Rheba Haufawitz". She additionally hosted

1053-457: A little male dog who immediately attaches himself to her and the Bradley family. Kate, at first, is against keeping him but by the end of the episode, she is won over by him and allows him to stay. Also, in that episode, the subject of Higgins's name is addressed. At first, different names are suggested by the sisters when he first arrives ("Spike", "Prince", and "Byron"), but they never decide, so

1170-429: A love interest. Bluegrass duo Flatt and Scruggs , who performed the show's opening theme , recorded a comedic serenade in 1963 titled "Pearl Pearl Pearl" and Benaderet was pictured on the single's cover. Benaderet described Pearl's curly hair as "just my mental image of the character. ... Pearl played the piano for the silent movies and she saw such high fashion and ridiculous hairdos. She could read and write, and

1287-557: A marked script she was handed upon entering the studio. Other recurring characters Benaderet portrayed were Blanche Morton on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show ; school principal Eve Goodwin on The Great Gildersleeve ; Millicent Carstairs on Fibber McGee & Molly ; maid Gloria on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ; and Iris Atterbury on the Lucille Ball vehicle My Favorite Husband , opposite Gale Gordon . Benaderet voiced various one-time parts before joining

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1404-425: A movie career. In the third season (1965–66), Riley was replaced by Gunilla Hutton (not present for 11 episodes), and for the rest of the show's run, Billie Jo was played by Meredith MacRae . Bobbie Jo was played in the first two seasons (1963–65) by Pat Woodell, who left the series to start a singing career. In some scenes in a few episodes, when Pat Woodell was unavailable, Bobbie Jo was shown only from behind, with

1521-545: A private, all-girls' high school, she attended the Reginald Travers School of Acting and joined his stock company The Players' Guild, appearing in stage productions of works such as Polly , Lysistrata , and Uncle Tom's Cabin . In 1926, Benaderet joined the staff of San Francisco radio station KFRC , which was under the new ownership of Don Lee and where her duties included acting, singing, writing, and producing. Initially seeking work as

1638-589: A railway junction as a junction station . In the UK it is customary for the junction (and the related station) to be named after the next station on the branch, e.g. Yeovil Junction is on the mainline railway south of Yeovil , and the next destination on the branch is Yeovil Pen Mill . Frequently, trains are built up and taken apart (separated) at such stations so that the same train can be divided and proceed to multiple destinations. For goods trains (US: freight trains), marshalling yards (US: Classification yards ) serve

1755-515: A routine checkup in 1963, a spot was discovered on one of Benaderet's lungs. It was no longer visible at the time of her follow-up visit, but by November 1967, it had returned and grown in size. She resisted immediate exploratory surgery, as she was filming the fifth season of Petticoat Junction and feared the show would be affected by her absence. On November 26, she underwent the surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, when it

1872-407: A scene of an angered Blanche preparing to hit Harry with a book. Burns introduced Keating to Benaderet and the audience, and she broke character to exchange pleasantries with Keating. The segment then resumed and Benaderet struck Keating with the book. Benaderet and Gracie Allen regularly shopped for their own on-set wardrobe and she developed a high-pitched laugh for Blanche that became a staple of

1989-665: A similar purpose. The capacity of the junctions limits the capacity of a railway network more than the capacity of individual railway lines . This applies more as the network density increases. Measures to improve junctions are often more useful than building new railway lines. The capacity of a railway junction can be increased with improved signaling measures, by building points suitable for higher speeds, or by turning level junctions into flying junctions , where tracks are grade-separated , and so one track passes over or under another. With more complicated junctions such construction can rapidly become very expensive, especially if space

2106-415: A simple case where two routes with one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to allow trains to transfer from one route to the other. More complicated junctions are needed to permit trains to travel in either direction after joining the new route – for example by providing a triangular track layout. Rail transport operations refer to stations that lie on or near

2223-549: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring her work in television. Beatrice Benaderet was born on April 4, 1906, in New York City. Her mother, Margaret ( née O'Keefe), was Irish American, and her father, Samuel David Benaderet, a Sephardic Jewish emigrant from what is now Turkey , was a tobacconist who relocated the family from New York City to San Francisco in 1915 after his participation in

2340-436: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, on 1611 Vine Street, and she was the recipient of a Genii Award in 1966. She is credited with over 1000 combined radio and television episode appearances, which earned her the nickname of "Busy Bea" from members of the press. The Pantagraph columnist Ernie Kreiling remarked in 1965 that "probably no Hollywood personality has spent as many hours in our homes". Benaderet

2457-473: A strong, independent young lady. Bobbie Jo went from being book-smart (nicknamed "the walking encyclopedia") to more of a bubble-head used for comic relief. Kate Bradley's appearance also changed. In the first two seasons, Kate's wardrobe and hair style depicted her as a dowdy country farm woman. Beginning with the third year (in color), her clothing and coiffure were much more flattering and appealing, and she wore high heels. Sickness kept Bea Benaderet away for

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2574-586: A toll on their marriage and she filed for divorce in September 1950. In 1958, Benaderet married Eugene Twombly , a sound-effects technician for movies and television who had worked on The Jack Benny Program , and they remained together until her death in 1968. Her son Jack became an actor, making his television debut in bit parts on Petticoat Junction (and working on the show as a dialogue coach), later appearing in Lou Grant . In 1961, Benaderet dressed in

