I really disliked the show when all the singing started in the last few season's. It was really lame! Ruined a good show! SO PHONY!

[This message has been edited by NEWHART FAN (edited 07-06-2001).]

Agreed! The singing was horrible, and so corny!

I actually think the show started heading downhill during the third season (the first in color). It felt more artificial than the first two seasons. It got worse during the fifth season, when Bea Benaderet (Kate) was absent so frequently due to illness. And it really started scraping the bottom of the barrel when BEa Benaderet passed away at the beginning of the sixth season, and they replaced her with June Lockhart. Look at the cast during the last few seasons -- most of them don't seem like they could have grown up in a rural area like Hooterville.

Petticoat Junction was a great show despite all the obstacles it faced-- constant recasts of the two older girls, and the death of Bea.
If ever a show represented the idea of the little engine that could it was this show.

Four Billie Joes (if we count Sharon Tate, and two Bobbi Joes! With each recast the girls personalities altered a bit. Jeannie and Gunilla were similar at least in appearence but Meredith was a total departure especially from Jeannine. Pat Woodell and Lori Saunders were different as night and day. If one were to view the first and last episode it would seem like to separate shows.

this show was so cool. the girls were gorgeous. back in the 60s everything was cool and entertaining unlike the present and future sitcoms which are considered garbage. petticoat junction is a classic and remains a classic. classic comercials to go along with classic petticoat junction were also cool.

It fell apart when Kate died. So sad. She held the show together. It was too tough a job for June Lockhart to take over.

When Bea Benederet died, so should the show. They'd constructed the whole show for her to be the best 'straight woman' possible to, but when she was gone, there was really no point to continue as the only vaguely interesting character left was Uncle Joe but he REALLY needed to have a strong foil like Kate to reign him in. They never once spelled out that her character was dead. .just 'gone away on a long visit'.Also, what were they thinking bringing in June Lockhart to be new 'mother hen chaperone' doctor? Does anyone think that tongues in a tiny town of Hooterville wouldn't have been wagging a mile-a-minute at the idea of this attractive woman doctor moving into a hotel 'run' (?!) [more like 'crawled'] by the lazy old bachelor Uncle Joe?

Originally posted by PracTz
When Bea Benederet died, so should the show. They'd constructed the whole show for her to be the best 'straight woman' possible to, but when she was gone, there was really no point to continue as the only vaguely interesting character left was Uncle Joe but he REALLY needed to have a strong foil like Kate to reign him in. They never once spelled out that her character was dead. .just 'gone away on a long visit'.Also, what were they thinking bringing in June Lockhart to be new 'mother hen chaperone' doctor? Does anyone think that tongues in a tiny town of Hooterville wouldn't have been wagging a mile-a-minute at the idea of this attractive woman doctor moving into a hotel 'run' (?!) [more like 'crawled'] by the lazy old bachelor Uncle Joe?

The feel of the show was gone when Bea Benederet died. It was a shame and a disgrace the way the show did not handle her passing. It was like Kate never existed.

Amazing how PJ and Green Acres were both set in Hooterville and still had some common characters considering how different the shows were in the later years, with PJ getting cornier with the stupid singing and GA going totally surreal.

Amazing how PJ and Green Acres were both set in Hooterville and still had some common characters considering how different the shows were in the later years, with PJ getting cornier with the stupid singing and GA going totally surreal.

Don't know... but maybe the deaths of actors, hence their characters were off limits back then? Were there other shows with a similar situation that handled it differently in those times?

The show went downhill after Bea Benaderet died. She was the heart and soul of the show. I wish they could of said Kate died and did a episode honoring her memory, but in th 1960's the shows at that time didn't usually admit that a character has died. They just say that the character went away on a trip.

Edgar Buchanan and June Lockhart did their best, but thier characters on the show weren't as strong as Bea's character Kate Bradley. They should have cancelled the show after the 6th season.

....was responsible for the decision NEVER to mention that Kate Bradley had "died", she just "went off on a long visit" {however, it was acceptable for Floyd to mourn for Charley in a brief show of emotion, after Smiley Burnette passed away}. It was traumatic enough for the entire cast to film most of the 1967-'68 season while Bea Benaderet was recovering from her cancer treatments, and more devastating, after her return, when she learned she wouldn't be around to see the end of the next one. CBS, however, insisted that the series continue, and that's why June Lockhart was brought in, after a few "transition" weeks, in late 1968. It may not have been the best idea, but it was the only one Henning had, short of shutting down production altogether. You have to remember that there were a LOT of cast changes throughout the entire series, and Bea was basically the one who "held it together". Perhaps it was the times, or the fact that TV was moving past "homespun rural comedies", that the series ended when it did.

