Hooterville trilogy: what was the best?

[installLSC]

The sad news of Tom Lester's death has got me thinking of the Paul Henning produced trilogy of rural sitcoms: "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Petticoat Junction", and "Green Acres". What was your fave, and which ones weren't? Got any thoughts on these shows?

 

[b-turner]

I was not very impressed by Petticoat Junction. The Beverly Hillbillies was a bit better. Green Acres was much, much better than the other two. I think the humor in Green Acres is more to my liking.

 

[CTListener]

"Green Acres" was to its cousins "Petticoat Junction" and "Beverly Hillbillies" what "The Gong Show" was to Chuck Barris' other notable game shows, "The Dating Game" and "The Newlywed Game." It had a level of absurdity that the others never came close to.

 

[Route66Fan]

I liked all three shows, but I think both The Beverly Hillbillies & Green Acres are both tied for first place & (Depending on the season.) Petticoat Junction is a distant-to-close second.

 

[Prescott Joe]

The fact that all three were considered successful back in their day
and are regularly aired to this day, would seem to indicate all three
were popular and well received....

 

[b-turner]

My impression was Beverly Hillbillies had the greatest appeal of the three, I suppose, because so many stations ran it. I never saw Petticoat Junction or Green Acres on the independent channels but Beverly Hillbillies was always in the lineup.

 

[JRH]

All 3 were popular when they initially aired, but only Green Acres has remained popular. Petticoat Junction seems quite dated now, Hillbillies not quite so much.

They are all on ME-TV now, with Green Acres in prime time at 9:30pm Mon-Fri. Beverly Hillbillies is at 7am Mon-Fri, Petticoat Junction at 5am Saturdays.

Petticoat Junction started out OK, but then added a lot of singing in the lobby that was more fill then fitting with the plot. It really ran out of gas after Bea Benaderet died, continuing on for a couple of seasons with June Lockhart sort of filling her role. The ratings took a dive, while the ratings of the other 2 held on until the CBS rural purge.

 

[installLSC]

Petticoat Junction started out OK, but then added a lot of singing in the lobby that was more fill then fitting with the plot. It really ran out of gas after Bea Benaderet died, continuing on for a couple of seasons with June Lockhart sort of filling her role. The ratings took a dive, while the ratings of the other 2 held on until the CBS rural purge.

Yeah what was up with PJ satisfying Mike Minor's Perry Como-wannabe aspirations? What was really frustrating that the Hillbillies got great musicians like Flatt and Scruggs and Roy Clark to show up. Buck Owens and Glen Campbell were starring on other CBS shows, why didn't they do an obvious crossover episode?
And you're right that the show took a dive after Bea's death. The Bradley girls (and June Lockhart for that matter) were all very attractive, but didn't show much comic timing. Any episode that doesn't feature Bea or Edgar Buchanan is a real chore to get through.

 

[anotherguyTN]

As a kid I liked The Beverly Hillbillies the best, but I also liked Green Acres. I would watch Petticoat Junction with my parents, but it wasn't one of my favorite shows. Now after getting to see Green Acres again in recent years I believe I like it best.

 

[seatownmedia]

Green Acres for me. The clash between the rural Albert and the city Gabor was a fantastic pairing. Plus the writing was very off beat and funny for the time, often silly but still hilarious when delivered by the talented cast.