Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways that originally aired on CBS from September 1963 to April 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning. Petticoat Junction was created upon the success of Henning's previous rural/urban-themed sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971). The success of Petticoat Junction led to a spin-off, Green Acres (1965–1971).

The setting for the series is The Shady Rest Hotel, just outside the farming town of Hooterville (later the location of Green Acres). The hotel is situated on the train line of the C. & F.W. Railroad, halfway between the towns of Pixley and Hooterville, each 25 miles (40 km) away. The characters "seem" to go to Hooterville for some goods and services, including high school and the hospital, but prefer Pixley for supermarket shopping, beauty parlors, and movies.

The petticoat of the title is an old-fashioned garment once worn under a woman's skirt. The opening titles of the series featured a display of petticoats hanging on the side of a large railroad water tank where the three daughters are skinnydipping. In fact, the show's opening theme contains a hint of sexual innuendo in the line, "Lotsa curves, you bet, and even more when you get to the Junction." This line refers not only to the railroad tracks, but to the figures of Kate Bradley's three beautiful daughters.