Episode
Petticoat Junction: The Runt Strikes Back
Overview
There's a dance on Saturday. Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo will only accept a date from either Steve or Don, the new young doctor in the valley. Neither Steve or Don have asked anyone to the dance yet. Billie Jo believes she has the right of first choice being the oldest. Left out is Betty Jo, who feels she has the right to be included in the dating discussion. Not wanting to take it anymore, Betty Jo decides to strike out on her own by moving out and getting a job. Through a series of misunderstandings, Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo wind up going to the dance with Eb and Betty Jo shows up with Steve and Don. It's not long before the girls are paired off with the boys they should've been with all along.
Details
- Series
- Petticoat Junction
- Season
- Season 4
- Episode
- Episode 11
- Air date
- 1966-11-29
- Runtime
- 25 min
Episode context
The Runt Strikes Back is Episode 11 in Season 4 of Petticoat Junction. It aired on 1966-11-29. The runtime is 25 min.
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Episode 10: Twenty-Five Years Too Late
Kate's first boyfriend, Walter O'Connor, who is now a major league baseball manager, is coming to stay at the Shady Rest. While Kate is excited to see Walter, she is still just as anxious and nervous about him actually asking her to marry him. Regardless of Walter's intentions, his being there makes Sam come to the realization that he too has feelings for Kate. Walter proposes to Kate, but she turns him down.
Episode 12: Is There a Doctor in the Valley?
Young Doctor Craig announces that he's leaving the valley since there just isn't enough business for him and Doc Stuart. Kate thinks she's come up with a solution for him to stay. He should specialize in house calls for people who can't make it into the office. He enlists the help of Floyd and Charley, who wait for him as he makes his stops along the rail line. Homer Bedloe arrives to see what trouble he can stir up to shut down the Cannonball. Bedloe thinks he can use Doc Craig's new business as a reason to shut down the train, because it delays the schedule. Kate figures out what Bedloe is up to. But, she also figures out how to have the doctor treat his patients and still have the Cannonball arrive on time.
More episodes from this season
Episode 9: How Bugged Was My Valley
Kate sees Steve as a possible future son-in-law. She believes his life as a pilot is too dangerous and she would like to see him get a different job. When she learns that Steve has a journalism background, she convinces Sam to turn over the running of the Hooterville World Guardian to Steve. With no crop dusting work to be had in the valley, Steve accepts the offer. This move doesn't sit well with Uncle Joe, president of the Carson-Elliott crop dusting empire. Joe goes on a quest for crop dusting business from their valley neighbors. With no bugs infesting the crops, Joe manufactures some business with the help of some plastic bugs. Kate finds out and reprimands Joe, but things work out for Steve in the end.
Episode 13: The Santa Claus Special
It's the Christmas season, and everyone's in a rush to decorate the Cannonball in preparation for their annual caroling and gift delivery runs. Their plans are placed into jeopardy with the arrival of Homer Bedloe. He says that what they are doing is against railroad policy and he won't allow it. Kate hopes that Bedloe will have some heart, and she tries to use her best Christmas spirit in treating Bedloe with kindness to change his mind. Only Norman Curtis, the President of the Railroad, may be able to make Bedloe change his mind.
Episode 8: The Almost Annual Charity Show
It's almost time for the Almost Annual Charity Show, and everyone is looking forward to Steve and Billie Jo performing a duet together. Selma strong-arms Sam, the overseer of the show, into appointing her the show's committee chair, a job usually held by Kate. Selma wants a few changes to the performing roster, including Steve singing with Henrietta. A worse change is that Selma makes herself the headliner, she playing the part of a singing Cleopatra. When news spreads around the valley of Selma's starring role, ticket sales plummet. Kate sets up a money back guarantee scheme at least to get people to the auditorium. Selma gets a case of stage fright and the show goes on without her.
Episode 14: My Daughter the Secretary
The local Discussion Club is sending their secretary to the weekend long national conventional, all expenses paid. That means Billie Jo, but she doesn't really want to leave Steve for an entire weekend. However, Selma doesn't ever remember voting for someone to fill the position permanently. She wants to hold a special vote to elect a permanent recording secretary. Selma is pushing for Henrietta to go instead of Billie Jo. The outcome of the resulting vote, with only Billie Jo and Henrietta on the ballot, is a tie. Both Selma and Kate think they have the answer to breaking the tie with their respective daughter coming out on top. Both daughters may have other things on their mind.