:tv:

I do not think The show went downhill

The feel of the show was gone when Bea Benederet died. It was a shame and a disgrace the way the show did not handle her passing. It was like Kate never existed.


So it's not me. I've searched all over to try to find an episode or even MENTION of Bea's whereabouts after her death. The closet I thought I got was when BettyJo gives birth, and Kate supposedly returns from her sister (or cousin) just in time for the big event. (they only show the back of her and you know it isn't really Bea at all but they use her voiceover - albeit an obviously ill and weak voice). Then that's it - you never see or hear about Kate again.
Very odd!

Definitely the show started to suck when Bea got sick. To me, they should have just called it quits or renamed and revamped the entire thing.
It's like if Jerry Seinfeld had called it quits on his show and they tried to keep it going without him - can't be done.

There were other good characters besides Kate. Betty and Steve were married--lots of stories there!

So it's not me. I've searched all over to try to find an episode or even MENTION of Bea's whereabouts after her death. The closet I thought I got was when BettyJo gives birth, and Kate supposedly returns from her sister (or cousin) just in time for the big event. (they only show the back of her and you know it isn't really Bea at all but they use her voiceover - albeit an obviously ill and weak voice). Then that's it - you never see or hear about Kate again.
Very odd!

Definitely the show started to suck when Bea got sick. To me, they should have just called it quits or renamed and revamped the entire thing.
It's like if Jerry Seinfeld had called it quits on his show and they tried to keep it going without him - can't be done.
Agreed.

It turned when Bea Benederet got sick. Yes, she was one in an ensemble cast that had other changes - but she was one of the standouts. And the change was handled very poorly by having Kate be "out of town" without saying where she was out of town or what she was doing there, while her whole life had been running the hotel with her daughters. The transition would have been smoother by having Kate be ill, but not dwell on it and ruin all sense of comedy, and have less of a change with the replacement character being more similar, such as keeping Rosemary DeCamp around as "Aunt Helen".

The death of Bea Benederet definitely was a shark jump for Petticoat Junction. Edgar Buchanan became the show's star although he was more of a supporting actor who couldn't move into the forefront. The addition of June Lockhart didn't help either.

If Bea had died of lung cancer, they would have had Kate die of another form of cancer. Forget her trip, she didn't even go on one (unless Kate went to Heaven).

IMHO, Bea MADE the show. Her passing was a strong precursor to the show's demise as well.

...sold the Shady Rest and canceled the show. Without Kate, there was no show.:(

What's so sad about all this was that Bea was a great actress who was a pioneer in television. From Blanche on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show to playing Betty on the Flintstones to Pearl on the Beverly Hillbillies, she was a great supporting actress. She finally made it to the top as a lead in a hit sitcom and she got sick and died. It just wasn't fair. :(

What's so sad about all this was that Bea was a great actress who was a pioneer in television. From Blanche on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show to playing Betty on the Flintstones to Pearl on the Beverly Hillbillies, she was a great supporting actress. She finally made it to the top as a lead in a hit sitcom and she got sick and died. It just wasn't fair. :(

I agree.

What's so sad about all this was that Bea was a great actress who was a pioneer in television. From Blanche on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show to playing Betty on the Flintstones to Pearl on the Beverly Hillbillies, she was a great supporting actress. She finally made it to the top as a lead in a hit sitcom and she got sick and died. It just wasn't fair. :(
So true. :(

What's so sad about all this was that Bea was a great actress who was a pioneer in television. From Blanche on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show to playing Betty on the Flintstones to Pearl on the Beverly Hillbillies, she was a great supporting actress. She finally made it to the top as a lead in a hit sitcom and she got sick and died. It just wasn't fair. :(

And on top of all of this, she was a GREAT voice over artist. She did the voices of many cartoon characters the most famous of all was Betty in The Flintstones. What a magnificient and versatile talent she was. Thanks for the eloquent tribute Sonny!

I watched the episode a while back when a very short reference was made about Charley's death and it was so sad. I can't imagine how they could have mentioned Kate's death. I watched "the wedding" episode last night. It was wonderful and Hugh Beaumont as Steve's father was very good.