2691-401: A type established, though, and you're any good, it can mean considerable work for you." The New York Times reported that Lane's persona was so familiar to the public, "that people would come up to him in the street and greet him, because they thought they knew him from their hometowns." In the first-season episode #32 "Dog Days At Shady Rest", Higgins , the actor dog, was featured as "Sheba",

2808-537: A version of the song "Petticoat Junction". The DVD release of the series by Brentwood Home Video replaced Massey's music with John Hickman's "Banjo Signal". The DVD release of the series by TGG Direct, Inc. replaces Massey's music with Frank Hutchison's "Train That Carried the Girl From Town". Both editions retain screen credit to Massey. After its cancellation, Filmways and Paul Henning 's company sold

2925-545: A visiting Miss Jane and Mr. Drysdale, who mistakenly believes billionaire Howard Hughes lives in Hooterville. The following is a list of Petticoat Junction episodes featuring characters from Green Acres . Only those that debuted on Acres before Junction are counted. Curt Massey sang the Petticoat Junction theme song. The song was composed by Massey and Paul Henning. Flatt and Scruggs recorded

3042-624: A wisecracking telephone operator who gossiped about Jack Benny with her cohort Mabel Flapsaddle ( Sara Berner ). Intended as a one-time appearance, the pair became a recurring role starting in the 1945–46 season, and in early 1947, Benaderet and Berner momentarily took over the NBC switchboards in Hollywood for publicity photos. She performed in as many as five shows daily, causing her rehearsal dates to conflict with those of The Jack Benny Program and resulting in her reading live as Gertrude from

3159-448: A wood-burning stove, and her specialty is chicken 'n' dumplings . Meals were prepared for the show by property master Vince Vecchio. In a 1966 interview, Bea Benaderet said, "I suspect that Vince is better at cooking things like [my] mother used to than anybody's mother ever was." Regarding the show's title, Petticoat Junction , the hotel is located at a water stop, not a junction (where two or more railroad lines meet). The train stop

3276-400: Is located at a water stop along the isolated branch line of the C. & F.W. Railroad. Due to a trestle demolition many years ago, the line now is entirely unconnected to any other railroad; it runs between the rural farm community of Hooterville and the small town of Pixley. Each of these towns is about 25 miles (40 km) away from the hotel, which is located roughly at the midpoint of

3393-523: Is nicknamed "petticoat junction" because the Bradley sisters often skinny dip in the railway's water tower and leave their petticoats draped over the side. The opening titles of the series show their petticoats hanging on the tower while they are swimming offscreen. The idea for Petticoat Junction came from Paul Henning's wife, Ruth. Paul Henning said, The Shady Rest was based on a real hotel in Eldon, Missouri, run by my wife's grandmother... that's where

3510-519: Is not idling in his favorite porch chair, frequently comes up with half-baked get-rich-quick schemes and ill-conceived hotel promotions which end up with him making a fool of himself. Early on, much of the show also focuses on the Hooterville Cannonball , an 1890s vintage steam-driven train run more like a taxi service by train driver engineer Charley Pratt ( Smiley Burnette ) and fireman / conductor Floyd Smoot ( Rufe Davis ). It

3627-527: Is recognized for her voice characterizations in animation. MeTV considered her an "icon" of 1960s television. Donna Douglas said, "Watching her timing is like watching a ballerina. She's so effortless." Benaderet credited George Burns with mentoring her in comedy acting, but claimed that television scriptwriters focused more on her voice and delivery than her characters, which she believed stunted opportunities for her to play more dramatic roles. For her contributions to television, Benaderet received

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3744-897: Is related to Kate through Pearl and then later when she arrives at the Shady Rest she mistakes Uncle Joe for Kate and says "They's right about you Kate, you and Cousin Pearl are lookalikes." The episode is also part two of a three-episode crossover with Hillbillies that begins on "Granny Goes to Hooterville" and concludes on "The Italian Cook". Other crossover shows feature the Clampetts spending Thanksgiving and Christmas of 1968 in Hooterville on The Beverly Hillbillies ("The Thanksgiving Story", "The Week Before Christmas", "Christmas in Hooterville", and "Drysdale and Friend"). Finally, two consecutive 1970 episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies ("Buzz Bodine, Boy General" and "The Clampett-Hewes Empire") with

3861-549: Is the postmaster and his telephone is a lifeline for the Bradleys, Uncle Joe, and others. The fictional Hooterville became the main town for Green Acres in which Sam Drucker still ran Drucker's Store although he was also a Justice of the Peace ; Pixley was apparently the county seat although a nearby community was "Bugtussle," the original home of Jed Clampet and his family from The Beverly Hillbillies . The Shady Rest Hotel

3978-584: The Hooterville Cannonball . Occasionally, youngest daughter Betty Jo can be found with her hand on the Cannonball's throttle; running the train is one of her favorite pastimes, as she is something of a tomboy with an interest in mechanics. 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

4095-528: The Ozarks after he strikes oil on his property and becomes a millionaire. Prior to shooting the pilot , Benaderet enlisted a dialect coach to help her learn a hillbilly accent. Impressed with her performance while screening the pilot to potential sponsors, Henning made Cousin Pearl a recurring character in the 1962–63 first season as she moved into the Clampetts' Beverly Hills mansion, feuded with Granny, and pursued oil tycoon Mr. Brewster ( Frank Wilcox ) as

4212-541: The Panama–Pacific International Exposition . The same year, he opened a smoke shop that operated for 65 years, making it the oldest such retailer in California at the time of its closure in 1980. Benaderet was raised in her mother's Catholic faith and attended grade school at a Dominican convent. She studied voice and the piano ; her first acting performance came at 11 when she portrayed

