Petticoat Junction
Cave Woman
TV Flash files “Cave Woman” as hour 36 of 222 in the TV Flash guide — Petticoat Junction (1963–1970) on CBS, season 1, episode 36, aired 1964-05-26, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E36: listed hour 36 of 222 in the Petticoat Junction guide, hour 36 of 38 in season 1. It aired 1964-05-26 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Local Girl Makes Good” (S01E35). Next is “Kate Flat on Her Back” (S01E37).

Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Uncle Joe wants to dig out an old cave to use as a wine cellar for the hotel. Kate receives a telegram from Brooks T. Webster, who wants to possibly hold a convention at the Shady Rest. He will be arriving that afternoon. Uncle Joe causes a landslide covering up the cave entrance with Kate inside the cave. They will need Ding Woodhouse's tractor to remove all the rubble to get Kate out. But Ding's tractor needs some work done on it and won't be ready until the morning. Mr. Webster arrives and insists on dinner, but Kate isn't there to cook. Uncle Joe comes up with a plan to feed Mr. Webster and get the convention business. But is Mr. Webster the only one they need to impress?
Viewer FAQ
Where does Cave Woman sit in the Petticoat Junction guide?
S01E36 is listed hour 36 of 222 — hour 36 of 38 in season 1, season 1 episode 36.
When did Petticoat Junction S01E36 air?
Cave Woman aired 1964-05-26 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Kate, the Shady Rest, and the Cannonball in a Benaderet-era hour is the porch contract. Uncle Joe is the layabout comic engine.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Petticoat Junction is the porch at the center of Paul Henning's rural map: Bea Benaderet's Kate running the Shady Rest, three daughters, Uncle Joe, and the Hooterville Cannonball. Less fish-out-of-water than hometown sitcom — a hotel as social club. Benaderet's warmth is the connective tissue that made Hillbillies and Green Acres feel like one county.
The porch is the network night. Paul Henning's *Petticoat Junction* (CBS, 1963–1970) sits at the center of the rural map: Bea Benaderet's Kate running the Shady Rest, three daughters, Uncle Joe, and the Hooterville Cannonball. Seven seasons of hometown sitcom rather than fish-out-of-water — a hotel as social club. Edgar Buchanan's Uncle Joe and Linda Kaye Henning's Betty Jo kept the Cannonball on schedule. Gunilla Hutton's Billie Jo among the daughters. Soft rural farce with crossover DNA. On the palate: porch,…
Filed against
- Bea Benaderet as Kate Bradley
Bea Benaderet’s Blanche Morton needled The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show as next-door vaudeville, then The Flintstones’ Wilma and Petticoat Junction’s Kate Bradley made her 1950s–60s catalog warmth a three-stop map. TV Flash files…
- Edgar Buchanan as Uncle Joe Carson
Edgar Buchanan’s Red Connors kept Hopalong Cassidy in tobacco-and-advice weather — 1950s catalog kids’-western merch machine, then Petticoat Junction stretching the drawl into Uncle Joe on a hotel porch. TV Flash files him as the sidekick…
- Linda Kaye Henning as Betty Jo Bradley
Linda Kaye Henning kept the Shady Rest humming as Betty Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction — one of three daughters on Paul Henning’s rural porch map, Hooterville Cannonball included. Hometown sitcom, not fish-out-of-water panic. TV Flash…
- Gunilla Hutton as Billie Jo Bradley
Gunilla Hutton played Billie Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction — Paul Henning's rural porch, Bea Benaderet's Kate at the Shady Rest, three daughters, Uncle Joe, the Hooterville Cannonball. Hometown sitcom, hotel as social club. TV Flash…