Shark Bytes

green acres jumped when they tried to introduce spinoffs
most of the green acres episodes
i liked even episodes in the last season
the 2 episodes where tried introducing
were not the best like isaid most of the episodes i like and i wish they would release the last 3 season on dvd

Oliver doing his farm chores in a suit and tie was akin to Mrs. Cleaver doing her housework in high heels and pearls. I did like, Eb, he was funny and cute!

Just thought of a couple more wacked out episodes. The governor's state of the state statement that led to Hooterville's declaring itself it's own kingdom, and naming Oliver Douglas as it's first king. The subplot was that the state's governor was a former movie actor, a jab at California Governor Ronald Reagan. Then there's the episode where Oliver dreams that one of his chickens was laying square eggs. Then the episode where Arnold gets an emerald earrings and an expensive diamond choker as a prize from a box of cereal. Classic stuff!

I'm pulling out the DVD's now!

Props to my FAVORITE show of all time!

I've read most of the e-mails, but respectfully disagree with those who compare the show to The Simpsons (too cutesie and lame) and or Bob Newhart (crazy characters but a more low-key brand of humor).

Green Acres probably most closely compares to "Seinfeld". Both shows had no shortage of insane people as characters, with Jerry Seinfeld and Oliver Douglas both being straight men of their respective casts and both surrounded by crazies. But, both straight men also had their own flaws that made them crazies as well. "Seinfeld" and GA also share the same crazy characters and plots (Arnold talking to a moon rock/Susan being poisoned to death while licking the glue on her discount wedding invitations). The only thing really separating the two is that "Seinfeld" is probably a little too racy with their plot lines of constant dating, sex and relationships by all the spinster 30-somethings in the cast.

Unlike most writers on this comment section, my favorite episodes generally involved anything with Arnold Ziffel. My favorite was probably the episode where Arnold was talking to the moonrock and an exasperated Oliver was trying to convey this information to NASA, which accused him of being drunk and suggested he call Alcoholics Anonymous. Then there was Arnold goes to Hollywood (after having better reviews than Lawrence Olivier) and Arnold goes to Chicago to inherits a $30 million estate. Off-the-wall stuff!

If you listen carefully, there is also satire involving the hot-button issues of the day. When the bank won't open a savings account for Arnold, Fred Ziffel tries to console Arnold by telling him not to get too upset because "there's lots of
prejudice in the world." And then there's another episode where Arnold witnesses a Pixley bank robbery and while leaving the house to go into Pixley Lisa insists that Arnold has to sit in the front seat because the Supreme Court said do (Oliver has a funny look between rolling his eyes and resignation after she said that)! An obvious poke at the what was going on with civil rights in the day.

Although some may disagree, they were kind of taking a jab at society without preaching to you and that's what I like. I don't really need a sitcom to tackle lofty social issues or to preach to me ... JUST MAKE ME LAUGH!

Much like Bugs Bunny, I enjoyed GA as a kid and far more as an adult. Far more sophisticated comedy than people who don't "get it" give it credit for! All in all, for anyone with a wacky sense of humor, this has to be the greatest sitcom ever made!!!

Oliver and Lisa are one of the best tv couples of all time, right up there with Rob and Laura, Samantha and Darrin, Lucy and Ricky and Morticia and Gomez. The Green Acres theme song is great too, written by Vic Mizzy who also wrote The Addams family theme and music.

Yeah, the animal humor (?) did nothing for me either. They should have had more neighbor families who were relatively normal for Lisa to kind of "bounce" off of, interact with etc. I think the writers did good one liners, but didn't know how to develop plot lines, so depended on sight gags.

Better writers would have extended the life of this show considerably. I also loved the conversations between Oliver and Lisa. The writers did ok in that one area.

