Green Acres

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.

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 show was to be the obverse of "The Beverly Hillbillies" and instead turned out to be perhaps the most surreal TV show ever done in on American TV.

Oliver Wendell Douglas is the button-downed, successful New York lawyer who longs to be a farmer (he even grows corn on the balcony of his Park Avenue apartment). So off he goes to Hooterville with his glamorous Hungarian wife where they begin to farm Green Acres and live a house so ramshakle that even the Joad family in "The Grapes of Wrath" probably wouldn't live in.

Oliver tends the farm every day in suit and tie and Lisa wears elegant gowns while cooking the only meal that she knows how to make---"hots cakes" which possess extraordinary qualities---some are like granite, others bubble like sulfur mud baths, and others are stickier than any adhesive known to science. The house itself is hilarious---the bedroom closet sliding door which flys off its runners each and every time Oliver touches it, the phone which is at the top of the telephone pole, the "pore-key" hole for the house which makes it impossible to paint the place. And occasionally Arnold the Pig, perhaps the smartest inhabitant of Hooterville, regularly comes in to watch television which is always showing the same show--a wild Western gunfight between cowboys and Indians.

That's just the house. The townspeople are an assortment of extreme oddballs. Hank Kimball, the memory-gapped county agent, Ed and Doris Ziffel who are the parents of Arnold, and Mr. Haney who is the biggest flim-flam man since P.T. Barnum (he sold Oliver the house in the first place) and who has a seemingly unlimited assortment of things to peddle to Oliver. Meanwhile, the Monroe Brothers, Alf and Ralph, are perpetually trying to repair Oliver's house. Ralph is a woman and probably the first female tradesman in the history of American television, decades before women were welcomed into the construction industry. Oliver's hired hand, Eb, lives in the barn. Even Eb gets surreal---one great episode has him trying to win a radio "name that tune" call-in show. Every song snippet that is played is exactly the same as the previous one but Eb always comes up with some bizarre new title which turns out to be right.

The entire world around Oliver is insane but he gamely struggles along, erupting on occasion but absolutely determined not to give up farming and regularly trying to inspire his neighbors with stirring speeches about the nobility of the American farmer---the backbone of the economy, while his neighbors keep wondering where the patriotic music-- which always accompanies Oliver's speeches--comes from.

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.

When I was a kid, back in the 60's, there were two shows that I never missed. "Lost In Space" was one, and "Green Acres" was the other. Funny that both were on CBS, and I remember that my parents watched CBS's national news, too.

I always loved Mr. Haney, and when Mr. Douglas begins some story about "The American Farmer", and the patriotic music begins playing in the background. On one episode, the other actors begin looking for where the music is coming from. Priceless gag.

I am looking forward to the DVD of this series. I hope that they are cleaned up, as what we see on TV now are fairly faded prints of the show.