Episode
Petticoat Junction: The Great Race
Overview
Hank Thackery is the owner of the Shady Rests rival hotel, the Pixley House. He plans to set up a jitney service between Pixley and Hooterville as an alternative to the Cannonball. He bets Joe that he can be faster from Pixley to Hooterville than the Cannonball. The loser to act as the bellboy at the other's hotel for a month. Part of Joe's problem in winning is getting Wendell into racing mentality. Hank also convinces the county commissioner that the Cannonball's fate should depend on the outcome of the race. The Cannonball wins with some unexpected help. Hal Smith appears as Jug Gunderson
Details
- Series
- Petticoat Junction
- Season
- Season 6
- Episode
- Episode 24
- Air date
- 1969-03-15
- Runtime
- 25 min
Episode context
The Great Race is Episode 24 in Season 6 of Petticoat Junction. It aired on 1969-03-15. The runtime is 25 min.
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Episode 23: The Organ Fund
Reverend Barton has hired Freddie Kirby, a professional fund-raiser, to raise money for their organ fund. The fund has $113 in it, and they need $2,000 for the new organ. The valley residents soon follow Freddie in whatever he suggests and they trust him with their money. But Freddie turns out to be a con artist. He plans to take off with the money while leaving the church with an inferior second hand organ worth $20. With everyone continually thanking Freddie for his noble work, will his conscience gets the better of him.
Episode 25: Tune in Next Year
Janet returns from a business trip with some news. She has decided to work with the famous neurologist, Dr. Pope, which means that she will leave the valley for good. The news hits everyone pretty hard and they try to think of a way to make her stay. Hopefully Ted Thorsen, the forest ranger who has just injured his ankle, may provide a romantic reason for Janet to stay. Ted is definitely interested in Janet, but she is still going to leave. But Betty Jo and Steve come up with a reason for her to stay.
Note: This was meant to be the series finale. The episode ends with Betty Jo and Steve announcing that they're having another baby. At the last minute, CBS decided to renew the series for a seventh season because it would give the series five full seasons of color episodes for syndication. When the show returned for its seventh and final season, the storyline involving Betty Jo's pregnancy was dropped and never referred to again.
More episodes from this season
Episode 22: Uncle Joe Retires
Uncle Joe announces his retirement. He learns that his big news has made him the laughing stock of the valley as everyone is saying he does nothing as it is. Feeling unappreciated, Uncle Joe decides to run away. When Janet finds out he's leaving, she tries to rally the residents of the valley to make Uncle Joe feel like he's wanted and needed. Joe sees through their plan and tries to get back at them. They then give Joe a retirement party. There he starts to feel needed and announces he won't retire.
Episode 26: By the Book
Steve is going to submit a bit for a lucrative government contract. Meanwhile, Bobbie Jo tries to get Uncle Joe to start running as a form of exercise. Uncle Joe finds out that Steve is submitting the bid. Joe wonders why Steve didn't ask him for his advice on it. When Steve doesn't hear if he was awarded the contract or not, Joe rubs it into Steve that he should have talked to him first. Steve gets mad at Uncle Joe and dissolves their partnership. Steve finally hears that he was awarded the contract. He is willing to bury the hatchet, but Joe isn't. Steve hears from a government official named William R. Blake, an old Air Force nemesis of Steve's, that there's a problem with the contract. Blake finds an error in Steve's bid that would have cost him a lot of money.
Episode 21: I'm Allergic to Daddy
Janet gives Kathy Jo a clean bill of health as the rash that she had has cleared. She figures Kathy Jo was allergic to something that isn't around anymore. But Kathy Jo's rash reappears when Steve returns from a week long business trip. Janet suggests Steve temporarily move out of the house to see if the rash clears while he's away. Then gossip spreads throughout the valley that Steve and Betty Jo have separated. Kathy Jo's rash clears up again. Steve is growing frustrated that he still can't go home. In the end, Janet figures out what is causing the rash and it isn't Steve.