There has alway been controversy over where this is set. In California about 175 miles away from LA, there are two towns with suspiciously similar names.
Porterville(Hooterville)Dutch Corners(Crabwell Corners)And there is actually a town in the vicinity called Pixley! There have been clues as to where it was set. Eb said says something about MIT. Haney says something about Chicago being only like 300 miles away. Oliver said he had to change planes in chicago to get to Hooterville. But then again, if Sam Drucker could be on GA, BH and PJ, then that would imply that he would have had to have been the same character that magicly changes occupation. I don't know I only know about GA. I know nothing about PJ and I never saw him on BH. Someone explain to me how Joe Carson ties in with GA and Drucker ties in with PJ and BH!

Extremely funny and cutting edge. The Seinfeld of its day.

I think this movie was a great little family show, I only wish they would come out with the other 3 dvd's on this wonderful little funny movie. We need comedy like this in today's world, sometimes to get us through. I really hope they will consider coming out with the other 3 dvd's. A wonderful and remarkable little show.

The earliest episodes of Green Acres didn't work because Lisa Douglas was written as a spoiled Paris Hilton type who HATED living in Hooterville.Check out her demeanor in the opening credits.Soon the show was wisely retooled to where Lisa was kooky,sweet,and happy as long as Oliver was happy.Without this change,the show would NOT have worked,and likely cancelled after the first year.G.A. got weirder,wilder,funnier,and more surreal as time went on,but the last year they brought in a "cute" little girl which brought the hilarity to a screeching halt.As with the Beverly Hillbillies,it was a mercy killing when CBS pulled the plug in the notorious "Hayseed Humor Purge"...

I liked this show. It was sure funny. That Lisa was sure prettier than a speckled pig wallowing in mud. I loved the way that the credits would show up at the beginning, middle or at the end.

I was kid when this show aired, but I remember it very well. It was a really funny show. The animals were hilarious: Arnold the Pig for example. I remember one episode when Lisa and some one (I can''t remember who exactly) were in the house talking about something, when there was a knock at the door. When the door was opened, there was a duck standing there! I was cracking up! lol It walked in, waddled over to a little record player in the room that had a disc already on the turntable, turned it on and started dancing! HILARIOUS!!

Green Acres ha some flat spots on occasion, but, in my opinion, never came anywhere near any sharks for it to jump over. Instead it sailed way over most of its competition/contemporaries, and the heads of a good deal of the people who happened to watch it on the odd occasion, IMHO.

I have to admit I used to think Green Acres was pretty dumb and lowbrow comedy, but ever since it has been shown on reruns lately, I have grown fond of it. I had completely missed the fact that it was intended to be 'dumb'. It's a silly farce that has a lot of sight gags and unsophisticated humor (which is almost always funnier than so-called 'sophisticated' humor, IMO), much in the Mel Brooks vein. I don't know why I was so late getting on board, but better late than never.

My favorite is easily Eddie Albert. He plays a great straight man to Eva Gabor's dimwitted, flighty character. His confused reactions to her nonsensical statements and his harried and often angry demeanor toward the Monroe 'brothers', Mr. Haney, etc, is great. If there's one element about this show that I can do without, it's Arnold the pig. Doesn't do a thing for me and takes the silliness to absurd lengths. Still, it doesn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the show.

This is not 'classic' or 'important' television by any stretch of the imagination, IMHO, but it is quite a lark. No societal messages here, just fun, often hilarious satire and humor. Not having been really into the show at the time it originally aired, and not having seen enough shows from the last couple of seasons, I don't when, or even if, Green Acres ever jumped the shark. As far as I am concerned, it never did. I reserve the right to change my mind, however, if I subsequently find otherwise...

Peace

To the poster who wrote on March 22. Green Acres' entire theme was satirical. The purpose was to show how out of place two city slickers could be in a rural setting. Rather than make fun of the local yokels, which GA certainly did, Oliver and Lisa were shown to be completely out of their element(I think in some way, the producers and writers wanted to show the audience just how tough farming really is, that it was more than just a leisurely pursuit). Oliver would farm in a three piece suit or in one of his many sweaters and ties. Lisa would drink milk out of a martini glass. Her throwing the dishes out of her kitchen window rather than washing them in the sink, etc. The Douglas' lives were turned upside down by their move to Hooterville. You could surmise that the theme of the show is: Don't leave a world where you are the master for one where you could be a servant.