Petticoat Junction

- Season 6

(1968)

Betty Jo's due date is fast approaching, with everyone in Hooterville excited by another baby being born in the valley delivered by Doc Stuart. Uncle Joe and his friends discuss names for the baby, which they want to sound strong and presidential, such as Joe Carson Elliott, Sam Drucker Elliott, or Newt Kiley Elliott. Steve throws Betty Jo and all the Bradleys for a loop when he announces that he has made arrangements with relatives in Baltimore for Betty Jo to stay there and have the baby delivered by one of the finest gynecologists in one of the finest hospitals in ...

While passing through the area, Ted Swift, a booking agent, hears the Bradley Sisters singing on the radio. He loves them and wants to book them for the fall season opening show of the Omaha based Buddy Buster television program. After Sam shows him a photo of the girls, he is more convinced than ever and signs a contract with Uncle Joe for the girls' appearance. What Uncle Joe forgets until he talks to Kate and the girls about it is that Betty Jo's pregnancy is not exactly television friendly. Betty Jo's appearance also does not match the "Singing Sweethearts" name ...

After a chat with Uncle Joe, Steve feels like he is not only playing second fiddle in the Elliott household to his yet unborn child, but that he is an unimportant and unnecessary part of the whole issue of having the baby. That feeling is fostered by Betty Jo focusing on issues around the baby instead of focusing on his needs. That feeling is also fostered by others in the valley, who want solely to deal solely with Betty Jo in anything having to do with the baby. To get Steve out of feeling the way he is, Uncle Joe concocts a plan for himself and Steve to "disappear"...

Betty Jo and Steve's baby is due anytime now. This baby has become a true community project, with the Douglases the last to know and to get involved. Steve thinks that it a good idea if they move back to the Shady Rest until the baby comes. Wendell has been on an around the clock watch for the last week keeping the train engine stoked. This 24-hour a day watch is taking its toll on his body. Betty Jo is trying to hold off the baby's arrival as Billie Jo is out of town on a singing engagement, and is trying to make it back as soon as she can. But more importantly, Kate...

Betty Jo and the baby are coming home from the hospital. They'll be staying at the Shady Rest temporarily so that Betty Jo and Steve can have some support. Part of that support is a doctor coming from Beverly Hills. Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo are hoping that the doctor is a young, handsome, eligible bachelor. So they are somewhat dismayed to learn that the doctor is a she and a distant relative, who is coming on the request of their mother based on the doctor's reputation alone. She ends up being Doctor Granny, who is not what one most would consider a traditional doctor...

Gus Huffle, the owner of the Pixley Bijou, the only movie theater in the area, has decided to close due to lack of business. The people of the valley will do anything they can to help Gus stay open. Joe thinks that a big part of the problem is that Richard Arlen and Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, who were supposed to come to the Bijou for the world premiere of their movie Les ailes (1927), decided instead to attend a premiere at the Roxy in New York City, which left a bad feeling between the theater and the community. Joe decides to write a scathing letter to Arlen and Rogers. After receiving the letter, Arlen and Rogers, in...

Doc Stuart surprises the people of the valley by announcing that he is going into semi-retirement, working part-time but hiring a new associate, whose arrival in the valley is imminent. Doc Stuart is as surprised as anyone when his new associate, Dr. Craig, arrives. The new doctor has the first name Janet and is female. Janet is as aware as anyone that her gender places her in an uphill battle in winning acceptance as a trusted physician in this rural area, with where she immediately falls in love. She didn't want to announce her gender before arriving in the ...

Joe continues his campaign to rid Dr. Janet Craig from the valley. He concocts a plan with Sam and Wendell to give her the "old freeze". But Janet, who has every intention of staying in the valley which she loves, has ways of thawing the old freeze. Sam and Wendell quickly melt under Janet's defrosting machine. Joe, on the surface, is a slightly more difficult case, although he too is thawing under the ice veneer. When Joe sees that Sam and Wendell have gone over to the side of the lady doctor, will Joe still try to beat them or will he join them?

Joe's campaign to rid the valley of Dr. Janet Craig takes on new importance for him when he learns that she is setting up an office at the Shady Rest. She and Doc Stuart are splitting up the patients in the valley based on geography, meaning that Joe will have to go to her if he gets sick. His new plot is for someone to come up with a fake illness - something that she can't diagnose - which will lead to no one having any confidence in her abilities. After losing a lagging contest with Sam and Wendell, Joe himself is elected the patient with the mysterious illness. ...

