Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies

[franciis]

long running shows were all created by same person/s ? .....many started in mid 60's ?? Fave stories on shows ? P Junc had lots of changes thru the yrs...The G Acres farmhand eventually got engaged........B Hillbillies......stories had some modern day storylines in 1970 ? Shows were cancelled about 1971 ? Many rural (other shows taken off were ...??) shows with a tree ....rural comedies went off...Loved all seasons of P Junction.Great actors.........seeing one character marry and have baby.The lady doctor coming to village ..character was on the last three yrs of show it seems......etc

[24/7 reruns]

Originally Posted by franciis

long running shows were all created by same person/s ? .....many started in mid 60's ?? Fave stories on shows ? P Junc had lots of changes thru the yrs...The G Acres farmhand eventually got engaged........B Hillbillies......stories had some modern day storylines in 1970 ? Shows were cancelled about 1971 ? Many rural (other shows taken off were ...??) shows with a tree ....rural comedies went off...Loved all seasons of P Junction.Great actors.........seeing one character marry and have baby.The lady doctor coming to village ..character was on the last three yrs of show it seems......etc

I liked all 3 shows. In order for me 1st Green Acres, 2nd Beverly Hillbillies, 3rd Petticoat Junction.

Green Acres was such a surreal show. Almost that Henning said "Anything Goes" or the writers were high when creating the show. I mean, Arnold and Cynthia, bad farming with a clueless farmer who desperately tried to understand the process. Hot Cakes every morning, Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight, square eggs, etc.

Beverly Hillbillies was truly classic. The first seasons in black and white were tops. Each show had some learning experience for the Clampetts since their surroundings were so foreign to them. Door bells, swimming pools, Billiards table, Beverly Caterers ( BTW she was super attractive), and so on. Later years with Doctor Granny and the office in the bank building and Jethro wanting to be a talent agent / movie producer. Just wild stuff

Petticoat Junction was best in the black and white years and the first color season. Just a sweet silly show. Pretty girls, scheming uncle, and mom trying to make a living in an impoverished area, and a train that always looking behind its back fearing being dismantled by a ruthless railroad executive. And nice crossovers with Green Acres. The later years recycled stories and had to make room most episodes for song insertions.

Damned Rural Purge. It killed off some of the last escapist shows. Soon after, Laugh-in, All in the Family, etc. Took over. Even though I like both of those shows sometimes it's nice to watch some sitcom Valium instead of seeing reality.

[biffbronson]

Petticoat Junction ended following the 1969-1970 season. The "Rural Purge" came after the following season: these shows were canned by CBS after their 1970-71 seasons:

The Beverly Hillbillies
Green Acres
Mayberry R.F.D.
Hee Haw (continued in syndication)

Also, the rural aspect of CBS's The Doris Day Show was pretty much abandoned, with its setting primarily urban as the series ran on to 1973.

[24/7 reruns]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Petticoat Junction ended following the 1969-1970 season. The "Rural Purge" came after the following season: these shows were canned by CBS after their 1970-71 seasons:

The Beverly Hillbillies
Green Acres
Mayberry R.F.D.
Hee Haw (continued in syndication)

Also, the rural aspect of CBS's The Doris Day Show was pretty much abandoned, with its setting primarily urban as the series ran on to 1973.

True. Laugh-In started prior to the Purge. It was probably the start of more reality, topical, and controversial programing.

Hee Haw thrived in syndication. And the Doris Day Show couldn't seem to find a setting to stick with. Each season a new format/focus.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by 24/7 reruns

I liked all 3 shows. In order for me 1st Green Acres, 2nd Beverly Hillbillies, 3rd Petticoat Junction.

Green Acres was such a surreal show. Almost that Henning said "Anything Goes" or the writers were high when creating the show. I mean, Arnold and Cynthia, bad farming with a clueless farmer who desperately tried to understand the process. Hot Cakes every morning, Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight, square eggs, etc.

Beverly Hillbillies was truly classic. The first seasons in black and white were tops. Each show had some learning experience for the Clampetts since their surroundings were so foreign to them. Door bells, swimming pools, Billiards table, Beverly Caterers ( BTW she was super attractive), and so on. Later years with Doctor Granny and the office in the bank building and Jethro wanting to be a talent agent / movie producer. Just wild stuff

Petticoat Junction was best in the black and white years and the first color season. Just a sweet silly show. Pretty girls, scheming uncle, and mom trying to make a living in an impoverished area, and a train that always looking behind its back fearing being dismantled by a ruthless railroad executive. And nice crossovers with Green Acres. The later years recycled stories and had to make room most episodes for song insertions.

