Although the cast and crew didn't know it at the time, "Petticoat Junction" would not be renewed for the 1970-71 season, one of the first casualties in the infamous "rural purge" that changed the face of US network television in the 1970s. However, this gentle, down-home sitcom, a ratings success before star Bea Benaderet died in October 1968, had nearly been canceled by CBS in 1969, at the end of its sixth season, but was allowed to produce a seventh season for syndication considerations once the series did end.
Thus, "No, No, You Can't Take Her Away," the penultimate "Petticoat Junction" episode, evinces an elegiac air over and above the possibility that Dr. Janet Craig might be leaving not just the Shady Rest Hotel, but the Hooterville Valley altogether. Uncle Joe and Sam Drucker get the first hint when Janet enters Sam's general store to use the telephone to call the hair salon in Pixley, then tells the boys she's getting gussied up for a visitor about to arrive shortly.
Sure enough, Janet returns to the Shady Rest laden with new togs to greet Dr. Peter Marlow (Keith Andes), her beau from medical school. Expecting Peter, distinguished-looking with a successful practice in Hawaii, to ask Janet to marry her and take her away from them, the Bradley girls--well, Bobbie Jo, anyway--spring into action. In what passes for seduction in the "Petticoat Junction" world, she tries to get Peter interested in her, only to find herself agreeing to help him to woo Janet. Then Betty Jo does get into the act, bringing Kathy Jo, her infant daughter with husband Steve, into Janet's office to let the tyke prey on Janet's adoration for "her favorite patient." But none of this will sway Janet from her decision.
Series mainstays Charles Stewart and Dick Conway, the executive producer and script consultant, respectively, who by the middle of season four had assumed principal writing duties, seem to know that "Petticoat Junction" was over as they recycle routines with little enthusiasm. The cast, too, appears to be going through the motions, with June Lockhart blandly professional amidst the anticlimactic conclusion, although guest-star Andes gives it a game effort. But whether Janet stays or goes, everyone seems to know they'll all be leaving soon, anyway.
Thus, "No, No, You Can't Take Her Away," the penultimate "Petticoat Junction" episode, evinces an elegiac air over and above the possibility that Dr. Janet Craig might be leaving not just the Shady Rest Hotel, but the Hooterville Valley altogether. Uncle Joe and Sam Drucker get the first hint when Janet enters Sam's general store to use the telephone to call the hair salon in Pixley, then tells the boys she's getting gussied up for a visitor about to arrive shortly.
Sure enough, Janet returns to the Shady Rest laden with new togs to greet Dr. Peter Marlow (Keith Andes), her beau from medical school. Expecting Peter, distinguished-looking with a successful practice in Hawaii, to ask Janet to marry her and take her away from them, the Bradley girls--well, Bobbie Jo, anyway--spring into action. In what passes for seduction in the "Petticoat Junction" world, she tries to get Peter interested in her, only to find herself agreeing to help him to woo Janet. Then Betty Jo does get into the act, bringing Kathy Jo, her infant daughter with husband Steve, into Janet's office to let the tyke prey on Janet's adoration for "her favorite patient." But none of this will sway Janet from her decision.
Series mainstays Charles Stewart and Dick Conway, the executive producer and script consultant, respectively, who by the middle of season four had assumed principal writing duties, seem to know that "Petticoat Junction" was over as they recycle routines with little enthusiasm. The cast, too, appears to be going through the motions, with June Lockhart blandly professional amidst the anticlimactic conclusion, although guest-star Andes gives it a game effort. But whether Janet stays or goes, everyone seems to know they'll all be leaving soon, anyway.