The BEST episodes of Petticoat Junction

Every episode of Petticoat Junction ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Petticoat Junction!

Rural sitcom revolving around a widow, her uncle and three daughters who run the Shady Rest Hotel along the Hooterville Cannonball railroad line.

Last Updated: 10/10/2025Network: CBSStatus: Ended
star
8.50
4 votes

#1 - The Valley Has a Baby

Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/26/1968

The pregnant Betty Jo is ready to have her baby but problems arise when Wendell, the conductor won't wake up and Betty Jo has to drive the train herself

Directors: Ralph Levy
Watch Now:Amazon
star
8.50
4 votes

#2 - Kate's Homecoming

Season 5 - Episode 30 - Aired 3/30/1968

Kate comes home and finds everything normal--there's a mix up on where to meet her, and fireworks set the Pixley depot ablaze.

Directors: Ralph Levy
Watch Now:Amazon
star
8.50
4 votes

#3 - Wings

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/9/1968

Richard Arlen and Buddy Rogers arrive for a premiere of "Wings"--40 years late.

Directors: Ralph Levy
Watch Now:Amazon
Dog Days at Shady Rest
star
8.43
7 votes

#4 - Dog Days at Shady Rest

Season 1 - Episode 32 - Aired 4/28/1964

Railroad president Norman Curtis sends his dog on a vacation at the Shady Rest.

Directors: David Alexander
Writer: Andy White
Watch Now:Amazon
star
8.40
5 votes

#5 - Shoplifter at the Shady Rest

Season 4 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/14/1967

Watch Now:Amazon
As Hooterville Goes
star
8.40
10 votes

#6 - As Hooterville Goes

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/27/1964

Hooterville will have to go some to retain its record as the first community in the state to file election returns--Crabwell Corners has got itself an automatic voting machine

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Watch Now:Amazon
Kate Bradley, Girl Volunteer
star
8.33
6 votes

#7 - Kate Bradley, Girl Volunteer

Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/9/1965

Hooterville's embarrassed volunteer firemen, unable to put out a blaze on the Cannonball, have to call for outside help.

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Watch Now:Amazon
Race Against the Stork
star
8.29
7 votes

#8 - Race Against the Stork

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/29/1964

Kate's friend, Elsie, comes to stay at Shady Rest while waiting to have her baby, and a nervous Uncle Joe immediately works out a master plan to get a doctor to Shady Rest when the crucial time arrives

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Watch Now:Amazon
My Dog the Actor
star
8.27
11 votes

#9 - My Dog the Actor

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/10/1964

Billie Jo enters a picture of the family dog in a pet-food company's contest, and the mutt is selected one of five finalists.

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Watch Now:Amazon
The Good Luck Ring
star
8.27
11 votes

#10 - The Good Luck Ring

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/5/1965

Bobbie Jo conts on a "good luck" ring to help her win a spelling contest.

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Watch Now:Amazon
Cannonball Christmas
star
8.25
16 votes

#11 - Cannonball Christmas

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/24/1963

Bedloe plans to stop the Cannonball from making its traditional Christmas caroling tour.

Directors: Guy Scarpitta
Watch Now:Amazon
Cave Woman
star
8.25
8 votes

#12 - Cave Woman

Season 1 - Episode 36 - Aired 5/26/1964

Kate is trapped by a cave-in just when the Shady Rest is a candidate for hosting a big convention.

Directors: Guy Scarpitta
Watch Now:Amazon
The Genghis Keane Story
star
8.25
8 votes

#13 - The Genghis Keane Story

Season 1 - Episode 38 - Aired 6/9/1964

When a notoriously tough former schoolteacher visits, Kate and the girls plot to get her back into teaching.

Directors: Jean Yarbrough
Writer: Jack Raymond
Watch Now:Amazon
Kate's Bachelor Butter
star
8.20
10 votes

#14 - Kate's Bachelor Butter

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/8/1964

Food salesman Jack Crandall, a passenger on the Cannonball, is stunned when the train stops just so Charley and Floyd can pick apples for Kate's special recipe: Bachelor Butter

Directors: Guy Scarpitta
Watch Now:Amazon
The Great Buffalo Hunt
star
8.14
14 votes

#15 - The Great Buffalo Hunt

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/17/1964

Uncle Joe shocks Kate by bringing home a buffalo! It's part of his scheme to dupe a wealthy British sportsman into coming to "Shady Rest Hunting Lodge

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Writer: Jay Sommers
Watch Now:Amazon
The Brontosaurus Caper
star
8.14
7 votes

#16 - The Brontosaurus Caper

Season 2 - Episode 34 - Aired 6/1/1965

Betty Jo has given up baseball to dedicate her life to science--or at least to her handsome new science teacher

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Watch Now:Amazon
A Borderline Story
star
8.14
7 votes

#17 - A Borderline Story

Season 2 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/16/1965

Surveyors discover that Shady Rest straddles the county border and Uncle Joe plans to play this up as a sure-fire tourist attraction.

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Watch Now:Amazon
Charley Abandons the Cannonball
star
8.14
7 votes

#18 - Charley Abandons the Cannonball

Season 1 - Episode 31 - Aired 4/21/1964

Feeling neglected, Charley quits his job as engineer of the Cannonball.

Directors: David Alexander
Watch Now:Amazon
A Millionaire for Kate
star
8.13
8 votes

#19 - A Millionaire for Kate

Season 1 - Episode 33 - Aired 5/5/1964

Kate is visited by an old schoolmate who has become a millionaire, but Uncle Joe has him pegged as a con artist.

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Watch Now:Amazon
Smoke-Eaters
star
8.13
8 votes

#20 - Smoke-Eaters

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/5/1965

The members of the Hooterville Volunteer Fire Department Band are trying to raise money because without it, they cannot establish a Hooterville Volunteer Fire Department.

Directors: Richard L. Bare
Watch Now:Amazon
star
8.00
4 votes

#21 - Bad Day at Shady Rest

Season 5 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/2/1968

"Deputy" Joe Carson captures a desperate bank robber with the help of Aunt Helen and a war-surplus life raft.

Directors: Ralph Levy
star
8.00
4 votes

#22 - The Barber Shop Quartet

Season 5 - Episode 20 - Aired 1/20/1968

Uncle Joe's proclivity for off-key singing prompts his dismissal from a barber shop quartet-- just before a local talent contest.

Directors: Ralph Levy
star
8.00
4 votes

#23 - The Power of the Press

Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/6/1968

As two crusading newpapers reporters,Bobbie Jo and her boyfriend take overe the "Hooterville World Guardian."

Directors: Ralph Levy
star
8.00
4 votes

#24 - Author! Author!

Season 4 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/28/1967

Kate Bradley becomes worried when Bobbie Jo begins associating with a strange group of friends after she wins a poetry award.

star
8.00
4 votes

#25 - The Fishing Derby

Season 4 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/14/1967

To boost business at the Shady Rest, Uncle Joe and Sam Drucker promote a fishing contest but delay paying for the prize merchandise.

Writer: Dick Conway