Come ride a little train that is rolling down the tracks to the Junction, Petticoat Junction...
So goes the theme song to one of television's most enduring rural comedy classics, Petticoat Junction, first seen on CBS in 1963, and still wildly popular in reruns more than three decades later. We all know the feeling we get when we watch the sitcom and hear that music. It's an old fashioned sense of "cozy". We travel back to a simpler time when home meant appreciating the pleasures of simple living, like chatting with neighbors on the front porch while enjoying a nice cool lemonade.
THE INSIDE TRACK TO THE JUNCTION, PETTICOAT JUNCTION© will be the first book to explore the show and its cherished concepts in depth. It will be an affectionate and informative literary compendium to a TV series whose phenomenal success continues to be a surprise even to those who were involved with the show.
Tracing the evolution from the pilot to its final first-run episode (in 1970), to offering commentary from those behind the scenes, THE INSIDE TRACK© will plot the day-to-day course of what was required to produce this unique small screen gem. Prepared with the full support and cooperation of all those who were associated with the series, it will profile a cast and production team whose personal warmth, vitality and camaraderie catered to the significance of old-fashioned values. It will also put to print a television series that has set the standard for laughter in the family.
As an intimate reflection, THE INSIDE TRACK© will furnish choice commentary from those individuals associated with Petticoat Junction, from in front of and behind the scenes - all of whom have already granted exclusive, in-depth interviews. Written in a conversational, yet informal style, THE INSIDE TRACK TO THE JUNCTION, PETTICOAT JUNCTION© will contain approximately 250 pages, 50 rare, never-before-published glossy photos, and be ready in six to nine months.
I have over 40 hours of taped interviews
with the following people:
• Paul & Ruth Henning - Paul is the creator of the show. He & his wife have given me a tremendous amount of information regarding the inner workings and background of the show. (They are now in their mid-eighties)
• Linda Kaye Henning - Betty Jo Bradley (Elliott) for all 7 seasons
• Meredith MacRae - Billie Jo Bradley from seasons 4 - 7
• Lori Saunders - Bobbie Jo Bradley from seasons 3 - 7
• Gunilla Hutton - Billie Jo Bradley in season 3
• Mike Minor - Steve Elliott from seasons 4 - 7
• June Lockhart - Dr. Janet Craig in seasons 6 & 7
• Frank Cady - Sam Drucker for all 7 seasons
• Charles Lane - Homer Bedloe for all 7 seasons (He is now in his mid-nineties)
• Tom Lester - Eb Dawson in seasons 4 & 5 (also on "Green Acres")
• Jonathan Daly - Orrin Pike in season 7
• Jack Bannon - Bea Benaderet's son who was in a number of shows during the beginning of its run and was a dialogue coach for the cast members. Bea Benaderet played Kate Bradley for the first 6 seasons until she died of lung cancer in 1968
• Stephen Burnette - Smiley Burnette's son who was on the set constantly during the show's run. He also traveled extensively with his father on his many promotional tours for the show. Smiley Burnette played Charlie Pratt, the train engineer, until his death in 1967. (Stephen & his daughter, Elizabeth, have given me a many of photos and papers from Smiley's personal collection)
• Frank Inn - the animal trainer who discovered and trained the dog, Higgins, in the role of "Dog" on the show. Higgins went on to become the famous "Benji". Frank Inn also trained all other animals on the show as well as "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Green Acres" and almost every other TV show during the 50's & 60's. He is just full of fabulous stories! (He is now in his mid-eighties)
• Dick Wesson - produced the first season of the show and co-wrote a number of episodes. (Sadly, he passed away at the end of 1996)
• Ralph Levy - directed a large number of shows in the final few seasons
• Mark Tuttle - co-wrote most of the episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies" with Paul Henning plus several episodes of "Petticoat Junction"
• Buck Buchanan - Edgar Buchanan's son who was in 2 episodes and frequently on the set. Edgar Buchanan played Uncle Joe for all 7 seasons. Buck is very willing to talk about his father who died in 1979
• Barbara & Heathar Whiter - the twin girls who played the infant Kathy Jo Elliott in season 6 (plus their parents who enjoy talking about their experiences)
• Elna Hubbell - Kathy Jo Elliott in season 7 (her mother Diane, who was always on the set with her daughter, has given me lots of interesting tidbits about the show)
• Jimmy Hawkins - was an extra many times on the show and loves talking about it
• Stanley Cherry - directed 6 episodes in 1965
• Rosemary DeCamp - Aunt Helen at the end of season 5
• Shirley Mitchell - Cousin Mae in 4 episodes
• Jean Vander Pyl - was on 4 episodes of the show - but more importantly was the voice of Wilma Flintstone on "The Flintstones" and was close friends with Bea Benaderet, who was the voice of Betty Rubble, for many years. (Jean passed away in April 1999)
I will be happy to make my book proposal available to any Writer, Literary Agent or Publisher. Please email your name, address and phone number to me and I will contact you. Thank you very much for your interest!
The information and photographs that you see on this web site are just a small sampling of the tremendous amount of research and collecting I have done on the show. I would love to honor Paul Henning, who created Petticoat Junction, along with all of those in-front-of and behind-the-scenes of one of the best family shows ever made!
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