Petticoat Junction/The Santa Claus Special

The Santa Claus Special
Season 4, Episode 13
Airdate	December 20, 1966
Written by	Paul Henning and Mark Tuttle
Directed by	Guy Scarpitta
Produced by	Paul Henning
← 4x12 Is There a Doctor in the Valley?	4x14 → My Daughter the Secretary
Petticoat Junction — Season Four

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The Santa Claus Special is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Petticoat Junction, and the one hundred twenty-first episode overall.

Starring: Bea Benaderet (Kate Bradley)

with Edgar Buchanan (Joe Carson)

Co-Starring: Linda Kaye (Betty Jo Bradley), Lori Saunders (Bobbie Jo Bradley), Meredith MacRae (Billie Jo Bradley), Rufe Davis (Floyd Smoot), Smiley Burnette (Charley Pratt)

Additional Cast: Frank Cady (Sam Drucker), Tom Lester (Eb), Allison McKay (Secretary), Charles Lane (Homer Bedloe), Roy Roberts (Norman Curtis)

Uncredited: Mike Minor (Steve Elliott)

Plot Overview

The Bradleys, Sam Drucker, Steve, Eb, Charlie and Floyd are decorating the Cannonball for its annual Christmas Eve trip of caroling, gift-giving and merriment around the valley. Homer Bedloe, determined to be a Scrooge during the holiday, tries again to take possession of the train on Christmas Eve to prevent its caroling run by claiming that the decoration of the Cannonball is in "violation" of C&FW Railroad policy, but railroad president Norman Curtis returns to Hooterville to stop Bedloe's plot and set him straight.

Trivia

The Show

• This episode is a color remake of Season One's "Cannonball Christmas", with some minor differences from the original episode:

• Steve (whose portrayer, Mike Minor, is not credited) and Green Acres character Eb Dawson replace Season One recurring character Herby Bates, who appeared in "Cannonball Christmas" and seven other episodes during that season, in this episode
• In "Cannonball Christmas", train station agent Willie Trankis helps Bedloe obtain a handcar to get to the Shady Rest Hotel after Bedloe misses the Cannonball when it pulls away from Sam Drucker's store; in this episode, there is no agent present at the station and Bedloe has to get the handcar himself when he misses the train after getting stuck inside a phone booth
• In the original, Bobbie Jo sings "Adeste Fideles", the original Latin version of the traditional Christmas carol "O Come, All Ye Faithful", for Bedloe in the lobby of the Shady Rest; in the remake, Billie Jo performs the song instead
• Gloria Marshall played Miss Evans, Norman Curtis's secretary at the railroad office, in the original; in the remake, Allison McKay takes over that role (although she is identified as Miss Evans by Curtis during the episode, she is only credited as "Secretary" in the closing credits)
• When Curtis arrives at the Shady Rest to stop Bedloe's scheme to ground the Cannonball in the original, Bedloe is punished by being made to dress as Santa Claus for the Cannonball caroling run; in the remake, Curtis dresses as Santa himself while Bedloe is made to dress as an elf as his punishment

• Black-and-white stock footage from "Cannonball Christmas", showing the Hooterville Cannonball on its Christmas caroling run, was reused as-is, without later color tinting or colorization, in this episode and in The Beverly Hillbillies episode "Christmas in Hooterville"