I bought the episodes from the first season that were released and thoroughly enjoyed seeing Linda Kaye Henning narrating it and also seeing some of the actors. Frank Cady is wonderful as always.

I watched the episode a while back when a very short reference was made about Charley's death and it was so sad. I can't imagine how they could have mentioned Kate's death. I watched "the wedding" episode last night. It was wonderful and Hugh Beaumont as Steve's father was very good.

I bought the episodes from the first season that were released and thoroughly enjoyed seeing Linda Kaye Henning narrating it and also seeing some of the actors. Frank Cady is wonderful as always.

Yes that DVD set is very nice & I really enjoy Linda's narrations too. And yes, Frank is always great no matter where you find him - he was my fav friend of Ozzie's - always good natured with a nice sense of humor. (Kate should have married him on PJ I think - Sam was a nice guy.)

I think that Kate's death wasn't mentioned because everyone was so sad losing Bea. I think that even with Kate's absence only briefly mentioned of her going out of town again I think that even a proper sent off to Kate won't have saved the show. June was great but she wasn't Kate and the writers didn't always use her character as they should have. I do like how they challenged the notion of a male doctor when they introduced June as Dr. Craig but soon she was nothing but a piece of backdrop. They focused to me too much on Uncle Jo in the last two seasons. They should always have kept the focus on the girls. Probably they should have had all three girls move to another rural town maybe for work or widen out and have the show go on without the Shady Rest setting because then viewers won't be reminded of Kate and it would make sense for Kate to stay back while her grown up girls make it on their own.

I think that Kate's death wasn't mentioned because everyone was so sad losing Bea. I think that even with Kate's absence only briefly mentioned of her going out of town again I think that even a proper sent off to Kate won't have saved the show. June was great but she wasn't Kate and the writers didn't always use her character as they should have. I do like how they challenged the notion of a male doctor when they introduced June as Dr. Craig but soon she was nothing but a piece of backdrop. They focused to me too much on Uncle Jo in the last two seasons. They should always have kept the focus on the girls. Probably they should have had all three girls move to another rural town maybe for work or widen out and have the show go on without the Shady Rest setting because then viewers won't be reminded of Kate and it would make sense for Kate to stay back while her grown up girls make it on their own.
You make a good point. After Bea passed away they should have moved the action away from the Shady Rest. I would have liked to see them change the name of the show to Kate's Girls. They could have shown what Billie, Bobby,and Betty's lives were like after they moved out of The Shady Rest. From their share of the proceeds of selling the Shady Rest Hotel, Steve and Betty Jo could have bought a large house in town and of course Billie Jo, Bobby Jo, and Uncle Joe would move in with them. I think that would have been a far better way to deal with Bea's absence.

In defense of the scripting, at least to some extent, there was more focus on Betty Jo and Bobbie Jo in the final couple of seasons -- with Betty Jo moving to the cottage with Steve as a change of location for her, and Bobbie Jo having her romance with Orrin Pike. The whole group went camping in one episode, - another example of a shift away from the Shady Rest as always being the center of activity. But keep in mind too that the budgets on these shows rarely allowed for the building of new sets, etc.

There were still lots of things going on. Some of the later episodes were priceless, like Selma having to move into the Shady Rest temporarily. And there were some episodes that focused on Dr. Janet Craig as well. Some series, especially The Andy Griffith Show, suffered a real drop-off in quality in their late seasons, but I still find them enjoyable. As far as Petticoat Junction, everyone is entitled to their opinons, but I found the late seasons to be reallly interesting, and it was good to see Betty's family growing and Bobbie's romance. If the series had continued, I think Orrin would have married Bobbie Jo in the next season. And Meredith MacRae's real-life husband, Greg Mullavey, had come on late in the series too. I love these people, and can't get enough of their work...!

I agree that some of the storylines were good after Bea died and it was nice to see the family continue to grow. I too think that in the next season Bobbie Jo would marry Orrin. I bet he might a second thought before the ceremony and that would make a funny show. I don't know if Billie Jo would have gotten married or dated someone regularly if the show had survived to the 1971 rural purge. Billie Jo's character had changed into a smart, independent singer and her boy craziness was not used later on. She became the one with the most common sense besides Betty Jo after Kate died and kept things grounded at the Shady Rest.

