- Harper Valley PTA (TV series)
infobox television
show_name = Harper Valley (PTA)
caption =
format =Sitcom
runtime = approx. 0:30
(per episode)
creator =
starring =Barbara Eden Fannie Flagg Jenn Thompson Anne Francine Bridget Hanley Rod McCary Mills Watson George Gobel Allison Harvey
opentheme = "Harper Valley PTA", originally performed by Jeannie C. Riley
country =United States
network =NBC
first_aired =January 16 , 1981
last_aired =May 1 , 1982
num_seasons = 2
num_episodes = 30
list_episodes =
imdb_id =
tv_com_id ="Harper Valley PTA" is an early 1980s American
television sitcom based on the 1978 film "Harper Valley PTA", which was itself based on the 1968 hit song recorded by country singerJeannie C. Riley , written byTom T. Hall .ynopsis
The series went on to flesh out the story in the song, as it told of the adventures of Stella Johnson (
Barbara Eden ), a single mother living in the fictional town of Harper Valley, Ohio, which was still dominated by the namesakes of the founder, the Harper family, most prominently represented by themayor , Otis Harper, Jr. (George Gobel ). Mrs. Johnson's flouting of the small town's conventions, and exposure of thehypocrisy of many of its other residents, provided the series' humor.If there was a catch-phrase to the show, it would be the line that Flora Simpson Reilly (
Anne Francine ) uttered every time she was defeated by Stella (which was almost always), "Someday I will get you, Stella Johnson!" Other actors and actresses in the show includedFannie Flagg ,Mari Gorman , Bridget Hanley, Rod McCary, Allison Harvey andEdie McClurg .In the show's early episodes, Mrs. Johnson had been recently elected to the
board of directors of the PTA and this was the source of most of the show's plots; later it was decided that this idea had been carried about as far as was practical and the PTA aspect was dropped from the show, which was then retitled "Harper Valley". During this phase, Stella's relationship with Dee was more prominent and actorMills Watson joined the cast as Stella's eccentric uncle, Winslow Homer Smith. Nicknamed Buster, he was an inventor, whose inventions never worked the way they were supposed to. Stella still did battle with the Reillys on occasion.The show ran from January 1981 to August 1982 on
NBC ; it was later released into syndication to local stations briefly in the mid-1980s, even though there were too fewepisode s made for it to be normally syndicated.The Cable TV network TV Land showed reruns of the show in 2000.External links
*
*
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.