All aboard! The Cannonball is about to leave the station and take you on a ride down to that place we call the Junction... Petticoat Junction! The classic rural sitcom from creator Paul Henning comes to DVD for the first time ever in a season format. The Official First Season contains all 38 episodes from the 1963-1964 season of the series on a five disc set that contains plenty of special features. While nearly half of the episodes contained within this set have been released in public domain releases, as well as MPI’s Ultimate Collection release, this is the first time that all of the episodes have been released on DVD, and these episodes may be “new” to some fans, as the first season has largely been ignored in most syndicated runs of the series.

Petticoat Junction stars Bea Benaderet as Kate Bradley, the owner of the Shady Rest Hotel... where it all happens in the Junction. Benaderet had previously played Cousin Pearl on Paul Henning’s other hit series, The Beverly Hillbillies. But Uncle Joe (played by Edgar Buchanan) somehow manages to have his own ways, as he is “movin’ kinda slow at the Junction,” and creates major problems every now and then. Kate also has three daughters, Billy Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Betty Jo that help her keep things in line at the Shady Rest, and sometimes help her get out of the problems that happen every now and then. The series ran for seven years on CBS and eventually led the successful spinoff Green Acres (which became an even bigger pop culture phenomenon). So get ready to head on down to the Junction... Petticoat Junction!

Read our review by Skees here:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/petticoatjunctionseason1dvdreview.html

Please post any questions or comments about this set.

Very cool - thanks for posting!! :cool:

Please book me for a ride on the Cannonball Express. Woo woo!! Looking forward to this!!

Me too. Especially to see how Pat Woodell looks after all these years and see what she has to say about the show. :wave:

Me too. Especially to see how Pat Woodell looks after all these years and see what she has to say about the show. :wave:

And I'm hoping I can "come ride the little train that is going down the track" into Seasons 2, 3, 4 and more! The more I think abt this show the more fond I am of it.

Mine is already pre-ordered and hopefully will arrive before Christmas Day! I'm also keeping my MPI set, just because it has different extras and sponsorship closings on the credits.

And I'm hoping I can "come ride the little train that is going down the track" into Seasons 2, 3, 4 and more!

I hope that they do more seasons too. I really like this show. :wave:

Thanks for the review. I'm really looking forward to seeing the interview material especially, and of course the otherwise unavailable episodes that will finally appear.

I might offer a few small corrections for the review:

Billie Jo, not "Billy."
Bobbie Jo and the Beatnik is the correct episode title, not Betty.
And Pat Woodell's last name is misspelled once.

Thanks again, PJ fans will be pleased to have the review available.

I've never seen this show, so I'm looking forward to checking it out.

I believe it's one of the most consistently underrated series out there. The first episode establishes the premise quite effectively, and the scripts that follow are lively and highly entertaining.

Bea Benaderet is excellent in her role, Edgar Buchanan is consistently funny, and the beautiful three girls' personalities are firmly established. The train personnel (played by Smiley Burnette and Rufe Davis) are entertaining as well. And you will love seeing Betty Jo run the Cannonball!

In Season 1 you will also meet the characters Sam Drucker and Fred Ziffel, both of whom are well-remembered from later work on Green Acres as well. Fred has his pig farm, though Arnold is not yet introduced.

Fred Ziffle was in that series? Funny, I don't remember him.

Fred's pig farm seemed like a kind of hang out for the teens in Petticoat Junction. It's mentioned a lot throughout the series.

I've never seen this show, so I'm looking forward to checking it out.


Oh you've got to see this classic show! Near the end I didn't like it as much (once Bea passed away). They seemed to go overboard with the sappy songs and pushing Mike as a stud singer.

But the first few seasons were great and I always enjoyed how they entertwined PJ with Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies.

Remember - it's also the first appearance of the legedary "Benji" known on this show as "Dog" or "Boy" (why they didn't give him a better name I'll never figure out).

Fred Ziffle was in that series? Funny, I don't remember him.

