Charles Stewart Movies
- 1965
When Mrs. Brown (Pamela Britton) is made an honorary police officer, Martin (Ray Walston) offers her a pill intended to straighten out her scatterbrained behavior. As a result, Mrs. Brown becomes a super crimefighter, ticketing one and all for the slightest of infractions--and ultimately attempting to capture escaped criminal Mugs Carson (Victor French) single-handedly. Naturally, she makes a mess of things, and pretty soon practically everybody in the cast has been taken hostage, obliging Martin to come to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Charles Lane makes his final Petticoat Junction appearance in the role of nasty railroad executive Homer Bedloe. As the last gesture in his long-running efforts to scrap the Hooterville Cannonball, Bedloe has arranged the antique train engine to be replaced by an up-to-date bus service. This time, his scheme is foiled by two drop-ins from The Beverly Hillbillies: Granny Moses (Irene Ryan) and Miss Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp). This is episode is a followup of sorts to the Beverly Hillbillies installment of December 18, 1968, which featured Petticoat Junction regulars Lori Saunders, Meredith MacRae and Frank Cady. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Now that she is engaged to Steve (Mike Minor), Betty Jo (Linda Kaye) chooses a "dream house" as the couple's honeymoon cottage. Unfortunately, Steve takes one look at the tumbledown shack and declares the "dream house" to be "nightmare alley." This leads to the couple's first lover's quarrel--which threatens to be their last! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
There's been a slight increase in the population of Hooterville Valley, requiring the services of a new county supervisor. Sam Drucker (Frank Cady) assumes that he's a shoe-in for the post, but when election time rolls around, he is faced with a formidable opponent: namely, Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet. The hotly contested election ends up dividing the electorate along gender lines, with the boys declaring war against the girls, and vice versa! Watch for cult-film favorite Jackie Joseph (Little Shop of Horrors, Gremlins) in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Hooterville's annual Founders Day celebration may be cancelled this year due to some serious generation-gap issues. It all begins when Selma Plout (Elvia Allman) declares that the Bradley girls' rock-n-roll tribute to her sainted Great Uncle Cyrus Plout is "indecent." But in true "Hey, kids, let's put on a show!" tradition, the young folks and the old folks finally reach an understanding--with a few surprise twists along the way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
After fighting with Steve (Mike Minor) over bathroom privileges, Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) faces the possibility that Steve and Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) will move out for keeps. To prevent this, Joe offers to install a second bathroom in the Shady Rest. Unfortunately, this requires him to deal with that redoubtable realtor Mr. Haney (Pat Buttram), who is no more honest on Petticoat Junction than he is on Green Acres! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Betty Jo (Linda Kaye) and Steve (Mike Minor) find their household budget severely strained by deficit spending. The limit comes when, having made a mutual promise to start economizing, each of the newlyweds purchases new furniture without telling the other. Once again, it falls to Kate (Bea Benaderet) to straighten out the mess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Bobbie Jo (Lori Saunders) writes a poem which ends up winning a prestigious magazine award. Naturally, Kate (Bea Benaderet) is both pleased and proud of her daughter--or at least she was pleased and proud before Bobbie began hanging around a bunch of hip-talking beatniks. (By 1967 the "beat movement" had passed and hippies were in vogue, but try telling that to the Petticoat Junction producers!) This episode was originally scheduled for March 21, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Self-styled deputy Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) informs everyone at the Shady Rest that a bank robbery has occurred and the bandit is still at large. This information piques the interest of a new guest at the hotel (Alan Reed Sr.)--who happens to be the bank robber! It takes the combined resources of Aunt Helen (Rosemary DeCamp) and a WW2-vintage life raft to save the day and mete out justice. Bea Benaderet (Kate Bradley) does not appear in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
In order to raise extra money for her family, Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) sets up a day nursery at the Shady Rest. Alas, her husband Steve (Mike Minor) is dead set against his wife going to work--and besides, those squalling infants are driving everyone crazy. This is the 222nd and final episode of Petticoat Junction, and it is clear throughout that none of the cast members were aware that the series was ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Impressionist Rich Little guest stars as Rick Wayne, a big-city comedian in whose nightclub act singer Billie Jo (Meredith MacRae) has been appearing. Bringing Rick home to meet the Hooterville folks, Billie soons comes to regret this gesture as the abrasive comic makes her friends and family members the butt of his jokes. Things reach the crisis stage when Rick tells Billie that he intends to do devastating takeoffs of everyone in town in his upcoming benefit show. Episode highlights include Rich Little's dead-on impersonations of series costars Edgar Buchanan and Byron Foulger, and Meredith MacRae's rendition of "When I Fall in Love". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Bea Benaderet(Kate Bradley) does not appear in this episode, in which budding singer Billie Jo (Meredith MacRae) cuts her first record album. Billie's new agent Ted Swift (Del Moore) aggressively promotes the album with a gaudy--and fraudulent--publicity campaign centering on the girl's home town of Hooterville--whereupon the townsfolk enter into the spirit of things by inflating and misrepresenting the town's role in American history. Meredith MacRae sings "Good-bye Love". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
