History Series / PetticoatJunction

The series centered around Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet), a widowed mother of three teenaged daughters and the owner of a quaint hotel called the Shady Rest, near the small whistle-stop town of Hooterville. In this she was allegedly assisted by her bachelor uncle Joe P. Carson (Edgar Buchanan), who tried to avoid getting involved in anything resembling work. Most episodes revolved around Kate trying to micro-manage her girls' love lives or deter Joe's various money-making schemes. From time to time the railroad company would threaten to take away the isolated spur line serving the town and its antiquated "Hooterville Cannonball" train, but Kate would always straighten them out, since she needed the train -- operated by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) -- to bring the Shady Rest its guests.

[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Petticoat_Junction_9490.jpg]]

[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Petticoat_Junction_9490.jpg]]

There's a little hotel called The Shady Rest\\

At the junction!\\
'''Petticoat''' Junction!''\\

('''Petticoat''' Junction!'')\\

->''Come ride the little train\\
That is rollin' down the tracks\\

Forget about your cares\\
It is time to relax\\

Lots of curves, you bet\\
Even more when you get\\

\\

\\

* ADogNamedDog: The stray that follows Betty Jo home and she ends up adopting is simply named "Dog"

* Double Entendre: Where on the body of someone wearing petticoats do they all come together? Well, all right, it's the waist, but we're getting pretty close….

* DisappearedDad: Kate is a widow.

* ForTheEvulz: From his first appearance, railroad executive Homer Bedloe always gets along poorly with the main cast and wants to shut down the train they get their livelihood from. However, in his first three episodes, he's only acting under orders, only acts nasty toward the main characters because they antagonize him first, and seems placated when they explain how operating the train isn't costing his company any money. Later in the series, he becomes a CardCarryingVillain who delights in trying to shut down the Hooterville Cannonball for the fun of it, even when his bosses oppose this idea.

* ''Series/PetticoatJunction:'' From his first appearance, railroad executive Homer Bedloe always gets along poorly with the main cast and wants to shut down the train they get their livelihood from. However, in his first three episodes, he's only acting under orders, only acts nasty toward the main characters because they antagonize him first, and seems placated when they explain how operating the train isn't costing his company any money. Later in the series, he becomes a CardCarryingVillain who delights in trying to shut down the Hooterville Cannonball for the fun of it, even when his bosses oppose this idea.

* ExpositoryThemeTune: "Come ride the little train that is rollin' down the tracks to the junction..."

** The opening shows the Bradley girls skinnydipping in the railroad water tank. In fact, that's how that particular location gets its (unofficial) name, from the girls' petticoats draped over the side of the tank.

* StoryArc: The an ongoing one has Homer Bedloe, from the C & FW railroad, trying to justify shutting down the spur line linking Hooterville with Pixley, which would effectively kill off the town and the Shady Rest Hotel.

* TheScrooge: Homer Bedloe, the sour-tempered C&FW Railroad executive who's forever trying to get the Hooterville Cannonball shut down.

* StoryArc: The first season had Homer Bedloe, from the C & FW railroad, trying to justify shutting down the spur line that linked Hooterville with Pixley, which would effectively kill off the town and the Shady Rest Hotel.

* CoolOldGuy: Bedloe's boss, Norman Curtis, quickly turns into this, being fascinated by Hooterville and its people, enjoying his visits out there and putting his foot down whenever he catches Bedloe trying to shut down The Cannonball again.

* CoolTrain: The Hooterville Cannonball, which functions as not only the main rail service from Hooterville to Pixley, but also as a taxi service for Kate, amongst other odd and funny operations.

''Petticoat Junction'' is the intermediate entry in Paul Henning's trio of rural [[TheSixties Sixties]] sitcoms, which also included ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'' and ''Series/GreenAcres''. It was produced by Creator/{{Filmways}} and aired on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1963 to [[UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge 1970]].

The series centered around Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet), a widowed mother of three 20-something daughters and the owner of a quaint hotel called the Shady Rest, near the small whistle-stop town of Hooterville. In this she was allegedly assisted by her bachelor uncle Joe P. Carson (Edgar Buchanan), who tried to avoid getting involved in anything resembling work. Most episodes revolved around Kate trying to micro-manage her girls' love lives or deter Joe's various money-making schemes. From time to time the railroad company would threaten to take away the isolated spur line serving the town and its antiquated "Hooterville Cannonball" train, but Kate would always straighten them out, since she needed the train -- operated by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) -- to bring the Shady Rest its guests.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Petticoat_Junction_9490.jpg]]

''Petticoat Junction'' is the intermediate entry in Paul Henning's trio of rural sitcoms, which also included ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'' and ''Series/GreenAcres''. It was produced by Creator/{{Filmways}} and originally aired on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1963 to [[UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge 1970]].