I agree that some of the storylines were good after Bea died and it was nice to see the family continue to grow. I too think that in the next season Bobbie Jo would marry Orrin. I bet he might a second thought before the ceremony and that would make a funny show. I don't know if Billie Jo would have gotten married or dated someone regularly if the show had survived to the 1971 rural purge. Billie Jo's character had changed into a smart, independent singer and her boy craziness was not used later on. She became the one with the most common sense besides Betty Jo after Kate died and kept things grounded at the Shady Rest.

It was definitely when Bea Benaderet died.They should have ended it then.All the spice was gone when Ms.Benaderet died.In the Bea Benaderet years,it was a perfect recipe for the show.Very little singing,a lot of spice,and just a tablespoon of sugar.But when she died, it became a sickening recipe for the show-A LOT of singing,A LOT of sugar(so much of both it became nauseating,)and very little spice.A far cry from the beginning.

It was definitely when Bea Benaderet died.They should have ended it then.All the spice was gone when Ms.Benaderet died.In the Bea Benaderet years,it was a perfect recipe for the show.Very little singing,a lot of spice,and just a tablespoon of sugar.But when she died, it became a sickening recipe for the show-A LOT of singing,A LOT of sugar(so much of both it became nauseating,)and very little spice.A far cry from the beginning.
I agree the show should have ended when Bea died. They should have had one last episode where Homer Bedloe finally succeeds in mothballing the Cannonball and then called it a day.

The show's charm was nostaglia to a simpler time before the tribulant sixities. I think that the Cannonball should not have been scrapped in the last show because it would have taken away from the show. The show should have ended with the baby being born; that way we are left to imagine the fine of Kate seeing Kathy Jo growing up.

In the Bea Benaderet years,it was a perfect recipe for the show.Very little singing,a lot of spice,and just a tablespoon of sugar.But when she died, it became a sickening recipe for the show-A LOT of singing,A LOT of sugar(so much of both it became nauseating,)and very little spice.

There was a significant amount of singing in Bea's seasons as well. In fact, at times Kate Bradley played the piano while the singing was going on!

I don't think you've given an accurate account of what progressed. For example, the whole Ladybugs singing plotline was a fairly early one. Even Charley Pratt sang, and he was gone from the show before Kate was (death of Smiley Burnette). There had been at least a fair amount of singing in random episodes, well before Bea's death. Aside from the later premise of Billie Jo wanting to go professional, there wasn't an excessive increase that I've encountered -- and I've seen ALL of seasons 3 through 7.

As far as "spice," I'm not sure what you mean. Selma and Joe mixed it up quite a bit after Kate was gone. Joe got into it with a group of bikers. A Vietnam orphan was part of a story. Joe disliked Orrin. I don't see any of that as just "sugar," and there are more examples.

I know that this really wouldn't have been an option back then, but I think that teh final episode of PJ should have been Kate's death. They could have had something happen with Kate, didn't have to be cancer, maybe something more sudden and have either one of the girls or Uncle Joe get a phone call and tell everyone else that she was gone. They could then sell the hotel and maybe have the very end more like Three's Campany where you find out what everyone is moving onto and then simply have them leave the hotel for the last time. That way, if the producers really wanted to keep the show going, they could have instead just wrote a spinoff revolving around one of the characters, and bring the others ones every few episodes.

What I mean by spice,is that the gentle sparring between Uncle Joe and Kate was fun.When Bea Benaderet died,although Selma Plout and Uncle Joe verbally sparred,it WASN'T the same.

I am fine with the way the later episodes were written regarding Kate. It was a delicate thing to work with. I thought the writers handled it well. I wish the girls had stuck with their original personalities. Bobbie Jo went from a shy bookworm to a spacy chick. Plus she was the singer in the family but then when the show went to color, her singing was not as much and then when the girls formed the group, she was in the background and Billie Jo became the singer (Meredith took over the role at this time) and everything changed.

I am guessing at that time, they really didn't know how to deal with the real-life death of a series' star. It was probably considered a very delicate situation, since it was a situation comedy. Plus, Paul Henning thought the world of Bea Benaderet and her death shook him and the cast up pretty bad. It was a hard thing to deal with, I am certain.

^ Agreed. At least they didn't try to recast Kate after Bea passed away. THAT would've been horrible!!

I am fine with the way the later episodes were written regarding Kate. It was a delicate thing to work with. I thought the writers handled it well. I wish the girls had stuck with their original personalities. Bobbie Jo went from a shy bookworm to a spacy chick. Plus she was the singer in the family but then when the show went to color, her singing was not as much and then when the girls formed the group, she was in the background and Billie Jo became the singer (Meredith took over the role at this time) and everything changed.
In the first two seasons Bobbie Jo was played by Pat Woodell who was a talented singer in real life. (In fact the reason she left the series was to pursue her singing career) That's why she was prominent in the singing scenes. In the color episodes Lori Saunders took over the role and she wasn't as strong a singer as Pat Woodell so Bobbie Jo became less prominent in the singing scenes.