I believe Fred made his debut in "Please Buy My Violets" (Season 1). He mentions his wife in that ep, but she is not named Doris (as she is known on Green Acres).

Fred Ziffle is the BOMB!! Definitely one of the great characters from Hootersville (as Lisa would say).

I loved when Fred began using some of Lisa's hotcakes as roof shingles...!

Got my copy in today and as I have the next two days off, plan to spend some time at the Shady Rest! :D

Got my copy in today and as I have the next two days off, plan to spend some time at the Shady Rest! :D
I think I'll check in to Shady Rest myself. I'm exhausted between work and bills and Christmas shopping!!

^Did you get the DVDs or rent them, Monika?

^Did you get the DVDs or rent them, Monika?
Checking them out of the library.

I got my Petticoat Junction DVD's through the Canadian Amazon site. They came yesterday and I watched the first disc. I must say, I was impressed with all of the bonus material, I like the video intros for each episode. Prime in Canada only showed seasons 3-7 (the coloured episodes) so it's a treat seeing the B&W episodes for the first time.

Don't fret Heidi--we viewers in the US never got to see the B&W episodes either (save for the pilot or the election episode on TV Land marathons).

I got my DVD set a couple days ago. It's pretty good. I really like the 2-part
interview that Linda Kaye Henning and Pat Woodell did. Pat talked about how after she heard about John F. Kennedy's death she started to cry and Bea took Pat to her dressing room and Bea comforted Pat and they watched the news together. :)

Can anyone tell me which PJ set has the better Extras-- The Complete First Season or MPI's Ultimate Collection? I don't want to miss out on any rare stuff!

I got my DVD set a couple days ago. It's pretty good. I really like the 2-part
interview that Linda Kaye Henning and Pat Woodell did. Pat talked about how after she heard about John F. Kennedy's death she started to cry and Bea took Pat to her dressing room and Bea comforted Pat and they watched the news together. :)
That's why I love DVD extras so much. It's always fun to hear the backstage stories. :cool:

I wouldnt say that the Extras are better on one than the other..The commercials the cast is in are the same in both sets..Most of the Extras, though different, cover a lot of the same ground..

That's why I love DVD extras so much. It's always fun to hear the backstage stories. :cool:
So do I. That's the best thing about the extras.

I just recently finished watching all 38 Official First Season episodes of Petticoat Junction. What a treat to travel back to simpler times (the 1960's) and enjoy the leisurely pace of life at the Shady Rest Hotel. All the fun I remember from long ago was still there. Uncle Joe's schemes to bring in more business to the Hotel. Betty Jo running the Cannonball. And of course Homer Bedloe's endless attempts to scrap the cannonball. Of course we always knew Homer would never succeed because if he did there would be no more show! But it was fun to watch him try and to see how the people of Hooterville would rally together to once again save the Cannonball.

It was fun to see stars from other 1960's TV shows who appeared as guest stars on Petticoat Junction. Some examples are Sheila James (Dobie Gillis), Steve Franken (Dobie Gillis), Adam West (Batman), and Ken Osmond (Leave It To Beaver). Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider) guest starred in the episode Bobby Jo and the Beatnik.(He played the beatnik)

A nice touch on this set was introductions to each episode given by Linda Kaye Henning and Pat Woodell. I wish more DVD sets would include this feature. The other extra on this set consisted of an interview with Linda and Pat. Here we get some interesting backstage stories and Pat and Linda's feelings about their co-stars.

All in all a very nice DVD set and a wonderful time watching it and being transported back in time to simpler, sweeter times!

Hopefully soon we will hear word of a second season release, because those episodes have been transferred to HD as well.

I need to get PJ. I just finished Beverly Hillbillies official seasons 2 & 3, plus have been watching Green Acres seasons 1-3, so I should really enjoy this. Those Retrospects and interviews, as well as the un-edited shows and rare material makes these dvd sets so enjoyable and interesting.

Hopefully soon we will hear word of a second season release, because those episodes have been transferred to HD as well.
TVSHOWSonDVD announced today that Petticoat Junction The Official Second Season will be released in July! :)