Petticoat Junction was one of those rural comedies in the vein of Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies. Besides being enamored by the Green Acres theme song as a young boy, these were all shows that got breezed by when they popped up on the TV screen. They didn’t immediately look appealing to me, but upon later views of two of those, I realized how funny they could be. Petticoat Junction is the one I’ve scarcely seen any of. But that’s all going to change, because it’s coming up in my sitcom viewing rotation late this year or early next year.
But as a nice warm-up, I’ve already met, greeted, got autographs, and posed for pictures with three of the main girls in the cast. The three Bradley daughters were Betty Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Billie Jo. Let’s just go in order…
Betty Jo was played by Linda Kaye Henning from start to finish…all 221 episodes. She was the daughter of Paul Henning, who not so coincidentally was the TV producer Paul Henning, who was the series creator of The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction and the Executive Producer of Green Acres. It was him who was responsible for the entire ‘rural’ movement of the sitcoms in the 1960’s.
Linda had quite an interesting career herself, having previously made appearances in Mister Ed, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and My Living Doll. After Petticoat Junction, she’d go on to make appearances in sitcoms such as Family Affair, Mork & Mindy, Happy Days, The Facts of Life, and Mad About You.
Bobbie Jo was portrayed by two actresses: Pat Woodell for the first 70 episodes, and then Lori Saunders for 147. Lori also had the distinction of appearing in five episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, as well as being a regular cast member on Dusty’s Trail.
Finally, Billie Jo was portrayed by not one, not two…but three different actresses: Jeannine Riley for 74 episodes, Gunilla Hutton for 24, and Meredith MacRae for 107. It is worth mentioning here that although I have not yet met her, I did have my friend Bob pick up a signed photo of Jeanine Riley at a Hollywood Show from the early 2000’s.
But the one whom I actually met was Gunilla Hutton, who had only been in the series for one season. Still she was able to get in on that great shower scene as depicted in the photo at the top of the posting. Her career in TV and film was a bit more limited that the other two, but she was a regular cast member of Hee Haw and went on to make appearances in Love American Style, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island.
But the coolest part of all of this was that I got to meet them all together at the Hollywood Show on April 20, 2013. And all were super nice…and super reasonable, each of them only charging $20, which included the photo, a photo op with each of them, a photo op with all of them together, and a photo op of Carolyn with all of them. Couldn’t beat that with a stick.
It made me feel bad that there was ever that rural purge. Now I can’t wait to sit back and enjoy Petticoat Junction and see these ladies in action.
Celebrity encounters of the Spring 2013 Hollywood Show will continue…
You lucky dog meeting those ladies. Wish I could have been there! Gunilla Hutton is my favorite I’ve tried through the Hee Haw Honey’s but haven’t been able to contact her. Perhaps one day soon….maybe
Keith Crossman
February 18th, 2015
Ah…,to go back to a time when Girls looked,dressed,acted,thought,and behaved like proper Girls.
Always a treat to view Petticoat Jctn, for my Wife too !!
Great scriptwriters and actors ,the like of which we maybe won’t see again so enjoy this series again won’t you ?
Ian Edge
November 17th, 2015
AMAZING, This is so awesome, thank you for sharing this wonderful story with the rest of us on the net… If they ever get together again I hope I can attend, it would be so worth the trip to CA from Dallas Texas,
Brian Harrington
March 28th, 2016