Biggest misunderstanding episode yet, and it's a big one as Uncle Joe decides to become a Justice of the Peace to drum up business for Honeymooners. Fun episode, but not much with the three lovely girls: the show's magnet. Another predictable twist, but this show is the kind of predictable that you hope what happens, happens. It just makes good sense.
2 Reviews
Racy Problem at the "Honeymoon Hotel"
darryl-tahirali5 April 2022
Don't look now, but Uncle Joe Carson has another scheme a-brewin' at the Shady Rest Hotel, which he wants to rename the "Honeymoon Hotel," and, naturally, hotel owner Kate Bradley has her misgivings. However, Kate's apprehension comes from thinking that Uncle Joe's idea actually has merit to it.
And it does. To drum up business for Kate's hotel so far out in the sticks that it doesn't even have a telephone, Joe's plan is to offer a honeymoon package to newlyweds looking for a place with no distractions where they can--shall we say enjoy the pleasures of nature taking its course? Joe even intends to become a justice of the peace so he can perform the wedding ceremony at the Shady Rest.
So, once Sam Drucker, also a justice of the peace, swears him in just before Sam heads off to his hunting trip up at Lost Lake--no prizes for guessing that the name might be foreshadowing--Joe is ready to start a-marrying the young 'uns. He's even got two on the hook already, Walter Shepherd (Tommy Ivo) and his intended Elsie Gregg (Judee Morton), who are just rarin' to let nature to take its course, at least as much as a family situation comedy in 1963 can suggest.
But when it transpires that Uncle Joe had forgotten to file his paperwork at the Pixley courthouse, things get downright fascinatin' to us looking at this racy problem now, partly because young 'uns today might not even see a problem here to begin with, but partly because we want to see how first-time scripters Keith Fowler and Phil Leslie approach this delicate situation.
Just to get everyone on the same page: By not filing his paperwork, Joe is not officially a justice of the peace, so the wedding rites he performed for Walter and Elsie are technically invalid, which means that when the young couple just rarin' to let nature take its course try to consummate their marriage--do I need to spell it out further?
Of course, premarital sex had been going on forever, but it was unacceptable to portray it during a television era when even married couples slept in separate beds, so much of "Honeymoon Hotel" has Kate and her three girls and even Floyd Smoot trying their best to keep the eager couple from going up to their room while Uncle Joe and Charley Pratt go out to try and find Sam at--where was he again?--so Sam can marry the young 'uns proper-like.
From our vantage point, "Honeymoon Hotel" looks like much ado about nothing, but for a time when the much-ballyhooed "free love" of the 1960s was still a few years away, the wackiness ensues from watching Kate and company having to maintain propriety at all costs. Even as every female cast member has her bosom prominently on display. Look but don't touch--and don't suggest anything like the Racy Problem at the "Honeymoon Hotel."
Speaking of racy, Tommy Ivo had been a child actor since 1944 and had compiled more than six dozen movie and television appearances by the time he landed on "Petticoat Junction." But Ivo also had a concurrent career as professional hot-rod racer. Beginning his racing career in the late 1950s, "TV Tommy" Ivo raced both gasoline- and nitroglycerin-fueled (AKA Top Fuel) dragsters into the 1980s as he combined his need for speed with a flair for showmanship derived from his acting career that gave drag racing a vital push into big-time sporting entertainment. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005. Ivo's motor was certainly racing in "Honeymoon Hotel"--but, shhh!, we're not supposed to notice, remember?
And it does. To drum up business for Kate's hotel so far out in the sticks that it doesn't even have a telephone, Joe's plan is to offer a honeymoon package to newlyweds looking for a place with no distractions where they can--shall we say enjoy the pleasures of nature taking its course? Joe even intends to become a justice of the peace so he can perform the wedding ceremony at the Shady Rest.
So, once Sam Drucker, also a justice of the peace, swears him in just before Sam heads off to his hunting trip up at Lost Lake--no prizes for guessing that the name might be foreshadowing--Joe is ready to start a-marrying the young 'uns. He's even got two on the hook already, Walter Shepherd (Tommy Ivo) and his intended Elsie Gregg (Judee Morton), who are just rarin' to let nature to take its course, at least as much as a family situation comedy in 1963 can suggest.
But when it transpires that Uncle Joe had forgotten to file his paperwork at the Pixley courthouse, things get downright fascinatin' to us looking at this racy problem now, partly because young 'uns today might not even see a problem here to begin with, but partly because we want to see how first-time scripters Keith Fowler and Phil Leslie approach this delicate situation.
Just to get everyone on the same page: By not filing his paperwork, Joe is not officially a justice of the peace, so the wedding rites he performed for Walter and Elsie are technically invalid, which means that when the young couple just rarin' to let nature take its course try to consummate their marriage--do I need to spell it out further?
Of course, premarital sex had been going on forever, but it was unacceptable to portray it during a television era when even married couples slept in separate beds, so much of "Honeymoon Hotel" has Kate and her three girls and even Floyd Smoot trying their best to keep the eager couple from going up to their room while Uncle Joe and Charley Pratt go out to try and find Sam at--where was he again?--so Sam can marry the young 'uns proper-like.
From our vantage point, "Honeymoon Hotel" looks like much ado about nothing, but for a time when the much-ballyhooed "free love" of the 1960s was still a few years away, the wackiness ensues from watching Kate and company having to maintain propriety at all costs. Even as every female cast member has her bosom prominently on display. Look but don't touch--and don't suggest anything like the Racy Problem at the "Honeymoon Hotel."
Speaking of racy, Tommy Ivo had been a child actor since 1944 and had compiled more than six dozen movie and television appearances by the time he landed on "Petticoat Junction." But Ivo also had a concurrent career as professional hot-rod racer. Beginning his racing career in the late 1950s, "TV Tommy" Ivo raced both gasoline- and nitroglycerin-fueled (AKA Top Fuel) dragsters into the 1980s as he combined his need for speed with a flair for showmanship derived from his acting career that gave drag racing a vital push into big-time sporting entertainment. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005. Ivo's motor was certainly racing in "Honeymoon Hotel"--but, shhh!, we're not supposed to notice, remember?
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