Kate Bradley was definitely missed, but I did like June Lockhart's character.

Kate Bradley was definitely missed, but I did like June Lockhart's character.
I feel the same - June was about as good a replacement as one could have hoped for, very different yet still a warm personality.

I have to disagree with all the posters who say the show should have ended after Bea's death. That wouldn't have been fair to the rest of the cast to lose their jobs just because the main lead had passed away. And anyway, Joe and the girls had played the main roles in episodes nearly as often as Bea did.

I personally like the latter episodes best (the Meredith Macrae years) with Bea or June. I was too young to have ever seen any of the Pat Woodell/Jeannine Riley episodes and of course they were never rerun. Watching the dvds I thought neither was as good as Meredith and Lori in these roles, particularly Pat who was no where near as good a comedienne or actress as Lori.

There was a significant amount of singing in Bea's seasons as well. In fact, at times Kate Bradley played the piano while the singing was going on!

I don't think you've given an accurate account of what progressed. For example, the whole Ladybugs singing plotline was a fairly early one. Even Charley Pratt sang, and he was gone from the show before Kate was (death of Smiley Burnette). There had been at least a fair amount of singing in random episodes, well before Bea's death. Aside from the later premise of Billie Jo wanting to go professional, there wasn't an excessive increase that I've encountered -- and I've seen ALL of seasons 3 through 7.

As far as "spice," I'm not sure what you mean. Selma and Joe mixed it up quite a bit after Kate was gone. Joe got into it with a group of bikers. A Vietnam orphan was part of a story. Joe disliked Orrin. I don't see any of that as just "sugar," and there are more examples.
There was some singing in the Bea episodes, you're right, but the SIGNIFICANT singing didn't really start until season 4 with Mike and Meredith added to the cast.
You're right, Pat did most of the singing in the early shows,but most of her solos were short and brief. What the person who started this thread is referring to is that the more CONSTANT singing didn't really start until the latter part of Bea's tenure with the series, and that started as I said in season 4. Season's 5 and 6 had the most singing, with somewhat less singing in season 7. You see, by this latter time, the singing was now a lot more than just folks around a piano. You now had characters "breaking into song" as in a movie musical, with full orchestra playing on the soundtrack! And it was no longer just people singing country folk songs, you know had people like Steve and Betty Jo singing old standards from the pre-rock era. "Hawaii Calling" is a PRIME example.
Also some of Meredith MacRae's solos such as "I'm Glad There Is You" from season 7's "How To Arrange a Marriage" had either full orchestras or small combo's playing on the soundtrack. In short, the cast members were now singing "city" music!
I consider, as stated in my own thread "The Ladybugs" in season one to be entirely separate, because that was done strictly for laughs, s opposed to the latter stuff from years 4 thru 7 which were mostly done straight.

After Kate was off the show.

Amazing how PJ and Green Acres were both set in Hooterville and still had some common characters considering how different the shows were in the later years, with PJ getting cornier with the stupid singing and GA going totally surreal.
All 3 of the shows Green Acres, Petticoat Junction and Beverely Hillbillies were conected in some way to each other because Paul Henning crested all 3 shows.

I feel the same - June was about as good a replacement as one could have hoped for, very different yet still a warm personality.

I have to disagree with all the posters who say the show should have ended after Bea's death. That wouldn't have been fair to the rest of the cast to lose their jobs just because the main lead had passed away. And anyway, Joe and the girls had played the main roles in episodes nearly as often as Bea did.

I personally like the latter episodes best (the Meredith Macrae years) with Bea or June. I was too young to have ever seen any of the Pat Woodell/Jeannine Riley episodes and of course they were never rerun. Watching the dvds I thought neither was as good as Meredith and Lori in these roles, particularly Pat who was no where near as good a comedienne or actress as Lori.

The cast and the crew for that matter, may have also simply been contractually obligated to continue and it wasn't as simple as "just cancel the show right then and there". Otherwise, every single TV show in which the main star suddenly dies in real life (e.g. 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, Cover-Up, Chico and the Man, The Royal Family, etc.) would have to go off the air right away, and no questions asked.