The series centered on Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet), widowed mother of three 20-something daughters and owner of a quaint hotel called the Shady Rest near the small whistle-stop town of Hooterville. In this she was allegedly assisted by her bachelor uncle Joe P. Carson (Edgar Buchanan), who tried to avoid getting involved in anything resembling work. Most episodes revolved around Kate trying to micro-manage her girls' love lives or deter Joe's various money-making schemes. From time to time the railroad company would threaten to take away the isolated spur line serving the town and its antiquated "Hooterville Cannonball" train, but Kate would always straighten them out, since she needed the train -- operated by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) -- to bring the Shady Rest its guests.

[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Petticoat_Junction_9490.jpg]]

* ExpositoryThemeTune: "Come ride the little train that is rolling down the tracks to the junction/''Petticoat Junction''..."

[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Petticoat_Junction_9490.jpg]]

The series centered on Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet), widowed mother of three 20-something daughters and owner of a quaint hotel called the Shady Rest near the small whistle-stop town of Hooterville. She was allegedly aided by her uncle Joe Carson (Edgar Buchanan), who tried to avoid getting involved in anything resembling work. Most episodes were about Kate trying to micro-manage her girls' love lives or deter Joe's various money-making schemes. From time to time the railroad company would threaten to take away the isolated spur line servicing the antiquated "Hooterville Cannonball" train, but Kate would always straighten them out, since she needed the train -- operated by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) -- to bring the Shady Rest its guests.

The series centered on Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet), widowed mother of three 20-something daughters and owner of a quaint hotel called the Shady Rest near the small whistle-stop town of Hooterville. She was allegedly aided by her uncle Joe Carson (Edgar Buchanan), who tried to avoid getting involved in anything resembling work. Most episodes were about Kate trying to micro-manage her girls' love lives or deter Joe's various money-making schemes. From time to time the railroad company would threaten to take away Hooterville's isolated spur line, serviced by its antiquated "Cannonball" train, but Kate would always straighten them out, since she needed the train -- operated by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) -- to bring the Shady Rest its guests.

* TheScrooge: Homer Bedloe
** Literally in the first season ChristmasEpisode "Cannonball Christmas" ... He's determined to close the Cannonball on Christmas Eve even though his own Boss wants him to leave the Hootervillians alone.

** The opening shows the girls skinnydipping in the water tank. In fact that's how that particular location gets its (unofficial) name, from the girls' petticoats draped over the side of the tank.
** Though at least one episode showed the girls actually swimming in the tank, in swimsuits. An attempted subversion?
** In Episode 1, Kate chastised the girls for swimming in the tank, saying that if the train came early to take on water it'd leave them "high, dry and bare." Later they find bathing suits at the general store, but Kate says it's almost the end of summer.

The series centered on Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet), widowed mother of three 20-something daughters and owner of a quaint hotel called the Shady Rest near the small whistle-stop town of Hooterville. She was allegedly aided by her uncle Joe Carson (Edgar Buchanan), who tried to avoid getting involved in anything resembling work. Most episodes were about Kate trying to micro-manage her girls' love lives or deter Joe's various money-making schemes. From time to time the railroad company would threaten to take away Hooterville's isolated branch line, serviced by its antiquated "Cannonball" train, but Kate would always straighten them out, since she needed the train -- operated by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) -- to bring the Shady Rest its guests.

The series centered on Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet), widowed mother of three 20-something daughters and owner of a quaint hotel called the Shady Rest near the small whistle-stop town of Hooterville. She was allegedly aided by her uncle Joe Carson (Edgar Buchanan), who tried to avoid getting involved in anything resembling work. Most episodes were about Kate trying to micro-manage her girls' love lives or deter Joe's various money-making schemes. From time to time, the railroad company would threaten to take away Hooterville's isolated branch line, serviced by its antiquated "Cannonball" train, but Kate would always straighten them out, since she needed the train -- operated by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) -- to bring the Shady Rest its guests.

The series centered on Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet), widowed mother of three 20-something daughters and owner of a quaint hotel called the Shady Rest near the small whistle-stop town of Hooterville. She was allegedly aided by her uncle Joe Carson (Edgar Buchanan), who tried to avoid getting involved in anything resembling work. Most episodes were about Kate trying to micro-manage her girls' love lives or deter Joe's various money-making schemes. From time to time, the railroad company would threaten to take away Hooterville's isolated branch line, serviced by the antiquated "Hooterville Cannonball", but Kate would always straighten them out, since she needed the train -- operated by engineer Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and fireman/conductor Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) -- to bring the Shady Rest its guests.

* StoryArc: The first season had Homer Bedloe, from the C & FW railroad trying to justify shutting down the spur line that linked Hooterville with Pixley, which would effectively kill the town of Hooterville and the Shady Rest.