4329-467: The black-and-white (1963–65) episodes were not resolved, and they were not included in the syndication package until MeTV began broadcasting the black-and-white (1963–65) episodes on July 12, 2011. The airings of the black-and-white episodes were short lived, and on July 21, 2011, MeTV started airing the color episodes once again. MeTV began to air the first two black-and-white seasons of the show again on November 4, 2013. The show has rotated on and off of

4446-513: The public domain , their copyrights having lapsed. As a result, numerous discount DVDs of these episodes have been released, although with generic bluegrass -like theme music instead of the familiar opening and closing music, which is still under copyright. As of April 2019, the original black-and-white episodes of Petticoat Junction were airing on the Retro Television Network and Circle TV . The Paul Henning Estate holds

4563-438: The 1965 sitcom Green Acres , adapted from his 1950 radio program Granby's Green Acres that had starred Benaderet, thus making it a spinoff of her own television show. Benaderet filmed six appearances as Kate in the first season as both shows' casts intermingled on several episodes in a process dubbed "cross-pollination". Benaderet played bit parts in six motion pictures from 1946 to 1962, four of which were uncredited. She

4680-490: The 1970s, Meredith MacRae and Linda Kaye Henning tried to produce Hello Again Hooterville: A Thanksgiving Reunion , but the project never came to fruition. The game show Family Feud featured a Petticoat Junction cast reunion in 1983, when Frank Cady, Linda Kaye Henning, Lori Saunders, Gunilla Hutton, and Meredith MacRae (Edgar Buchanan had died in 1979) competed against cast members from The Brady Bunch . In 1990,

4797-528: The Beatnik" (Season 1); and "Have Library, Will Travel" (Season 2). Edgar Buchanan, who portrayed Bea Benaderet's character's uncle, was only three years older than Benaderet in real life. Veteran character actor Charles Lane played Cannonball nemesis Homer Bedloe in 24 episodes. Lane said that he perfected his stern curmudgeon character-type on I Love Lucy . Recalling in 1981 his many roles, he said "They were all good parts, but they were jerks. If you have

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4914-427: The Bradley sisters singing as a trio, Billie Jo solo, Steve solo, or Steve and Betty Jo as a duet. Sometimes, as many as two or three songs were in each episode. The additions of Mike Minor as Steve Elliott and Meredith MacRae as the third Billie Jo influenced this change, as they were both accomplished singers. The characters of Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo also changed. Billie Jo went from being a boy-crazy dumb blonde to

5031-495: The Kate Bradley role, or to sign Rosemary DeCamp on full-time (she was also playing the mother of Marlo Thomas on That Girl ), the producers introduced the new character of Dr. Janet Craig, played by June Lockhart , who had just come from a three-year run as Maureen Robinson on Lost In Space . Previously, Lockhart had played another mother figure - Ruth Martin on the popular CBS-TV series Lassie . Lockhart's character

5148-465: The March 30 fifth-season finale "Kate's Homecoming", but five months later, after shooting the first three episodes of the sixth season , she took leave from the series due to being too ill to continue. Initial plans were for her to record her voice to be inserted into future episodes. However, her condition dramatically declined; on September 26, chest pains related to her illness forced her to return to

5265-747: The MeTV schedule in various time slots. On March 12, 2018, Decades TV Network and on April 23, 2018, Punch TV Studios began broadcasting the black-and-white episodes; both networks continued through with the color episodes. The color episodes have run constantly, with the show running on TV Land from 1996 to 2000. The show ran on the Retro Television Network from 2005 to 2008, and on MeTV beginning in June 2012. The program has run on three different Canadian cable channels: Prime TV from 2000 to 2002, DejaView from 2005 to 2008, and on TV Land Canada from 2006 to 2010. The black-and-white episodes from season one are now in

5382-458: The Pig , Newt Kiley, and Ben Miller, first appeared on season two of Petticoat Junction , which saw a number of scripts written by Green Acres creator Jay Sommers. Characters in all of Henning's creations often crossed over into one another's programs, especially during the first two seasons of Green Acres . During Petticoat's run from 1963 to 1968 (up until Kate Bradley's last few appearances at

5499-564: The Shady Rest Hotel and Sam Drucker all take a ride on the Cannonball and recall (with flashbacks) such treasured memories as fishing from the train, a very pregnant Betty Jo driving the train when she is about to give birth, and the Christmas-time Cannonball decorated with lights. During the episode, Floyd sings the song " Steam, Cinders and Smoke ", which was written by former cast member Smiley Burnette. It

5616-532: The Thunder Is Clapping", where Betty Jo reveals to Kate that Steve and she are in love; "A Cottage for Two", where Betty Jo's dream house turns out to be an old shack; and "With This Gown I Thee Wed", where Steve and Betty Jo get married. The episode aired just 13 days after Benaderet's death on October 13, 1968. Benaderet was popular with viewers, and her fan mail increased during her illness as she received many get-well cards and letters from fans. In

5733-399: The acting profession in promotional interviews for the show, and believed that leading a series required a "feeling of responsibility", including her being more observant of on-set activity and her costars' performances, while continuously evolving her character. Benaderet garnered praise for her mastery of dialects and her work as a comedienne and character actress , while she

