Granny Goes to Hooterville

Calling Doc Granny.

Upon their return from jolly old England, Granny and Jed get word Betty Jo in Hooterville just had a baby. At the time, fairly big tv news too.

I agree with the last reviewer, this was more show prep for some cross-over episodes to PETTICOAT JUNCTION. The sad note was the passing of Bea Benedaret, who was noticably absent from the series the previous season. A way for producer and writer Paul Henning to bring in more viewers, although it didn't help. When this episode aired, Bea had passed a few weeks earlier, so there was a scramble to re-do scripts. Petticoat Junction dropped significantly in viewership, and never fully recovered.

A funny story though, and the BEVERLY HILLBILIES was still riding high in tv ratings. Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) and Sam Drucker (Frank Cady) make cameo appearances, phoning Granny about the baby. She makes preparations to drive out to Hooterville with Jethro -- but there's also a clever side story.

Miss Jane stops by the mansion and twists her back, requiring Jed to physically carry her -- like over a threshold? Granny thinks there may be wedding bells? A missed opportunity, and all us fans back in the day thought it could be a possibility. Honestly, Jed and Miss Jane were the only two adults in the room. Everyone else was INSANE.

Super bit with Mr. Drysdale who believes there's a "secret" romance too. He goes bananas. Will Miss Jane marry into 80 million bucks?

Best line dept: (after the real story comes out) Mr. D tells Miss Jane to pour the remaining champagne back in the bottle, re-cork it and .. "Get MY money back!"

Written by Henning and Buddy Atkinson, joined by Dick Wesson, who was writing for PETTICOAT JUNCTION.

Stay tuned for more. Fo' sure.

SEASON 7 EPISODE 6 remastered for tv. According to Amazon, seasons 6 through 9 are expected to be released on blu ray in 2027. Thank you METV for running the entire series all the time, and twice on Sunday.

The first of eight crossover episodes (plus two guest spots on Petticoat Junction) in season 7. This one is all build up with no payoff (you'll have to see the next episode for that). Upon returning from their 5-episode stint in England (cue stock footage of Pan Am jets and LAX), Granny gets word that Petticoat Junction's Betty Jo Bradley (Linda Henning) just had a baby. As a self-proclaimed expert baby doctor, Granny gets all worked up about leaving immediately for Hooterville. The running joke here is that no one else in the family knows Betty Jo or her family. (Granny turns out to be a very distant cousin.)

All we see of Hooterville is Sam Drucker and Uncle Joe talking to Granny on the phone. The episode ends just as her trip gets started (Jethro is supposed to drive her the entire way). This is nothing more than a long, drawn out set up for the next episode. One amusing bit has Jed holding miss Hathaway and carrying her to a sofa after she hurts her back. Granny -- and later, Mr. Drysdale -- mistake this for a romantic encounter and complications ensue. Overall a disappointing entry due to a padded story that literally goes nowhere.

The mother of all crossovers, the story continues on Petticoat Junction,"Granny, the Baby Expert" (November 2, 1968), then wraps up on B.H. "The Italian Cook" (November 6). Then the Clampetts visit Hooterville for Thanksgiving, Christmas, plus another Petticoat show, etc. (see my other reviews for this string of shows).