There were other subtle changes.
During the first two seasons, the sisters appeared in the credits in the order Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo and Betty Jo. Beginning with Season 3, the sequence shifted to Betty Jo, Bobbie Jo and Billie Jo.
Finding the right Bradley sisters hadn’t been easy either.
Series creator Paul Henning reportedly considered an enormous number of young women before settling on the actresses who would become the faces of the Shady Rest.
One of them had an especially close connection to him.
Linda Kaye Henning was Paul’s daughter.
Bea Benaderet reportedly encouraged the idea of casting Linda as Betty Jo, helping launch a role that would become inseparable from the actress.Billie Jo memorabilia
The Hooterville Cannonball created another collection of amusing inconsistencies.
According to the show’s premise, the train was essentially the primary way to reach the isolated Shady Rest Hotel. The nearest usable road wasn’t exactly supposed to provide convenient transportation.
But as the seasons continued, that isolation became remarkably flexible.
Discover more
Stream Comedy Series
Book Movie Tickets
Motherhood TV portrayal
Characters would occasionally appear at the hotel despite apparently never arriving on the Cannonball. Someone might enter shortly after the train had departed, while another guest could already be at the hotel moments before the Cannonball supposedly delivered visitors.
Apparently, the Hooterville Cannonball ran according to whatever schedule that week’s script required.
Then there was the smoke.
The locomotive was presented as a wood-burning engine, and viewers could clearly see chopped firewood piled aboard.
But it frequently produced thick black smoke more characteristic of another type of fuel.
The series even offered a convenient explanation early on: the Cannonball was supposedly burning old railroad ties.
The locomotive itself wasn’t always consistent either.
Different filming circumstances meant viewers weren’t necessarily seeing precisely the same train in every shot, with production techniques and mock-ups helping create the illusion.
Even the Cannonball’s number mysteriously changed.
During the black-and-white seasons, viewers could spot the number “3” on the locomotive.Classic TV actors
When *Petticoat Junction* transitioned to color in its third season, the locomotive became No. 8.
No elaborate explanation was necessary.
This was Hooterville, after all.
One of the sweetest stories surrounding the series happened away from the cameras.
Linda Kaye Henning’s Betty Jo eventually fell in love with Steve Elliott, played by Mike Minor.
Their characters married on the show in 1967.