5850-609: The beginning of season six), and with the exception of Green Acres , not once was there ever a connection to The Beverly Hillbillies even though Bea Benaderet had played Cousin Pearl Bodine during the latter's first season (Benaderet reprised the role for a brief cameo in the sixth season). Despite this, in a 1968 episode of Petticoat (#175 "Granny, the Baby Expert"), Granny comes to Hooterville to tend to Betty Jo and Steve's baby. Prior to her visit, she reminds Jed that he

5967-465: The character and was used for comic effect: "When we had a scene with some silent spots in it, George would say to me, 'Laugh there, Bea. ' " Benaderet garnered two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1954 and 1955 . Following Allen's retirement in 1958 at the end of the eighth season, the program continued as The George Burns Show in 1958–59 with Blanche repackaged as George's secretary, but it

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6084-477: The character of Bobbie Jo from Paul Henning's original conception of a brainy introvert into "a high-spirited, delightfully ditzy extrovert." In 1967, the show suffered its first loss when Smiley Burnette (engineer Charley Pratt) died of leukemia right after filming wrapped for the fourth season. During the show's fifth season (1967–1968), Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) took over running the train alone as engineer and conductor. The absence of Burnette's character of Charley

6201-461: The character of Dan Plout is never seen again. Two years later, in the fall of 1966, Mike Minor rejoined the series as handsome crop duster Steve Elliott. Steve is originally the love interest of eldest daughter Billie Jo, but later marries (youngest daughter) Betty Jo. The three Bradley sisters (played by Linda Kaye Henning, Pat Woodell, and Jeannine Riley) form a Beatlesque band called "The Ladybugs" with their friend Sally Ragsdale ( Sheila James ) in

6318-832: The character of Sam Drucker appeared in Return to Green Acres , in what was Frank Cady's final acting role. In 1981, Linda Kaye Henning and Charles Lane both appeared in The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies , but not as Betty Jo and Homer Bedloe. Henning played a secretary named Linda, and Lane played Chief. Petticoat Junction is set in the same fictional universe as Green Acres . Both shows are set in Hooterville, and they share such characters as Sam Drucker, Newt Kiley, and Floyd Smoot. A number of core Green Acres characters, such as Fred and Doris Ziffel (originally named "Ruthie" after Paul Henning 's wife, Ruth), Arnold

6435-433: The curled hair seemed to Pearl the height of smartness." Henning had long admired Benaderet's talents and strove to create a starring vehicle for her, as he felt she was worthy of headlining her own series after years of supporting parts. When CBS granted him an open time slot after the massive success of Beverly Hillbillies , he crafted the 1963 rural sitcom Petticoat Junction around Benaderet, starring as Kate Bradley,

6552-452: The day after her funeral, her husband Eugene Twombly died at the age of 54 from a massive heart attack and was interred beside her. "I think it is the most wonderful profession in the world. I can walk on the set in the morning not thinking I can put one foot in front of the other, and then on stage, something happens. You come to life right away. I would die if I didn't work." —Benaderet in 1965 on her love of acting. When Benaderet

6669-426: The dog at that time is not actually named. Eventually, the character's name becomes simply "Dog" or "Boy". Press releases for the show referred to him as the "Shady Rest Dog". (The fifth-season episode "Higgins, Come Home" (broadcast January 27, 1968) refers to the dog's real name, but the title itself is not displayed on the episode.) Higgins remained with the show until its cancellation in 1970. During that time, he won

6786-421: The dog of Betty Jo's boyfriend Orville Miggs (played by actor Jimmy Hawkins ). That episode gave the producers an idea. It was decided at the start of the 1964–1965 season to add a new character to The Shady Rest - a dog. As a result, Higgins became a regular cast member. His first appearance was in the second season opener "Betty Jo's Dog". In that installment, coming home on the first day of school, Betty Jo meets

6903-591: The early 1940s through the mid-1950s. Benaderet was then a prominent figure on television in situation comedies , first with The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show from 1950 to 1958, for which she earned two Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. In the 1960s, she had regular roles in four series until her death from lung cancer in 1968, including the commercial successes The Beverly Hillbillies , The Flintstones , and her best-known role as Kate Bradley in Petticoat Junction . She has

7020-469: The end credits). During the third season, Elvia Allman (who had appeared in season one as Gladys Stroud) was brought on as Cora Watson for one episode (a role she reprised on Green Acres the same season). Starting with Season 4 (1966–1967), Sale's Selma was replaced by Allman. She appeared in 19 episodes in all, which extended to the end of season 7 (1969–1970). Selma's daughter Henrietta Plout (first played by Susan Walther in season 3 then by Lynette Winter)

7137-432: The first five years of Petticoat Junction , she was indisputably the star of the show. As a result, the absence of her character had to be handled delicately. In the 1950s and '60s, it was almost unheard of for a main character on a television show to die, particularly on a situation comedy. The producers and CBS decided to continue the show, and Kate Bradley continued to be referred to as being "out of town." Benaderet's name

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7254-441: The first season of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show , her full name appeared as "Bee Benadaret" in the closing credits. Junction (rail) A junction , in the context of rail transport , is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. The physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge) is provided by turnouts (US: switches ) and signalling . In

7371-569: The first six shows were shot live in New York, resulting in Benaderet commuting to Los Angeles, where she was working several radio assignments at the time. Blanche Morton's long-suffering husband, Harry, was played by four actors over the show's eight-year run; the last, Larry Keating , was introduced on the October 5, 1953 fourth-season premiere when George Burns entered the set and halted