An unknown but well appointed man arrives in the valley. He ends up being Dennis Roberts, a friend of Janet's. Janet seems happy to see him, but somewhat nervous about his visit. It's because she knows he's here not only to rekindle their relationship, but to ask her to marry him, the answer about which she will have conflicting emotions regardless of if it's yes or no. If she says yes, it means she will be leaving the valley. No one wants to see Janet leave - not even Joe and Sam, who worked so hard to try and get her to leave originally - and will do anything to ...

With a crop dusting job completed which included a bonus, Steve wants to take Betty Jo out on the town. But Betty Jo doesn't want to leave the baby with sitters. They let a professional decide: Janet. She sides with Steve, mentioning that she, Uncle Joe and Bobbie Jo can look after Kathy Jo at the hotel. Betty Jo reluctantly agrees but doesn't seem to be able to focus on anyone else but the thought of Kathy Jo during the dinner date. Meanwhile back at the hotel, Bobbie Jo is first called off on a date she forgot about, then Janet is called off on a medical emergency, ...

The Cannonball's arch enemy, Homer Bedloe, has arrived in the valley on some undisclosed business. All he seems to be doing is riding the train. Sam and Joe believe he's out to get Wendell, who they think will incriminate himself through his naivety, honesty and helpful manner at all cost, as much of that help isn't part of his railroad job and as the result of his actions often is at the expense of keeping on schedule. They ultimately learn that Bedloe is watching Wendell's performance to use as an excuse to scrap the Cannonball in favor of a bus service for the ...

Bobbie Jo is enthralled with a new book she is reading called "The Feminine Mistake" which has the basic premise that women are being denied their humanity by men by being forced into domestic lives rather than real careers. After speaking to Janet who she believes is a fully realized woman, Bobbie Jo decides to look for a job so that she can gain an identity through her work. Her first attempts at jobs end in disaster. In the process, a few people get hurt by Bobbie Jo's actions, however unintentional the results were. Will Bobbie Jo find her true calling in life and...

Bobbie Jo, who is babysitting for the Elliotts while Betty Jo is out shopping and Steve is at home doing some paperwork, believes that Steve is ignoring Betty Jo, to who he hasn't said "I love you" in quite some time. In an effort to make it up to her, Steve professes his love to her. Betty Jo, in turn preoccupied with her chores, doesn't pay too much attention to Steve's professing his love. When Betty Jo learns from Bobbie Jo why Steve said what he did, Betty Jo feels that she has to make it up to him. But now with Steve preoccupied, Betty Jo really does feel like ...

Betty Jo has arranged with Reverend Barton to hold Kathy Jo's christening this Sunday. Janet reminds both her and Steve that it is customary to have the godparents stand up with Kathy Jo during the christening. As such, they have only a few days to decide on who Kathy Jo's godparents will be. They also realize that whoever they don't choose will be hurt and offended. Although she says that her mentioning the issue was not supposed to be a plug for herself, Janet is honored that Betty Jo and Steve ask her to be godmother. Janet's counterpart is a different matter as ...

Billie Jo arrives back to Hooterville from a gig in Omaha with her new boyfriend, the show's headliner, comedian Rick Wayne. Rick doesn't make a very good first impression in Hooterville - in Steve's words, he's always "on" - but Billie Jo ensures everyone that they'll get to love him the way she does. Billie Jo thinks that a good way for him to ingratiate himself into the hearts of the valley residents is for him to star in the Hooterville charity radio show (much to the chagrin of saxophonist Selma, who saw herself as the star of the show). Rick agrees, if only to ...

Steve receives a lucrative job offer from his old Air Force commanding officer to work in his new company. The job, however, is in New York. Steve has a hard time passing up the thought of the offer. Much to his surprise, Betty Jo, who has lived her entire life in the valley, doesn't object to the move, stating that she'll do whatever is best for Steve. However, without the other knowing, Steve and Betty Jo are both looking for an excuse not to go. Will they end up leaving despite neither really wanting to go? Meanwhile, as Steve has no use for his plane in New York, ...

