Green Acres

When I watch "Green Acres" I can't help but think that this is what Vaudeville must have been like. There's Oliver Wendell Douglas in his three-piece suit and Phi Beta Kappa key standing in front of an obviously painted backdrop with the most pathetic looking stalk of corn "growing" nearby. Then comes onstage a series of the finest comedians doing their standup routine with Mr. Douglas as the straight man: Mr. Haney (Pat Buttram) with an endless supply of wacky things to sell; Hank Kimball (Alvy Moore) as the oh-so-forgetful farm agent ("Ah, Mr. Douglas! I have a message for you." "What is it?" "What is WHAT?" "The message!" "What message?" "MY MESSAGE!" "You have a message?"); Eb the farmhand (Tom Lester); on and on and on.

Love it.

This series while as corny as it can be had something which endeared it to all of us who watched it. This series had a heart which beat strongly & carried us through each week to the conclusion with Oliver & Lisa in their Monroe remodeled open air bedroom.

While there were times the series got too hung up on Arnold, & Ebb Dawson's love life, the characters of Hooterville always made for great comedy. There were times that Paul Henning was winking & smiling as he made fun of Lawyers, American Farmers, Mobsters, Hollywood, & many other targets during the shows run.

The characters he created were amazing. The physical comedy in this along with the great verbal comedy blended together into as fine a 1960's sitcom as could be produced.

Eddie Albert was kind of old for his role, but brought it off with an amazing energy. Ava Gabor was given a character where she could put herself into it, & this series turned out to the best role of her life. Pat Buttrum & the rest of the cast were great in support with special credos to Alvy Moore as Mr. Kimble who created one of the more amazing county agents ever portrayed.

All of this, higher pay, full benefits, & a years supply of cracked crab. It just don't get any better than that.

"Green Acres" is a surrealist, subversive sitcom classic... one of TV's greatest comedies. Eddie Albert is Oliver Wendell Douglas, the big-city lawyer who escapes the rat-race with his wife Lisa to live the "simple-life" of a country farmer. The trouble is everyone in the small town of Hooterville is insane.

Tom Lester is Ebb, the twenty-something farmhand who seems almost intentionally obtuse. He insists on calling Oliver & Lisa "Mom & Dad" in spite of the fact that they are not his parents. This infuriates Oliver who frequently reminds the boy that they are not related. Ebb is a gangly innocent, so lanky that he can get a laugh just by standing up straight. His Adam's apple is constantly in the act of escaping his neck, and will one day surely succeed.

Alvy Moore is Hank Kimball. Well, he's not REALLY Hank Kimball- he just plays him on TV. Well, not ON the TV... more like IN the TV box. Well, not really IN the box...

Pat Buttram is Mr. Haney, the king of charlatan salesmen, always ready to sell Oliver a completely unnecessary item at a reasonably outrageous price. He takes a pride in gouging Mr. Douglas that borders on perverse.

Arnold Ziffel is the TV-loving pig with human parents who had a brief career as an actor in Hollywood. Long-story...

And don't forget Eva Gabor as Lisa Douglas, a Hungarian princess who never met a word she couldn't shlaughter...

This show is painfully funny... listen for the fife and drums every time Oliver gives his "American Farmer" speech. Enjoy the brilliant sight gags and the sweet pride that Fred & Doris have for their pig-son. Watch Eddie Albert go six seasons without ever finishing a sentence... the delirious insanity of "Green Acres" paved the way for future TV towns like The Simpsons' Springfield.

If you haven't seen "Green Acres" it is worth seeking out. I suggest watching at least 2-3 episodes at a time... it's funnier that way. But when it starts making sense it's time to take a break.

GRADE: A

This programme was traditionally thought of as just another of the cornpone country comedies that CBS used to be noted for, like "Petticoat Junction" or "The Beverly Hillbillies". But with its button-down straight man, Eddie Albert, surrounded by a wild assortment of extraordinary oddballs, "Green Acres" looks both backwards to the screwball comedies of the '30s and ahead to the Bob Newhart series of shows which followed a similar premise.

I am a fan of the British absurdist tradition, as exemplified both by university humour, like "Monty Python" and "Fawlty Towers", with its basis in the antics of the Goons (and Alfred Jarry), and by John Lennon's disassociated imagery, with its basis, probably, in Edward Lear (and Hilaire Belloc), but I personally happen to believe that this particular show belongs to a distinct comedy continuum, one that's entirely American. But I do agree completely that where these two styles are concerned, fans of one are bound to appreciate the other.

I always thought that if Salvador Dali wanted to do a TV sitcom, he'd come up with something like "Green Acres".

This show was a lot of fun, and thank God it never took itself seriously. It was also one of the first to really break the "fourth wall", making self-referential remarks, such as the characters pointing to the credits as they rolled, or having the characters refer to background music being played--I don't think any sitcom had ever done that before! Anyway, Eddie Albert did a great job as perennial straight man to the lunacy around him, with everyone else in on the strangeness. I watched this show as a kid and never really appreciated Oliver's predicament, but now, as a middle-aged man, I know exactly how he feels.

Forty years after its heyday, the show holds up very well. Give it a look.