Episode 7: Kate Grounds Selma Plout
Kate Bradley tangles with Selma Plout when Selma tries to lure pilot Steve Elliott into marriage with her daughter, Henrietta. Selma tries to throw both money into Steve's crop dusting business and gourmet meals to entice Steve. Selma ramps up her fight one notch by moving herself and Henrietta into the hotel to be closer to Steve. Kate, knowing Billie Jo and Steve are officially dating, comes up with a plan. She enlists the help of Floyd and Charley to get Selma uninterested in Steve.
Episode 15: The Rise and Fall of a Tycoon
Homer Bedloe shows up unexpectedly. He's come to announce there will be a new general manager for the Cannonball, who will oversee the train's operations. That person is Uncle Joe. Uncle Joe begins to act like a tyrant in bossing around Charley and Floyd. Charley, Floyd and everyone in the valley are mad at Uncle Joe for his new operating rules. Charley and Floyd quit leaving Uncle Joe to operate the train on his own, which he doesn't know how do. That's exactly why Bedloe appointed Uncle Joe. Norman Curtis, President of the CF&W is arriving shortly to make an inspection. Kate gets Charley and Floyd to resume their jobs so that the train can look to be operating efficiently. They may have a problem in doing so after what Uncle Joe did to the train.
Episode 6: Cannonball, Inc.
Charley and Floyd derail the Cannonball going around Deadman's Curve. They believe the reason for the derailment was that Floyd had removed too many of the railroad ties to stoke the engine. Uncle Joe calls the C&FW Railroad, who agree to pay the necessary $300 insurance deductible for the repairs. Homer Bedloe shows up and finds out that a railroad employee's negligence caused the accident which in turns means the insurance company will not pay. Kate comes up with a plan where she gets some valley residents to put up the money and become stockholders of the train. But the Hooterville residents, taking over operation of the Cannonball, demand so many changes that the train's crew decides to quit. Kate finds a way for everyone to get their money back and to have Charlie and Floyd back at their jobs.
Episode 16: His Highness the Dog
A crew is filming a commercial at Lost Lake. The commercial stars Prince Hamlet of Kronenberg von Auschwile III, a rather large and imposing but valuable dog. Mr. Morton, the film crew director, needs Steve to fly him immediately to make a connection to a flight to New York. Hamlet can't risk the flight in Steve's plane, so he has to stay at the Shady Rest under the care of Uncle Joe. With all the special treatment Uncle Joe and the girls give Hamlet, Dog feels like the forgotten family member. So, Dog runs off. Uncle Joe makes Hamlet track Dog's scent, but Hamlet gets away. Everyone comes to realization who is really the valuable dog, when Dog finds Hamlet.
Episode 5: The All-Night Party
Since she is now in junior college, Bobbie Jo thinks she's all grown up. She decides to go to an all night party with her friends. Kate refuses to let her go to the all-nighter, despite Bobbie Jo telling her that all the other mothers are letting their daughters go. Kate learns that none of the mothers want their daughters to stay out all night. Kate says Bobbie Jo can stay out until 01:30 and the Cannonball will be ready to pick the girls up at that time. Bobbie Jo and all the other girls plan to stay out all night anyway. Bobbie Jo and the girls decide to go home, but Kate has a surprise waiting for her and the others on the Cannonball.
Episode 17: Girls! Girls! Girls!
Jealousy will permeate the Shady Rest Hotel. After he agrees to go to the turnabout dance with Bobbie Jo, Tommy Johnson has to back out due to another commitment. As Billie Jo and Steve recently had a fight and Billie Jo isn't speaking to him anymore, Bobbie Jo feels that Steve is fair game. Steve accepts Bobbie Jo's invitation. Tommy tells Bobbie Jo that he now can make it to the dance since the other commitment is no more. Since she already has a date with Steve, she now refuses Tommy. Feeling Tommy is now fair game, Betty Jo wants to ask him to the dance. Tommy says yes to Betty Jo's invitation. The problem with these pairings is that the girls are now jealous about each others boyfriends. Add to the mix Jerry Massett, a mechanic friend of Steve's from his air force days, who is visiting Hooterville. Jerry ends up asking a free Billie Jo to the dance, which makes Steve jealous. A storm helps the girls get together with their proper boyfriends.