When the February 9, 1964 debut of The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (originally titled The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)) threatened to knock Paul Henning's other hit The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) off the top spot, Henning decided to write an episode parodying them by having the girls form a singing group called the Ladybugs. The girls - as the Ladybugs, with guest actress Sheila James Kuehl - also appeared on the Sullivan show, on March 22, 1964, two nights before the "Petticoat Junction" episode aired.
Jesse White, who played Colonel Partridge, was the father of Carole Ita White, who played Big Rosie Greenbaum on the TV series "Laverne & Shirley".
Jack Bannon, who played Roger Budd, was Bea Benaderet's son. He would go on to play Art Donovan on the TV series "Lou Grant", and would marry actress Ellen Travolta, John Travolta's sister, in 1983.