Tue, Oct 22, 1963
Flyod Smoot, the conductor, is courting a woman through the mail - but when she ends it after receiving a photo of him, he loses all confidence. Kate tries to help him think all the women from Hooterville and the surrounding area have eyes for him, but instead he gets the idea that Kate has been secretly in love with him - now how does she let him down without breaking his heart again?
Tue, Nov 19, 1963
Unknown to everyone in the valley, two young men - opinionated Arthur Gilroy and his friend Lowell Rightmeyer who does whatever Arthur says - both strangers to the valley, are on their way to rob the bank in Pixley. They change their plans when they learn that the next day, the Cannonball, without any armed guards, will make its express run from Hooterville to Pixley for the bank shipment. Arthur and Lowell decide to stay the night at the Shady Rest and stop the train the next day by placing a barricade on the tracks so that they can hold it up. Kate and the family are happy to have who they see as two polite and handsome young men stay with them. However, when Arthur and Lowell do hold up the train the next day, they are unprepared for Kate and Uncle Joe also being on the train, they who recognize the masked bandits. In combination with news from Floyd and learning what is in the bank shipment, Arthur and Lowell decide to make what they consider a more lucrative robbery at the Shady Rest instead. But will the down home attitude of Kate, her family and Charley and Floyd be able to turn around Arthur and Lowell's criminal lives?
Tue, Nov 26, 1963
The Cannonball and its primary passenger, Uncle Joe, are pelted with eggs after the Hooterville Hornets, coached by Uncle Joe, are drubbed in what may be their worst game ever. Another unexpected passenger on that run is Homer Bedloe, who, despite being hit with a couple of eggs himself, is surprisingly cordial and pleasant. While Uncle Joe doesn't see anything wrong with Bedloe being cordial and taking it like a man in defeat in his efforts to scrap the Cannonball - which probably included being humiliated back at head office for his failures - Kate on the other hand believes Bedloe is up to no good. She's right. News gets to Sam that two bigwigs from the railroad, on Bedloe's urging, are coming for a surprise inspection the following day, which is why Bedloe seems so lackadaisical about Charley and Floyd running behind schedule or the coach being stained with dried, rotten eggs. When Kate learns this news, she and the gang have several tasks ahead of them. First, they have to go into operation clean-up Cannonball mode, which will take them through the night. Second, they have to keep Bedloe preoccupied so that he won't know what they're up to. They hope he is lulled into the false sense that he's finally achieved his goal of scraping the Cannonball. And third, they have to railroad the visiting railroaders about how deluxe the service on the Cannonball is.
Tue, Dec 3, 1963
When Kate and the girls go into town to pick up the pocket watch they ordered through Drucker's store - the watch being Uncle Joe's birthday present - Kate, in an effort to boost Herby's confidence, he who is working for Sam, inadvertently offers him a job as Assistant Manager at the hotel, with an imminent promotion to Manager. Herby readily accepts. Kate doesn't have the heart not to give him the job, so she decides that she can give him some menial tasks at the hotel under the guise of the important sounding position. However, Uncle Joe believes that Herby's arrival and Kate not wanting him to go into town with her and the girls among other things means that Herby is his professional replacement at the hotel and Kate is setting him out to pasture against his will. Wanting to feel useful while doing something important, Uncle Joe goes in search of a job. He gets one, telling everyone that he is an executive with some large company. Knowing that he's probably earning money in some low level job, Kate comes up with a scheme that will make Uncle Joe's wish to be an executive come true. However, that scheme backfires, which sets in motion a deal between Kate and Sam to bring life in the valley for both Uncle Joe and Herby back into equilibrium.
Tue, Dec 10, 1963
Uncle Joe has come up with another scheme to attract guests to the hotel: advertise it as a wedding/honeymoon destination. The special wedding/honeymoon package would include among other things Uncle Joe actually officiating the wedding ceremony. The existing Justice of the Peace just resigned and with two months until the next election, Uncle Joe plans on getting Sam, the county judge, to appoint him JP pro tempore until the election. Uncle Joe figures that by the time the election rolls around, his experience will sweep him to an election win. Kate and the girls can't argue with the idea, except that it was conceived and will be executed by Uncle Joe, whose plans always go awry. Uncle Joe manages to catch Sam to swear him in just before Sam leaves on a one week hunting vacation at Lost Lake. All Uncle Joe has to do is file the documentation at the courthouse to make it legal. After Uncle Joe performs his first wedding, for a young couple named Walter Shepherd and Elsie Gregg, Uncle Joe realizes that he forgot to file the documentation at the courthouse. Uncle Joe doesn't want to admit that he made a mistake to Walter and Elsie, and with it being Friday night and three days until the courthouse opens again, Uncle Joe and the gang try whatever they can either to maneuver Walter and Elsie up to Lost Lake or to find Sam themselves and bring him to the hotel so that he can perform another wedding ceremony before Walter and Elsie consummate what they believe is their marriage. Actually finding Sam is a whole different problem.
Tue, Dec 17, 1963
Mrs. Gladys Stroud, a renowned hotel critic, decides to come and review the Shady Rest after she is accidentally sent a brochure uncle Joe made. This was the vision of what he hoped the hotel would one day be, including indoor ice rink, bowling alley, and swimming pool. Now the family has to scramble to keep her from finding out the truth and closing them down for lying.
Tue, Dec 31, 1963
Herby is depressed when he gets drafted, so the girls cheer him up by suggesting he could be an astronaut. Uncle Joe hears this and decides he needs promote Herby's future political career to the whole town. When Herby gets a discharge for minor medical problems, Kate finds a way for him to save face with Bobbie Jo and the rest.