A "petticoats" of the title referred to the numerous women of the Shady Rest Hotel; in the opening sequence, it was implied that Kate Bradley's three girl swam nude in a water system tower, when their underskirt were positioned across a side. A "junction" in the title refers to the fact it was placed in the train line in the country.

Placed in the rural town of Hooterville, a indicate followed a goings-in at the Shady Rest Hotel, of which Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet) was the owner. Her sleeping brother Joe (Edgar Buchanan) helped her in the day-to-day running off of the business, when she served as a intermediary in the various minor crises that befell her girl: Betty Jo, Bobbie Jo, & Billie Jo. A actresses portraying Billie Jo & Bobbie Jo varied above a years; Betty Jo was systematically portrayed by Linda Kaye (Henning), girl of series author Paul Henning.

The unique "character" around Petticoat Junction was a Hooterville Cannonball, an abbreviated steam-driven train (serviced per above-above-named the water system tower) start supplementary such as a taxi service by its engineer, Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and conductor, Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis). It was non rare for even the men of the Cannon ball to produce an unscheduled prevent sequentially to last camping or pick fruit for Kate Bradley's menu at a Shady Rest Hotel. On occasion, Betty Jo Bradley can be uncovered by owning her hand on the Cannonball's throttle, when camping a train personal from either trips into town was one of her preferred pursuit. Potentially a indicate's theme song was suggestive of a train going.

An additional significant nonhuman character wwhen a unknown canine companion of a sisters, referred to only as "the dog". It was potrayed by "Higgins", who late went in to potentially greater fame late when Benji. (In a series it wwhen implied that the pooch was female as it got its have underskirt in the opening a body of water tower scene.)

J. Homer Bedloe, played by actor Charles Lane, was vice president of the C&FW Railroad. Bedloe was a mean-spirited, however somehow too gentle, railroad executive world health organization visited a Shady Rest Hotel sporadically attempting to buy justification for ending the train service of the Hooterville Cannonball (& never succeeding).

A indicate benefitted greatly around its number one 4 seasons from either a super heavy lead-around of The Red Skelton Show, which immediately preceded it on Tuesday nights on CBS. Inside its 1st year it possibly exceeded Skelton's ratings, finishing at #4 overall for the year. A rest of its period in Tuesday nights, it remained in the Nielsen top 25.

Within 1968, Bea Benaderet died of lung cancer, and in a story, Joe became the owner of the Shady Rest. The freshly role was created of an female doctor in Hooterville, and June Lockhart joined the cast in the role of Janet Craig to serve as a replacement of sorts for Benaderet. A ratings began to fall (it experienced besides been moved to Saturday night, traditionally American television's lowest-rated nighttime, a last season) & a indicate was canceled around 1970.

A indicate wwhen placed in a equivalent fictitious universe as the rural television comedies Green Acres, also placed around Hooterville, & The Beverly Hillbillies. A shows possibly shared characters, & every now and again "crossed over" into both more's episodes, especially therefore when you took a shows' earliest years.