This first episode of a two-part story serves to introduce Mike Minor in the role of handsome cropduster Steve Elliott. While flying over the Shady Rest Hotel, Steve catches a tantalizing glimpse of the three Bradley girls swimming "au naturel" in the local water tower--and as a result he crash-lands his plane! Feeling responsible for the accident, the Bradley sisters do their best to help Steve recuperate from his injuries--and also aggressively vie for his attentions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Season Six of Petticoat Junction begins as Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning, now billed under her full given name) and her husband Steve (Mike Minor) eagerly await the birth of their first baby. Unfortunately, a pall is cast over the proceedings when Steve insists that the baby be born in a fancy Baltimore hospital, thus inadvertently insulting Hooterville's resident medico Doc Stuart (Regis Toomey). Byron Foulger makes the first of several recurring appearances as Wendell Gibbs, the new engineer of the Hooterville Cannonball; curiously, the original TV Guide listings billed somebody named "Jack Jamieson" as Gibbs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Singer Rudy Vallee guests in this episode as H.A. Smith, a powerful industrialist who has journeyed from Erie, Pennsylvania to repay his long-ago benefactor--none other than Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan). Smith has come Hooterville to offer Joe the opportunity to become a millionaire many times over. But Joe is both confused and suspicious: He has never been in Erie in his life--and he certainly has never met anyone named H.A. Smith! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
This final episode of Petticoat Junction's sixth season was obviously intended to be aired at an earlier time: The late Bea Benaderet is still billed in the opening credits, and Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) is still pregnant. In any case, the plot revolves around a government contract which Betty's husband Steve (Mike Minor) dearly covets--so much so that he underbids it by nearly two thousand dollars. Future Hogan's Heroes regular Kenneth Washington appears as Bill Blake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
This is the first episode in which June Lockhart is affored star billing in the opening credits in the role of Dr. Janet Craig--and accordingly, the lyrics of the Petticoat Junction theme song have been rewritten to accommodate the "Lady M.D., as pretty as can be." At long last, the menfolk of Hooterville are reconciled to the fact that the town has a female doctor. In fact, they are so fond of Dr. Craig that they go into full panic mode when Janet's boyfriend Dennis Roberts (Dennis Morgan) shows up, ready to propose! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Homer Bedloe (Charles Lane) returns to Hooterville, still bound and determined to put the Hooterville Cannonball out of business. This time Homer has come up with a surefire scheme: He puts the entire railroad up for sale! Before long, the townsfolk have sold practically everything they own to keep the Cannonball from being taken over by wealthy dowager Mrs. Green (Lurene Tuttle). This is one of several fifth-season episodes in which Bea Benaderet (Kate Bradley) does not appear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
When the Hooterville Cannonball is derailed, Homer Bedloe (Charles Lane) hopes to use the "disaster" as an excuse to put the engine out of commission. In response, the citizens of Hooterville take over the operation of the Cannonball themselves. At first, engineers Charley (Smiley Burnette) and Floyd (Rufe Davis) are delighted--but after a few weeks of suffering the impossible demands of the engine's new "owners", the boys are on the verge of quitting! Virginia Sale, who'd appeared in several earlier episodes as Selma Plout, returns in the role of Maude Blake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Billie Jo (Meredith MacRae) lands her first singing gig in the Flamingo Room of the Springdale Hotel. Since Billie got the job of the strength of her talents as a country singer, her family expects more of the same when she makes her debut. Imagine their surprise when Billie emerges on stage as a slinky French chanteuse! Along the way, Meredith MacRae manages to perform the standard "Make Someone Happy".This episode was originally telecast six days after the death of series regular Smiley Burnette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Despite her reluctance, new mother Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) agrees to out on the town with husband Steve (Mike Minor) for the first time since the birth of Kathy Jo. Self-appointed baby sitter Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) assures the couple that he'll never take his eyes off the baby. And, in his own inimitable fashion, Joe is true to his word: He brings Kathy Jo along to a poker game with the boys--and ends up in the same jail cell as the cooing infant! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Joan Blondell guest stars as Florabelle Campbell, who many years ago had been at the center of a romantic rivalry between Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) and Sam Drucker (Frank Cady). Now that Florabelle has returned to Hooterville, Joe and Sam vie for a second chance to win her heart. But thanks to the exigencies of middle-aged spread and "snow on the roof", Florabelle fails to recognize either one of her former suitors! Paul Hartman makes the first of several recurring appearances as local barber Bert Smedley; conversely, series star Bea Benaderet (Kate Bradley) does not appear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
It's time again for the annual Hooterville Turnabout Dance, in which the girls invite the boys to the festivities (the series' producers probably would have it called it the "Sadie Hawkins Dance" had they gotten permission). Entering full-steam into the spirit of things, the Bradley sisters invite each others' boyfriends to the dance. Then, through a series of jealous misunderstandings, the girls end up swapping dates--over and over--leading to the usual chaos and confusion. This episode was originally slated to air on January 10, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Kate's cousin Mae Belle (Shirley Mitchell) hopes to set up a health spa with financing from a wealthy man named Bedford. To this end, Mae Belle brings Bedford's chubby daughter Agnes (Lorraine Bendix) to the Shady Rest and puts the girl on a strict weight-reduction regimen. Unfortunately, by the time the fat hits the fan, it is up to Kate (Bea Benadaret)--and Kate alone--to whip poor Agnes into shape. This is the final episode of Petticoat Junction's fourth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
In the conclusion of a two-part story, baby Kathy Jo receives a most unusual birthday present: A chimpanzee who likes to pick pockets. As the story progresses, the chimp makes a shambles of the Shady Rest, prompting Kathy's parents Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) and Steve (Mike Minor) to demand the simian's removal. But Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) has grown fond of the chimp, and goes to great lengths to avoid sending him back to his original owner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