Episode 20: Joe Saves the Post Office
After Sam makes some renovations and introduces some streamlined processes to the post office, he learns from the government that they are planning on shutting down his postal substation. Uncle Joe springs into action to save the Hooterville post office from closure. The plan is to have all the valley residents mail themselves something, to show that there is a need and demand for that substation to stay open. Joe then tries to see his congressman in Washington DC with Janet and Bobbie Jo. While there Joe recites from memory the Gettysburg Address during a visit to the Lincoln Memorial, and they meet an off-camera President Richard Nixon where, as Joe later tells Sam, the president supposedly said "Joe, old buddy, call me Dick..." In the end, it turns out there was a mix-up and Hootervilles post office will stay open.
Episode 19: A Man Called Cyrus Plout
The valley folk are preparing for the annual Founder's Day celebrations. Janet's idea is to have a musical tribute from then to now. Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo and Betty Jo would be the featured performers. Selma, whose husband's great great uncle Cyrus Plout founded Hooterville, believes the girls' mini-skirt outfits are indecent. Uncle Joe actually agrees with her. Uncle Joe believes that since his lodge, the Royal Order of the Camels, is hosting this year's celebrations, he has final say. Janet thinks that the younger people should also have a say. Henrietta Plout unwittingly comes up with an issue that breaks the stalemate.
Episode 18: The Cannonball Bookmobile
Janet's friend, Adelle Colby, arrives in the valley. Sam, Bert and Uncle Joe are each attracted to her. Adelle, a librarian, is in the valley to open up a new library. They have the books and the money, but now need a location. Janet suggests a mobile library in the form of the Cannonball. Sam, Bert and Uncle Joe do whatever they can to spend time aboard the mobile library to be with Adelle. This competition causes a rift between the three friends. But it's Wendell that has the upper hand in attracting Adelle's attention.
Episode 17: Steve's New Job
Steve receives a lucrative job offer from his old Air Force commanding officer to work in his new company. The job, however, is in New York. Steve has a hard time passing up the thought of the offer. Betty Jo tells Steve she'll go wherever he goes. But, without the other knowing, Steve and Betty Jo are both looking for an excuse not to go. Meanwhile, as Steve has no use for his plane in New York, Uncle Joe tries to find someone else to fly the plane. Something Uncle Joe does gives Steve the reason not to take the job.
Episode 16: Billie Jo and the Big Big Star
Billie Jo arrives back home from a gig in Omaha with her new boyfriend, comedian Rick Wayne. Rick doesn't make a very good first impression in Hooterville. Billie Jo thinks that a good way for the valley residents to get to know Rick better is for him to star in the Hooterville charity radio show. She wishes she could take back the invitation when she hears a part of Rick's routine for the show, which is a put-down of the valley and its residents. Billie Jo has to figure out how to get Rick to not do that routine. A little talk from Steve and everything turns out fine.
Episode 15: The Christening
Betty Jo has arranged with Reverend Barton to hold Kathy Jo's christening this Sunday. Janet reminds Betty Jo and Steve that it is customary to have godparents stand up during the christening. They have only a few days to decide on who Kathy Jo's godparents will be. They also know that whoever they don't choose will be hurt and offended. Uncle Joe, Sam, Bert Smedley, Wendell and even Doc Stuart all compete to be chosen godfather. Janet is honored that Betty Jo and Steve ask her to be godmother. Betty Jo asks Janet to decide who will be godfather. Janet then asks the Reverend's advice. He comes up with the only choice that makes sense.
Episode 14: The Ballad of the Everyday Housewife
Bobbie Jo is babysitting Kathy Jo while Betty Jo is out shopping. Bobbie Jo tells Steve that she believes he is ignoring Betty Jo. In an effort to make it up to her, Steve professes his love to Betty Jo. Betty Jo, who is busy with her chores, doesn't pay too much attention to Steve. When Betty Jo learns from Bobbie Jo why Steve said what he did, Betty Jo feels that she has to make it up to him. But now with Steve preoccupied, Betty Jo really does feel like she's being ignored when she tries to talk to him. In the end, both Steve and Betty Jo make a special effort to make up.