'Petticoat' still warm, winning

Here are the latest vintage TV shows to land on DVD with full- or half-season sets, led by the first "official" release of "Petticoat Junction."

"Petticoat Junction: The Official First Season" (CBS/Paramount, 1963-64, b/w, five discs, $40.99). This beloved show was part of the rural-sitcom trend of the 1960s (following the unexpected success of "The Beverly Hillbillies"), in which country folk regularly outwitted city-bred visitors who underestimated them.

Bea Benaderet, after years as a very funny second banana ("The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show," "The Beverly Hillbillies") and a versatile voice actress on radio, stars as Kate Bradley, widowed owner/operator of the Shady Rest Hotel in Hooterville. She is assisted, sort of, by Uncle Joe (veteran character actor Edgar Buchanan) and her three lovely daughters, Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo and Betty Jo (Jeannine Riley, Pat Woodell and Linda Kaye, whose father, Paul Henning, created the show).

I hadn't seen this show in many years but found it surprisingly warm and winning, with an amusing array of secondary characters. And Benaderet is wonderful as the glue that holds it all together. (Look for young guest stars Dennis Hopper and Adam West.)

Extras: full frame, 38 episodes, intros and interviews (with Kaye and Woodell), featurettes, ad spots, photo galleries

"Daniel Boone: The Final Season" (Liberation, 1969-70, seven discs, $49.95). Fess Parker, in his second series as a Western hero in a coonskin cap (after Disney's "Davy Crockett"), is still enjoyable in this sixth and last season of the show. He's also enjoyable and forthcoming in the roundtable interview with a super fan among the bonus features. Great lineup of guest stars includes Jodie Foster (when she was a child), Kurt Russell (when he was a teenager), Gloria Grahame, Mariette Hartley, Cesar Romero and Jill Ireland, among others.

Extras: full frame, 26 episodes, featurettes, photo gallery

"Cannon: Season One, Volume Two" (CBS/Paramount, 1971-72, four discs, $39.99). William Conrad is authoritative and amusing as the portly high-priced detective with a passion for the culinary arts. One of the better private-eye series of the '70s, emphasizing brains over brawn but with plenty of action in each episode. Guest stars include Martin Sheen (two episodes), Tab Hunter and Vera Miles.

Extras: full frame, 13 episodes, promos