7488-422: The first three seasons, Petticoat Junction centered on homespun humor and the village's backward mindset. Beginning in season four, however, the show gradually took on a different feel. Stories began to focus more on the Bradley sisters, specifically on the romance of Steve and Betty Jo, who became key characters. The show became more of a domestic comedy. Musical numbers and singing became prominent. Songs featured

7605-584: The hospital for the final time. The fourth show of the sixth season, "The Valley Has a Baby", marked Benaderet's last episode and featured only her voice with her stand-in filmed from the rear. Benaderet died on October 13, 1968, of lung cancer and pneumonia , at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. She was entombed in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood . On October 17, four days after her death and

7722-493: The hotel and about growing up in the small town of Eldon. The stories of Ruth and her mother, Alice, became the basis of the show. Linda Kaye Henning said that her father "wrote the series for Bea Benaderet." Paul Henning thought the show would make an ideal starring vehicle for the veteran character actress. Since the 1930s, Benaderet had played second-banana roles on radio and television to such personalities as Jack Benny , Lucille Ball , and George Burns and Gracie Allen . She

7839-666: The hotel and the train and the whole setting came from, from Ruth's reminiscences of visiting her grandma. Ruth Henning told him stories of her childhood adventures at the Burris Hotel, which was owned by her grandparents in Eldon . Once called the Rock Island Hotel, the Burris was located next to the now-derelict Rock Island Line railroad tracks. Ruth Henning's mother, Alice (Burris) Barth, also told her many stories about

7956-529: The last third of season five as she dealt with lung cancer. She missed two episodes (#159 and 160), returned for one (#161), then missed eight more. Storylines dealt with Kate's absence by having other characters say that she was out of town, although it was never stated where she was or what she was doing. Paul Henning brought in temporary replacement mother-figures Rosemary DeCamp (as Kate's sister Helen) and Shirley Mitchell (as Kate's cousin Mae). In January 1968, it

8073-401: The lead for the upcoming sixth season. At the start of the 1968–69 season, Benaderet had completed the first two episodes "Birthplace of a Future President" and "The Singing Sweethearts" when her cancer was found to have returned. The third episode, "Only a Husband", was her final physical appearance on the show, in which she shared a brief scene with Mike Minor and was conspicuously absent from

8190-400: The line. Kate Bradley says that her stubborn grandfather built the hotel there because that was where the lumber fell off the train. The town of Pixley, at one end of the Cannonball's route, was named for Pixley, California . A number of location shots were filmed in the real Pixley. The exact location of Hooterville is never mentioned on Petticoat Junction or Green Acres . Clues given to

8307-469: The location of Hooterville often conflict with each other, but nearby mentions of towns and counties place it in Southwest Missouri. The Shady Rest is an old-fashioned, Victorian-style hotel, accessible primarily by train (and a poorly-maintained fire road), where guests share bathing facilities and eat together with the family at a large dining-room table. Kate Bradley cooks sumptuous meals on

8424-869: The main cast as Iris, neighbor and friend of Ball's character Liz Cooper. The 1950 CBS program Granby's Green Acres , a perceived spinoff of My Favorite Husband , was her one radio lead role and reunited her with Gordon as a husband and wife who abandon city life to become farmers, but it lasted only eight episodes. Beginning in 1943, Benaderet became Warner Bros.' primary voice of adult female supporting characters for their Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes animated shorts, initially sharing duties with Sara Berner . Her characterizations included an obnoxious teenaged bobbysox version of Little Red Riding Hood in Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944); Witch Hazel in Bewitched Bunny (1954);

8541-403: The most successful sitcoms of the 1960s. After reading the 1961 first script for The Beverly Hillbillies , Benaderet wanted to audition for the role of Granny . Despite considering her to be too buxom for his vision of the character as a small and wiry woman, Henning allowed her to test anyway. Irene Ryan ultimately won the role; according to Henning, "Bea took one look at the way Irene did

8658-473: The musical variety show Salon Moderne and gained attention for her work as a female announcer, a rarity in 1930s radio. Benaderet relocated to Hollywood in 1936 and joined radio station KHJ , making her network radio debut with Orson Welles for his Mercury Theatre repertory company heard on The Campbell Playhouse . The following year she received her first big break in the industry on The Jack Benny Program , where she played Gertrude Gearshift,

8775-463: The opening credits. The show's theme song lyrics were slightly altered to accommodate the change in cast. A decline in Nielsen ratings had begun in season five, when CBS moved the show from Tuesday night to Saturday night. In season six, the show failed to make the ratings top 30. With Benaderet's death and the mediocre ratings, the sitcom's future was hanging in the balance. CBS considered cancelling

8892-442: The original film elements to the first two seasons' black-and-white episodes, with the original opening and closing theme song. In 2005, it licensed 20 black-and-white episodes from season one to be released on the "Ultimate Collection" DVD set via MPI Home Video . It features the first 20 episodes of the series excluding "Cannonball Christmas". In 2008, CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment ) released

9009-427: The other scenes that were written for her. Linda Kaye Henning recalled in 2008: "The last few shows we knew she was very ill. … She was not well enough to do the episode where I have the baby." When Paul Henning realized that Benaderet would not recover, he decided that the fourth episode of season six would be the birth of Betty Jo's baby, so Benaderet's character could be included. In this episode, titled "The Valley Has

