The 1960s are often remembered as a time of marked political and social upheaval in America, and despite this — or maybe, because of this — the decade also produced a host of television programs with a distinctly cracker-barrel appeal. On CBS alone, there was “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “Green Acres,” “Mayberry, R.F.D.” and, of course, “Petticoat Junction,” whose first season came out last week on DVD (CBS and Paramount Home Entertainment, $42.99).
The show, which was created by Paul Henning (“Beverly Hillbillies”) and premiered on CBS in fall 1963, was set in the quaint fictional town of Hooterville and revolved around the Bradley family — widowed Kate (Bea Benaderet), her three nubile daughters Billie Jo (Jeannine Riley), Bobbie Jo (Pat Woodell) and Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) and their rather slow-moving Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) — who owned and operated the Shady Rest Hotel.
The town’s only transportation was an old steam engine run by Charley Pratt (Smiley Burnette) and Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis), who had his eye on Kate. The series attracted several old-time guest stars, including Charles Lane, as well as a pre-“Easy Rider” Dennis Hopper.
“I tell you the people who watched it really identified with it because they lived those lives,” said Linda Henning, now 63. “That was what they wanted to see. It meant a lot to them. So many people would talk to me about it telling me, ‘That is so much like my town, but I wish your family was like my family.’ It was really nice.”
Henning was the only constant among the actresses who played the three sisters. Riley and Woodell left after the second season. Lori Saunders played Bobbie Jo from 1965 to 1970; Meredith MacRae was the third and last actress to play Billie Jo.
“They wanted to pursue other careers,” Henning says of her departed TV siblings. “It was tough. But we all got along, and I tested with the (other) girls, and they asked me my opinion.” Betty Jo also grew up in front of America, falling in love, marrying and having a baby. Henning was briefly married to the actor who played her TV spouse, Mike Minor.