As she is the only attractive single female in their age range in the valley, Sam and Bert are fawning over Janet. Their attentions change when Janet's friend, Adelle Colby, arrives in the valley. A librarian by trade, Adelle is in the valley to open up a new library. They have the books and the money, but now need a location. Janet suggests a mobile library in the form of the Cannonball. Sam, Bert and Uncle Joe, each wearing his Sunday best and with gift in hand, does whatever he can to spend time aboard the mobile library to be with Adelle to garner her favor. This ...

The valley folk are preparing for the annual Founder's Day celebrations. Janet's idea is to hold a musical tribute spanning time, with Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo and Betty Jo being the featured performers. Selma, whose husband's great great uncle Cyrus Plout founded Hooterville, hates the idea - especially the mini-skirt wearing number for the current period - as she doesn't think it's dignified enough for the memory of one of her family members. After she berates the girls, Uncle Joe kicks Selma out. Beyond Selma yelling at the girls, Uncle Joe actually agrees with her ...

After Sam makes some major (in reality, not so major) renovations and introduces some streamlined processes to the post office, he learns from the government that they are planning on shutting down his postal substation. The Bradleys, led by Uncle Joe, scheme on ways to make the government change their minds and keep the Hooterville substation open. Their plan is to encourage all the valley residents to mail themselves preferably parcels, but also letters, to show that there is a need and demand by the valley for that substation to remain open. The residents agree, so...

Janet gives Kathy Jo a clean bill of health as the rash that had been plaguing her has cleared. Janet figures Kathy Jo was allergic to something that is no longer in her environment. But Kathy Jo's rash reappears when Steve returns from a week long business trip. As Janet doesn't know to what Kathy Jo is allergic, Steve states that they should try to use some deductive reasoning to figure out the culprit. Unfortunately for Steve, the biggest change to when Kathy Jo does and does not have the rash is him. While Janet consults with Dr. Nicholson, an allergist colleague ...

Everyone at the Shady Rest is curious as to the date that Uncle Joe has circled in the calendar - today's date - and why he has been marking off the days until that date. He announces the reason: he is going into retirement. That news shocks everyone as they all figured he was already retired. Uncle Joe learns that his big news has made him the laughing stock of the valley as everyone is talking about what a big deal he's made of retiring from nothing to doing what he always does: fish, play checkers and take naps. Feeling unappreciated, Uncle Joe decides to run away....

Reverend Barton has hired Freddie Kirby, a professional fund-raiser, to raise money for their organ fund as the fund, which has been in existence for ten years, only has just over $100 in it, and they need $2,000 for the new organ. The valley residents soon blindly follow Freddie in whatever he suggests and trusts him with their money. But Freddie is not all that he appears, as his company plans to abscond with the money while leaving the church with an inferior second hand organ worth $20. As all the residents of the valley continually thank Freddie for his hard and ...

Hank Thackery is the owner/operator of the rival hotel to the Shady Rest, the Pixley House. Hank's mentality is all about modernization. As such, he proposes to set up a jitney service between Pixley and Hooterville as an alternative to the Cannonball. He bets Joe and the Cannonball to a race from Pixley to Hooterville, the loser to act as the bellboy at the other's hotel for a month. In addition, Hank convinces the county commissioner that the Cannonball's fate should depend on the outcome of the race. If the Cannonball ceases to operate, that means that the Shady ...

Janet has just returned from a business trip with some news: she has decided to take a position working with a famous neurologist, Dr. Pope, which means that she is leaving the valley for good. The trip reinforced how much she missed the field of neurology, in which she was originally going to specialize before she decided on general practice. The news hits everyone especially in the Bradley clan pretty hard and they vow to do whatever it takes to convince her to stay. They are hoping that the handsome Ted Thorsen, the forest ranger who has just injured his ankle, may...

Steve is working late into the night to submit a bit for a lucrative government contract. When Uncle Joe finds out about the contract after Steve has submitted his bid, Uncle Joe chastises him for not using Joe's administrative skills in greasing the process to ensure that Steve wins the contract. When Steve continues not to hear if he was awarded the contract, Joe can't help but continue to rub it into Steve that he should have consulted with him first. An angry Steve in turn blows up at Uncle Joe, dissolving the Carson-Elliott Airlines. After Steve hears if he was ...