9126-418: The part and said to me, 'There's your Granny! ' " He additionally took Benaderet's suggestion of casting Harriet MacGibbon as Granny's rival Margaret Drysdale. Henning created for Benaderet the supporting character of Cousin Pearl Bodine, the middle-aged widowed mother of Jethro Bodine ( Max Baer Jr. ) and cousin of main character Jed Clampett ( Buddy Ebsen ), whom she convinces to move from his humble home in

9243-435: The renewal was that it would give the series five full years of color episodes for syndication, which would be very profitable for the network. When the show returned for its seventh and final season in September 1969, two major plotline changes were made. The first is that Steve and Betty Jo, and their daughter Kathy Jo, move out of their cottage and back into the Shady Rest Hotel. The storyline involving Betty Jo's new pregnancy

9360-444: The same day that the final episode of Petticoat Junction aired: April 4, 1970. Bea Benaderet , who played the main character Kate Bradley, died in 1968 after a two-year illness with lung cancer; June Lockhart then joined the show as Dr. Janet Craig, a mother figure to the girls, from 1968 until the show's end in 1970. Petticoat Junction was the only one of Paul Henning's country trio not to return in an updated reunion movie. In

9477-485: The season-one episode "The Ladybugs". They wear mop-top wigs and perform the Beatles song " I Saw Her Standing There " with the word "Him" substituted for "Her". On March 22, 1964, mere days before this episode aired, the four actresses performed this same song as "The Ladybugs" on The Ed Sullivan Show . Ed invited his viewers to tune in later that week to see the girls on their show. Frank Cady, who played Sam Drucker,

9594-407: The show along with The Beverly Hillbillies after that show's cancellation to CBS . Its distribution has changed hands over the years due to corporate changes involving Viacom , which in 2006 split into two separate companies. Today, CBS Media Ventures handles syndication. The color (1965–70) episodes were shown in syndication for many years after the show's cancellation. However, the rights to

9711-565: The show as she recuperated, during which her character of Kate Bradley was vaguely described in the storyline as being out of town. Expectations were that Benaderet would eventually recover and be able to resume filming. Rosemary DeCamp (Kate's sister Helen) and Shirley Mitchell (Kate's cousin Mae Jennings) filled in as temporary mother figures during her absence; Mitchell had previously worked with Benaderet on The Jack Benny Program in 1954–55 as Mabel Flapsaddle. Benaderet returned for

9828-425: The show in the spring of 1969. The season-six finale "Tune In Next Year" was meant to be the series finale. Dr. Janet Craig receives a good job offer in another city and decides to accept it. However, at the end of the episode, Dr. Craig decides to stay when Steve and Betty Jo announce that they are going to have another baby. At the last minute, CBS decided to renew the series for a seventh season. The main reason for

9945-404: The show's producer, had planned to run a contest to name the dog but that never materialized and thus the dog was left without a "proper" name. Another new character was introduced for the 1964–65 season to serve as a female nemesis for Kate Bradley - Selma Plout. Virginia Sale briefly reprised her role in the first season of Green Acres (her character is not mentioned by name, but is listed in

10062-402: The side for fellow Hanna-Barbera productions Top Cat and The Yogi Bear Show during 1961 and 1962. While filming the debut season of her show Petticoat Junction the next year, she continued voicing Betty by recording her part alone or with her Flintstones castmates during evening hours until scheduling conflicts forced her to drop the role at the end of the fourth season in 1964. She

10179-519: The spinster hen Miss Prissy in several Foghorn Leghorn cartoons; Tweety 's owner " Granny " including the Academy Award -winning Tweetie Pie (1947); and Mama Bear in a series of Three Bears shorts, which animator Chuck Jones called one of his favorite portrayals. Benaderet did not receive onscreen credit for her work because she was employed by Warner Bros. as a freelance actor who voiced peripheral characters, and unlike Mel Blanc ,

10296-527: The unaltered first season on DVD with new cast member interviews, original broadcast commercials. Bea Benaderet Beatrice Benaderet ( / ˌ b ɛ n ə ˈ d ɛr ə t / BEN -ə- DERR -ət ; April 4, 1906 – October 13, 1968) was an American actress and comedienne. Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco , she began performing in Bay Area theatre and radio before embarking on

10413-538: The widowed proprietor of the Shady Rest Hotel. Cousin Pearl was consequently written out of the Beverly Hillbillies storyline as having moved back home. The character of Kate represented Benaderet's first straight role : "Kate Bradley is different from the characters I've played in the past. She has to walk a fine line between being humorous and tender. The other women I've played were strictly for laughs." Benaderet and director Richard Whorf auditioned

10530-455: The young actresses who would play Kate's three teenaged daughters; she persuaded Henning to let his 18-year-old daughter Linda read (successfully) for the role of Betty Jo Bradley. Linda Henning and Benaderet's son, Jack Bannon , were members of a young actors' theater group at the time. CBS promoted the show's September 22, 1963, premiere with a print ad featuring an Al Hirschfeld caricature of Benaderet as Cousin Pearl. Petticoat Junction

10647-546: Was altered on television and became Lisa Douglas , played by Eva Gabor . Jack Bannon , Benaderet's son, played small parts over the course of the show, usually as a boyfriend or date for one of the Bradley girls. Byron Foulger played two different recurring characters on Petticoat Junction . In the early seasons, he was banker Mr. Guerney, and in later seasons, he was train engineer Wendell Gibbs. Jimmy Hawkins appeared in five episodes as Betty Jo's love interest Orville Miggs. In season seven, Steve and Betty Jo's baby Kathy Jo