Damned Rural Purge. It killed off some of the last escapist shows. Soon after, Laugh-in, All in the Family, etc. Took over. Even though I like both of those shows sometimes it's nice to watch some sitcom Valium instead of seeing reality.

I agree with your ranking of the Henning shows.

I don't think the three Henning's shows were really affected by the rural purge. The heart of Petticoat Junction was Bea Benaderet, her death in 1968 essentially killed the show. The fact that the series was renewed for the 69-70 season came as a surprise to the cast and crew who fully expected the show to be cancelled at the end of season 6. The final episode of season 6, "Tune In Next Year" was meant to be the series finale. So in reality the show was living on borrowed time getting a 7th season, the series was cancelled in the spring of 1970 to the surprise of no one.

I love Green Acres, there are funny episodes in season 6, that said, the party was clearly coming to an end. The ratings were well off what they had once been it ranked out of the top 30 its final two season and the numbers were trending downwards. Even if there had not been a "rural purge" (which was actually a demographic purge) the show probably would have been cancelled due to declining viewership.

The Beverly Hillbillies dropped out of the top 30 for the first time in season 9, a clear sign the show was losing viewers with little potential of turning the numbers around if the series had been renewed. The series finished with 274 episodes, only 5 less than The Big Bang Theory which was on for 12 seasons, one episode less than Cheers which was on for 11 years, the show was out of ideas, creative wise stumbling to the finish line. Raymond Bailey was in declining health so his continuing as a series regular if the show had been renewed is in doubt. In fact the series basically turned into Hathaway's Hillbillies the last half season with Nancy Kulp's character now becoming a lead character. Take a look at the series final season and you'll see how repetitive many of the episodes were. Donna Douglas was getting too old to play Elly, Max Baer had checked out barely appearing in the final three episodes. There were still funny moments but the best years were a dot in the rearview mirror. There's a saying show business, always leave the audience wanting more. For the Hillbillies the time had come to wave goodbye for the last time.

[tlc38tlc38]

3 of my favorites!

[icecream]

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

3 of my favorites!

Welcome back!

[PhoenixAcres]

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

3 of my favorites!

Welcome back, tlc! It's been a while.

[MA]

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

3 of my favorites!

Welcome back!

[Sal]

Originally Posted by Duster76

I agree with your ranking of the Henning shows.

I don't think the three Henning's shows were really affected by the rural purge. The heart of Petticoat Junction was Bea Benaderet, her death in 1968 essentially killed the show. The fact that the series was renewed for the 69-70 season came as a surprise to the cast and crew who fully expected the show to be cancelled at the end of season 6. The final episode of season 6, "Tune In Next Year" was meant to be the series finale. So in reality the show was living on borrowed time getting a 7th season, the series was cancelled in the spring of 1970 to the surprise of no one.

I love Green Acres, there are funny episodes in season 6, that said, the party was clearly coming to an end. The ratings were well off what they had once been it ranked out of the top 30 its final two season and the numbers were trending downwards. Even if there had not been a "rural purge" (which was actually a demographic purge) the show probably would have been cancelled due to declining viewership.

The Beverly Hillbillies dropped out of the top 30 for the first time in season 9, a clear sign the show was losing viewers with little potential of turning the numbers around if the series had been renewed. The series finished with 274 episodes, only 5 less than The Big Bang Theory which was on for 12 seasons, one episode less than Cheers which was on for 11 years, the show was out of ideas, creative wise stumbling to the finish line. Raymond Bailey was in declining health so his continuing as a series regular if the show had been renewed is in doubt. In fact the series basically turned into Hathaway's Hillbillies the last half season with Nancy Kulp's character now becoming a lead character. Take a look at the series final season and you'll see how repetitive many of the episodes were. Donna Douglas was getting too old to play Elly, Max Baer had checked out barely appearing in the final three episodes. There were still funny moments but the best years were a dot in the rearview mirror. There's a saying show business, always leave the audience wanting more. For the Hillbillies the time had come to wave goodbye for the last time.

Three of my favorites as well with Green Acres in my top 10, and the others in my top 20. The difference between them and later hits like "The Big Bang Theory" and "Cheers" is that in the 50s and 60s, seasons were much longer, lasting until the beginning of summer, going from roughly 30-39 episodes, hence "The Honeymooners" only season being known as the "Classic 39". Today's hit series, what few there are left, range between 13-22 episodes per season for the network series and 10-15 for the streaming shows. So the total of 274 episodes for the "Hillbillies" is just over 30 per season, while "The Big Bang Theory" and "Cheers" are at over 23 per season. No wonder Jethro was feeling tired!