- Release Date: July 7th, 2009
- Publisher: Paramount
- Price: $27.99 on Amazon.com (Buy It
)
- Run Time: 15 hours and 19 minutes
- Special Features: Episodic Video Intros, Interviews with Pat Woodell and Linda Kay Henning, Photo Gallery
- Starring: Bea Benaderet, Jeannine Riley, Pat Woodell, Linda Kaye, Edgar Buchanan
Back in the 1960’s Petticoat Junction was one of the biggest comedies on television. Now that the second season has been released on dvd, the question of whether the show will work today comes up. Is a show that is over 40 years old still enjoyable for people who never watched the show in it’s first run because they either chose not to watch the show or weren’t born yet so they didn’t really have a choice. At over 40 years old Petticoat Junction fails to remain relevant and enjoyable.
With these older shows I have had mixed feelings in the past. Some shows stay pretty recent and are still enjoyable many years later. Some shows just don’t survive the decades and never really appeal to me. Petticoat Junction is in the later category. Unlike dramas, comedies have a very hard time remaining funny long into the future. What is considered funny changes over time and in most cases shows humor doesn’t last for ever.
I personally didn’t find Petticoat Junction to be that funny. Being a child of the late 1980’s I grew up in a different time period so Petticoat Junction just didn’t really appeal to me. Fans of 1960’s comedies should enjoy Petticoat Junction if they haven’t already seen all the episodes. It’s just a personal taste thing.
Overall video quality is decent. Since the show was in black and white, video quality can really only be so good since there is only white, black, and various shades of gray. Basing it on it’s time period though the video quality isn’t bad and fans of black and white television shouldn’t have any problem with the video quality.
Two things did impress me about this dvd set. First, 36 episodes are included in the dvd set. You are getting quite a few episodes for your dollar with this dvd set. The second thing that impressed me about the dvd set was the fact that three special features were included. While only big fans of the series will probably enjoy the special features, I find it refreshing that an effort was made for fans of the series since so many older series have no special features to speak off.
Your enjoyment of Petticoat Junction will come down to your sense of humor and how much you enjoy classic television. If you don’t like older television series you won’t like Petticoat Junction. If you like older comedies though you should enjoy Petticoat Junction and I would recommend that you pick up the second season on dvd.