10764-426: Was an immediate hit, peaking at fourth in the Nielsen ratings , and remained in the top 30 during Benaderet's four full seasons on the show from 1963 to 1967. Her former Flintstones costars Alan Reed and Jean Vander Pyl filmed guest spots in later seasons. Henning was again given free rein for a new show with no pilot needed, which he bestowed to colleague Jay Sommers due to his busy schedule. Sommers created

10881-460: Was an uncredited voice actress for many Warner Bros. cartoons, and provided the voice of Betty Rubble on The Flintstones . She also played the semiregular character Cousin Pearl Bodine on season one of The Beverly Hillbillies . Henning felt that Benaderet had more than paid her dues and had earned the right to headline her own series. During preproduction, proposed titles for the show were Ozark Widow , Dern Tootin' , and Whistle Stop . For

10998-518: Was announced that Benaderet's treatment was successful, and she returned for the fifth-season finale ("Kate's Homecoming") that aired on March 30, 1968. Benaderet's performance showed the effects of her cancer treatment, as she appeared noticeably thinner and weaker. Following the conclusion of her treatment, she had revealed to the Press-Republican that despite her lengthy absence, series producer Charles Stewart would continue to write her as

11115-458: Was broadcast on April 4, 1970, and the series officially ended its primetime run on Saturday, September 12, 1970, at 9:30 pm. It was replaced one week later by The Mary Tyler Moore Show . Petticoat Junction did not have a series finale. However, "Last Train to Pixley", the fourth-to-last episode to air, is in some ways like a series finale. In the episode, Hooterville Cannonball engineer/conductor Floyd Smoot decides to retire. The residents of

11232-613: Was canceled after one season due to low ratings. Benaderet worked sparsely in 1959, filming one-time appearances on General Electric Theater and The Restless Gun . Benaderet became a fixture on television in the 1960s, which included working on two shows simultaneously from 1960 to 1964. She played housekeeper Wilma in the lone season of the 1960 sitcom Peter Loves Mary , a part she received because of references from Burns. Benaderet considered herself "lucky" to be cast in another series out of fear that she had become too closely associated with Burns & Allen . The same year, she

11349-576: Was cast in Petticoat Junction, she was hailed as having "finally" become a star. She had previously played supporting roles throughout her career, usually as a next-door neighbor, and had been openly averse to leading roles. However, in January 1963, following CBS' acquisition of Petticoat Junction , she enthused to columnist Eve Starr of The Mercury : "Isn't it nice? After all these years. ... [It] just never occurred to me that it might...golly, my own show!" Benaderet often discussed facets of

11466-504: Was chosen from 200 actresses for the part of a government file clerk in Alfred Hitchcock 's Notorious (1946) and completed filming in half an hour, but her scenes were cut from the final print. She told Radio Life magazine that year that after having struggled to remember her lines, "Mr. Hitchcock looked me right in the eye and asked 'You want to go back to radio?' I said yes". Her first onscreen appearance, also uncredited,

11583-452: Was discovered the tumor could not be removed. Diagnosed with lung cancer, Benaderet underwent six weeks of radiation treatment via a linear particle accelerator at Stanford University Medical Center . A longtime smoker , she cut down her multiple-pack-a-day habit following her initial checkups and quit entirely after her surgery. Benaderet's treatment was initially successful and concluded in January 1968. She had missed 10 episodes of

11700-561: Was dropped and never referred to again. The second change is the addition of bumbling, but well-meaning, game warden Orrin Pike (played by actor Jonathan Daly ), who becomes Bobbie Jo's boyfriend, much to the annoyance of Uncle Joe. In the spring of 1970, despite somewhat improving ratings, Petticoat Junction was cancelled as a precursor to the CBS rural purge of the early 1970s, when all rural-themed shows were cancelled. Its final first-run episode

11817-401: Was essentially brought on as a surrogate mother figure to fill the void left by the death of Bea Benaderet, and takes up a medical practice at the hotel and also serves as a counsel of sorts for the girls. The cast was described as "most welcoming" to Lockhart as the newcomer during a difficult time. Quickly, Lockhart graduated from featured billing at the end of each episode to co-star billing in

11934-458: Was eventually cast. Benaderet guest-starred on the January 21, 1952, first-season episode "Lucy Plays Cupid" as the character of Miss Lewis, a love-starved spinster neighbor. Benaderet continued her Burns & Allen radio role of the Burns' neighbor Blanche Morton, Gracie's friend and staunchest supporter in her escapades. She was the only secondary cast member who appeared in every episode and

12051-441: Was explained by allusions in several episodes to his death. Floyd was replaced the following season by Wendell Gibbs, played by Byron Foulger . During the show's last season (1969–70), Foulger had become too ill to continue and did not appear. Davis guested as Floyd Smoot for two episodes, one of them being "Last Train to Pixley". He was also addressed off-screen in one episode as an invisible character. Coincidentally, Foulger died on

12168-512: Was good friends and a frequent collaborator with Mel Blanc , who wrote in his 1988 biography That's Not All Folks!: "[We] spent so much time together in studios that I used to refer jokingly to her as the 'other woman' in my life." Keeping the spelling of her surname, which has been misspelled as Benederet or Benadaret , was a choice she insisted on. She first resisted requests to change it early in her radio career: "[T]hey'd say, 'Anything's better than Benaderet—How about Smith?'" When she

