Green Acres
Comedy • 1965 • 30m
Oliver Buys A Farm
New York lawyer Oliver Douglas quits his job at the law firm of Felton, O'Connell, Clay, Blakely, Harmon, Dillion & Pasteur and buys a farm in Hooterville, sight unseen. The locals are astounded that Haney had managed to unload the place on someone and try to talk him out of it. Laying her eyes on the dilapidated farmhouse for the first time, Lisa bursts into tears.
Lisa's First Day On the Farm
Lisa gets her first look at their dilipidated--and empty--farmhouse and is horrified. Oily Mr. Haney, who previously owned the dump, took everything with him, including the bathroom fixtures, and tries to resell them to Oliver. Eb, one of Haney's workers, is hired on as their farm hand. Lisa goes out to meet the locals, most of whom have entered a pool wagering on how long the Douglases will stay. Lisa is ready to immediately return to New York, but after a chat with Kate Bradley, she decides to give farm life a try.
The Decorator
Oliver wants to start farming but Lisa demands he have their house redecorated first. Sam Drucker recommends a decorator from Pixley. Kate Bradley tries to tutor Lisa in the kitchen since she doesn't know the first thing about cooking. Kate starts by showing her how to make something easy: hotscakes. Adding to the chaos is Oliver's mother, who arrives to rescue Lisa from her nightmarish country life.
The Best Laid Plans
While Oliver makes plans to get the farm in working order, Lisa travels to New York to pack up their furniture. The Hooterville locals begin gossiping, assuming Lisa left him for good. While she's in the city, Oliver's mother connects her with an architect who designs an extravagant country club.
My Husband, the Rooster Renter
Mr. Haney rents Bertram the rooster to Oliver for fifty cents a day. Unfortunately, he's a "pecker", not a "crower", so he also gets a chicken named Alice. Oliver then sets about getting a phone installed in the kitchen (though the line won't be connected for three months), the plumbing and roof fixed, and electricity via a rickety power generator. Mr. Douglas also meets his county farm agent, the absent-minded Hank Kimball, who takes some soil samples for analyzing.
Furniture, Furniture, Who's Got the Furniture?
Oliver's mother sends the Douglases their furniture from New York, while she also rides down to visit them. While Oliver and Lisa wait for the furniture to arrive, Eunice is stuck with Uncle Joe on his handcar, getting to Hooterville. Things go bad to worse when Eunice finds herself the target of Newt Kiley's bull, and the Douglases' furniture is delivered to Mr. Haney's instead.
Neighborliness
Oliver is frustrated because, among other problems, his new plow won't arrive in time for planting season. Uncle Joe has a solution that, naturally, benefits him as well. He charges farmers one dollar each to enter a plowing contest, promising them free lunch and big prizes. This is all news to Oliver as the neighbors on their tractors start descending on his farm.
Lisa the Helpmate
Oliver has collected soil samples from his farm for the university to analyze. When the samples are accidentally spilled, Oliver's mother siezes the opportunity to get her son off the farm; she mixed the dirt with products from her cosmetics bag.
You Can't Plug in a 2 with a 6
It's planting time in Hooterville and Oliver is shocked that the locals make their crop choices based on aches and pains. Back on the farm, Oliver assigns every electrical device a number from one to seven in an effort to keep their creaky generator from blowing. All gadgets up to a total of seven can be plugged in at the same time, but Lisa can't quite grasp the concept.
Don't Call Us, We'll Call You
With their phone still not connected, Oliver asks Mr. Kimball to put some pressure on his mother, who owns the telephone company. Kimball says he and his mother aren't speaking, but Oliver convinces him to make up with her. His mom is so grateful, she promptly has a phone installed--on top of a pole outside their bedroom.
Parity Begins at Home
Oliver wants to plant wheat on all 160 of his acres, but the local agricultural committee says he can only do eight. Incensed, Oliver takes his complaints all the way to Washington. Surprisingly, Haney sides with Oliver and prepares to fight the National Guard in "The Siege of Green Acres".
Lisa Has a Calf
Fearful that Mr. Haney will lay claim to Eleanor's calf, the Douglases decide to keep the cow's pregnancy a secret. The Hooterville gossips get part of the story right, except they think it's Lisa who's expecting.
Cast
Reviews
Weren't we so lucky to grow up having shows like **Green Acres** to watch everyday when we were kids? This show was truly funny and everytime I watch it now it gives me that warm feeling of being a kid sitting on the floor in front of the TV and laughing at these amazing character actors who we were also blessed to have like Eddie Albert as **Oliver Douglas** and Eva Gabor as **Lisa Douglas**. Nobody today could ever be as funny as they were together playing this role. The show itself was also amazingly written and a totally different kind of situation comedy for it's time. We never seen anything like it before and we absolutely loved it! I sure hope nobody ever tries to re-make the series but I doubt they will as this type of comedy is no longer appealing to the younger generation which to me also makes it a classic jem.
Thanks to Nick at Nite I still have the theme song and the advertisement for this memorized. And, honestly, there is a reason for it, it was hysterical. The humor and the fish out of water comedy stay with you. It is brilliant and stands the test of time.
Green Acres is a bit before its time in modern TV, so it holds up well over time. It's a comedy about a lawyer with an upscale wife who decides he wants to be a farmer. It doesn't exactly go over the "fourth wall", but it climbs to the top of the fourth wall. Much of the comedy involves speaking about the mood music or the music score that is playing during the show. Actor Eddie Albert is the main straight man, although he farms in a suit and tie. Yeah, that's the straight man. Frank Cady as a store clerk, and sometimes Bea Benaderet as the local hotel keeper are about the only other "straight men/women" on the show. The others are "hoots" in Hooterville. The comedy runs from slapstick to sometimes a bit dry, so there is something for everyone.
## **Green Acres (1965) Review: A Perfect, Surrealist Masterpiece - 10/10** *Green Acres* isn't just a television show; it's a state of mind. A perfect, surrealist comedy that holds up with breathtaking brilliance to this day, it remains the gold standard for situational absurdity and character-driven chaos. From its iconic, operatic theme song that lays out the entire premise, you know you're in for something special—a sophisticated New York couple, Oliver and Lisa Douglas, trading penthouses for pestilence on a dilapidated farm in Hooterville. The genius of *Green Acres* is its unwavering commitment to its own bizarre internal logic. Oliver Wendell Douglas (the magnificently stoic Eddie Albert) is the ultimate straight man, a lawyer who believes reason and hard work can conquer all, constantly baffled by a world where nothing operates as it should. His wife, Lisa (the incomparable Eva Gabor), is his glamorous, mink-clad foil, who views their new life through a lens of charming incomprehension, famously trying to cook in a wood-burning stove with her high heels and cocktail dresses. The supporting cast is a gallery of comedic legends. **Mr. Haney's** shenanigans, as he cons Oliver with every visit, are a masterclass in sly, countryfied grift. And then there's **Arnold the Pig**, a character of such refined tastes and intelligence (with a clear love of watching television) that you never question his presence at town meetings. The physical comedy is timeless, from the tractor that has a mind of its own to the Douglas's bedroom cupboard door that perpetually slides off and falls to the floor, exposing the backyard at the most inopportune moments. ### The Verdict **10/10 - A Timeless, Unmatched Classic** *Green Acres* is a perfect show. Its humor, derived from the collision of urban rationality with rural surrealism, is as sharp and funny now as it was nearly sixty years ago. It’s a testament to its quality that you can start watching it at ten years old for the slapstick and appreciate its sophisticated satire and flawless performances as an adult. It is, and will always be, a joyful, brilliant, and utterly unique classic.
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