Dr. Janet Craig

Dr. Janet Craig is a fictional character on Petticoat Junction from 1968 to 1970. Played by June Lockhart, not much is known about Dr. Janet. She arrives in Hooterville in 1968 and rents a room at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is now run by Joe Carson, after the departure of his niece, Kate Bradley (a storyline necessitated by the death of Bea Benaderet, who'd played the character).

Initially, several men in town object to a female doctor and conspire to get her to leave. The ladies group also objects to her. Joe Carson, Sam Drucker, and Wendell try to give her the silent treatment. Joe pretends to have a disease which she can't cure, hoping she will leave in shame. However, he genuinely gets sick and her treatment is a success. Her personality quickly wins them all over and they become friends.

She has an affinity for trains because her father was a railman. She enjoys chatting with Wendell about the Cannonball. She is an excellent poker player and a good cook and baker. She enjoys singing around the piano with the Bradley family.

Her first case in town was delivering a calf. Dr. Craig sets up an office in the Shady Rest. She will take care of patients in the valley while the other Doc Stuart works on the other side of town.

A successful ex-boyfriend named Dennis Roberts travels 1000 miles to visit Janet at the Shady Rest in Bye, Bye, Doctor. They remember a ski trip they shared. Dennis was going to propose marriage that night but a medical emergency interrupted them. Janet and Dennis consider marrying. She is worried that she will lose the life she is building in the town. They agree to put their relationship on hold until they see what the future brings.

Janet was to be something of a replacement for Kate, standing in as something like an overseer to Kate's three beautiful daughters, Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Betty Jo Bradley, later Elliott. However, she didn't ever gain a huge following with the fans of the series and hardly ever made more than a brief appearance in any episode. Despite her somewhat "limited" screen presence, Lockhart garnered opening cast billing, becoming the only added character to the series that was given opening cast billing. In season six's finale "Tune in next year", Janet almost leaves the Shady Rest to accept another better-paying job elsewhere. However, at the end of the episode, Janet is persuaded to stay.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

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