12285-990: Was in the film On the Town (1949), as one of two women whom the main characters (played by Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra ) encounter while riding the subway. In 1945, Benaderet and fellow voice actresses Janet Waldo and Cathy Lewis were to appear on a televised fashion show on her former KFRC employer Don Lee's W6XAO network before the project fell through. On Irving Taylor 's novelty album Drink Along with Irving (1960), she duetted with Elvia Allman and Mel Blanc, respectively, on tracks titled "Sub-Bourbon Living" and "Separate Bar Stools". Benaderet and her first husband, actor Jim Bannon , met while employed at KHJ in Los Angeles. They married in August 1938 and had two children: Jack (1940–2017) , and Maggie (b. 1947). However, Bannon's heavy filming and touring schedule required for his portrayal of fictional cowboy hero Red Ryder took

12402-541: Was introduced at the same time and appeared in seven episodes over the next three seasons. Selma tries repeatedly to marry off the seemingly homely girl, the butt of many "plain Jane" jokes. In her next-to-last episode, the Bradley sisters give Henrietta a glamorous makeover and she is revealed to be quite attractive. Mike Minor first appeared on the series as Selma Plout's son Dan in the second-season episode "Mother Of The Bride" that aired December 15, 1964. After that episode,

12519-412: Was introduced to Orson Welles in 1936, he remarked that her name "sounded like something you ad lib in a mob scene." It was misspelled in a 1946 press release created specifically about its proper spelling, and Radio Life wrote in 1947: "If someone were to conduct a survey to decide the radio personality with the most frequently misspelled name, Bea Benaderet would probably win hands down." Early in

12636-539: Was not uncommon for the Cannonball to make an unscheduled stop for the crew to go fishing, or to pick fruit for Kate's apple butter and pies. The single-tracked Hooterville to Pixley spur line was cut off from the rest of the railroad 20 years before the start of the show by the demolition of a trestle. Charley and Floyd are alternately depicted as retired employees of the railroad receiving pensions and salaried railroad workers. Many plots involve railroad executive Homer Bedloe's futile attempts to cease operation and scrap

12753-467: Was not under contract with the studio. In 1955, she was succeeded by June Foray as Warner's premier female voice artist. Benaderet was Lucille Ball's first choice as Ethel Mertz for the sitcom I Love Lucy ; Ball said in a 1984 interview that she had "no other picture of anyone" for the role. However, Benaderet had to turn down the offer since she was contracted to the television adaptation of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show , so Vivian Vance

12870-415: Was only mentioned once in passing during the final two seasons. In the season-seven premiere "Make Room For Baby", the Bradley sisters and baby Kathy Jo return from swimming in the water tower. Steve has paternal qualms about his daughter's safety, to which Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo wistfully reply: "Mom taught all of us to swim before we could walk. And in the same old water tower, too." Choosing not to recast

12987-406: Was played by Elna Danelle Hubbell. In season six, Kathy Jo was played (uncredited) by infant twins Heather and Barbara Whiter. Heather said her sister and she landed the role when their mother heard that the producers were looking for red-haired babies. She also said that she has no first-hand memories of working on the show. Billie Jo was originally to be played by Sharon Tate . Though a cast photo

13104-440: Was released as a single in 1964 by Burnette and Rufe Davis (who played Floyd Smoot). At the end of the episode, Floyd decides not to retire when the people of Hooterville write him letters asking him to stay. The only actors who appeared in all seven seasons were Edgar Buchanan, Linda Kaye Henning, and Frank Cady. Buchanan was the only one to appear in every episode. Linda Kaye Henning appeared in all but two episodes: "Bobbie Jo and

13221-424: Was removed from the opening credits and Edgar Buchanan received star billing for the remainder of the series. Referring to the hotel, the opening theme lyrics were changed from "It is run by Kate, come and be her guest" to "It is run by Joe, come and be his guest". Although Petticoat Junction was still beloved by fans, the central premise of a country family was lost without a motherly figure. The long absence of Kate

13338-429: Was replaced by Gerry Johnson . In the late 1940s, Benaderet befriended Paul Henning , a scriptwriter on the radio production of Burns & Allen . She appeared on the 19 episodes of the show he had written between 1947 and 1951. She became one of his regular players in the first two seasons of Burns & Allen , a two-episode guest appearance on The Bob Cummings Show in 1956–57, and her involvement in three of

13455-485: Was taken with Tate, she never appeared in the show. Though long rumored possible explanations for Tate's replacement include the emergence of racy photos of Tate, the reality is that Martin Ransohoff , Filmways producer, felt she simply was not prepared for a central role, and her agents convinced her to pass up the opportunity. Billie Jo was played for the first two seasons (1963–65) by Jeannine Riley, who left to pursue

13572-465: Was the only actor in television history to play the same recurring character on three different shows at the same time. He was a regular on Petticoat Junction and Green Acres , in addition to some late series guest appearances on The Beverly Hillbillies . Benaderet had played Mrs. Granby on the short-lived 1950 radio show Granby's Green Acres . This show was the inspiration for the Petticoat Junction spin-off Green Acres . The Mrs. Granby character

13689-528: Was then cast as the voice of Betty Rubble in the Hanna-Barbera primetime animated series The Flintstones . Benaderet auditioned with past radio coworker Jean Vander Pyl for Betty and Wilma Flintstone by exchanging dialogue before the show's co-creator Joseph Barbera , who asked afterward what part they preferred. Vander Pyl recalled in 1994: "I said, 'Oh, I want to be Wilma!' [and] Bea said, 'That's fine with me. ' " Benaderet voiced guest spots on

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