Timeline of Milestones & Trivia

[Ronny G]

I thought it would be fun to start a timeline of important events that occurred on Petticoat Junction in order to keep everything handy and organized in one place.
I am currently watching PJ on Me-TV. They are currently showing season 5, so I'll start there.
Right now it is small. My goal is to keep it updated as new facts are obtained.
I welcome everyone to contribute and I'll edit this post to include it to the timeline. I hope to make it as complete as possible.
PETTICOAT JUNCTION TIMELINE
Compiled by Ronny G
SEASON 1(1963-1964)
SEASON 2(1964-1965)
SEASON 3(1965-1966)
SEASON 4(1966-1967)
2/16/67: Smiley Burnette (Charlie) dies of leukemia
#139 (5/2/67) Just to give you an idea of how big the population is in Hooterville: Sam Drucker says there are 251 residents.
SEASON 5(1967-1968)
#141 (9/9/67) Betty Jo returns from a New York vacation. It was a graduation present from Kate. So Betty Jo must be approx. 19 years old and is finished with high school. (The real actress, Linda Kaye, was born on Sept. 16, 1944 so she was 23 in real-life).
#142 (9/16/67) It is revealed that Steve and Billie Jo are no longer a couple. Billie Jo tells her mother that Steve and her are just friends (This opens up the door for Steve to begin courting Betty Jo).
It is also revealed that Charlie, the train engineer, is gone (The actor who played him died during the hiatus). They don't actually come out and say he died though, but it is heavily implied. In the touching moment, Kate is boarding the train. Floyd yells board. Kate tells him he doesn't have to do that because Charlie is no longer there. Floyd sadly says he likes to pretend he still is.
#143 (9/23/67) Steve and Betty Jo kiss and begin romantic relationship.
#145 (10/7/67) Steve proposes to Betty Jo.
#146 (10/14/67) Betty Jo finds a ramshackle cottage in the woods that she wants to move into once married.
#148 (10/28/67) Steve's parents are introduced. Uncle Joe and the local townsmen fix up the cottage.
#149 (11/4/67) Steve and Betty Jo get married. Betty Jo wears the same wedding gown that Kate wore when she married Bill. Kate is shown talking aloud to a picture of her deceased husband, Bill. (His picture is never shown.)
11/29/67: Bea Benaderet undergoes exploratory surgery on this date which her spokesman reported showed lung cancer. The publicist, Staff Clark, quoted the surgeon as saying that treatments will follow.
#159 (1/11/68) Kate is not in this episode. This is the first of ten episodes that Bea Benaderat misses due to illness.
#170: (3/30/68) Kate returns after a long absence. The town throws a celebration.
SEASON 6(1968-1969)
#171: (9/28/68) Betty Jo is pregnant. Wendell is introduced as the new engineer of the Cannonball (Floyd was promoted to an office job).
10/13/68: BEA BENADERET DIES
#174 (10/26/68) Betty Jo has a baby girl. This is Bea's last episode. She died before it aired. She was very ill during the filming and a body double was used to show her from the backside, but only Bea's voice was heard. She recorded her audio scenes from her deathbed. Kate only appeared in the first four episodes of this season and then was gone for good taking care of sick relative, Aunt Ruth. From this point on, whenever, anyone mentions Kate, she is said to be taking care of a sick relative. Eventually, in season 7, they start talking about her as if she has passed on, but no one really comes out and says she died.
#175 (11/2/68): Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies pays a visit to Hooterville, and Uncle Joe tells the girls that Jed Clampett's cousin, Pearl Bodine, is a distant relative of their mother.
SEASON 7(1969-1970)